<p>I am a rising junior who had planned on attending a 10-day long program where we would shadow a famous doctor. However, my mother got diagnosed with stage III cancer, and I had to stay home to help take care. During my free time, I have been self-studying chemistry and astronomy by reading used college textbooks and watching archived coursera class videos and taking their archived tests. Due to the fact that the coursera classes are archived, I cannot receive any official certificate. I’m worried colleges will think I spent my summer doing nothing useful, which may make me appear as a weak applicant. Is there any way I could indicate this situation on my application?</p>
<p>You can include it in the additional information section of the Common Application. As long as you explain the situation, I don’t see any reason why colleges would think you were lying (even though you do not have an official certificate).</p>