PIQ – Elite4usa.com

The Common App has Additional Information (300 words) and Challenges and Circumstances (250 words). The UC application has two Additional Comments boxes (550 characters and 550 words). Four boxes, four different purposes and limits. Here is what belongs in each, and why leaving them blank is often the right call.

Applications | College Admissions

The ‘Additional Information’ Boxes on the Common App and the UC Application — What to Write, and When to Leave Them Blank

ByAndy Lee | Elite Prep Suwanee October 1, 2026

UC reads no recommendation letters and considers no test scores. What reaches the reader is what your student types: courses and grades, twenty activities, and four Personal Insight Questions. Here is the filing window, the GPA math, the fees, and how to plan November.

College Admissions | UC Applications

The UC Application Plays by Different Rules — October 1 to November 30

ByAndy Lee | Elite Prep Suwanee September 19, 2026September 19, 2026

The University of California application is a separate system from the Common App: no test scores, no recommendation letters, no interviews. What UC reads beyond the transcript is the Personal Insight Questions — four answers of 350 words chosen from eight prompts. What each prompt really asks, how to choose four, how to structure 350 words, and the mistakes readers spot instantly, for families facing the November 30 deadline.

College Admissions | College Essays

The UC Application Isn’t an Essay — It’s Four 350-Word Answers. Here’s How to Choose Them

ByAndy Lee | Elite Prep Suwanee September 9, 2026September 9, 2026