DS17 and wife are watching the debate, I on the other hand, can’t stand it. I’m hiding out in my den, praying for it to end…just stop…please…stop… X_X
Additional Info section: College Counselor said it should only be used for unique information or special circumstances. When pressed on unique information she gave as an example a research project that is worthy of noting that wouldn’t be adequately covered in the activities section. The other college counselor chimed in with a comment that the vast majority of kids will not be using that section. The kids at S17’s school are accepted by highly selective schools, including all the Ivies. I mention this to eliminate any stress anyone is feeling if your child left it blank.
S17 will, most likely, be submitting a brief statement, at the college counselor’s recommendation, to discuss a medical condition which has kept S17 from being able to attend school on a full time basis for periods of time over the last 4 years and despite that he has managed to get straight As and taken a rigorous schedule which includes 5 credits in Math, English, History and Language. We are actually meeting to discuss this as she said she was going to cover it in the school rec but if she does, he won’t need to. I think because she had to talk him into it, she is preparing in case he doesn’t.
@intparent That is excellent advice you provided for those that have extra information to provide.
@rtidwell Thank you for the JOTD! 
I was having a great evening until D got home from work and changed my channel to the debate.
I definitely would not include extra essays, for example, in additional information. And I’d be careful what your student puts in for explanations of issues with grades, etc. It is better to ask your guidance counselor if they can write about things like health issues, school changes, etc. And also I’d be sure that anything you include in Additional Info should be concise.
My kids did the “groupings” I described above in additional information. They also listed a few other things – for example, one of my kids took a MOOC course that was not for credit, and it didn’t fit in any category on the Common App. So she listed it in Additional Info. My kids also were at a school that had a lot of small classes (block scheduling and a lot of smaller art classes) – so many that they wouldn’t fit in the list of courses they were taking. So they put that in Additional Info. There are certainly appropriate ways to use it. But there are inappropriate ways, too.
@Rightcoaster Wow, that’s very unfortunate about that student’s injury. Sorry to hear this. I must admit I did have a little chuckle about the open house visit and your wife’s reaction to the “hills”. Brought back memories of a tour we took – Tufts. The up and down of the stairs just made me crazy.
D got the ELAC letter from the UC Regents so she asked what it meant.
Me-you can go to Merced if you don’t get in to any other school
D- but I don’t want to
And that sums up my life.
@Gator88NE , @intparent , D did the additional information same as your C and she grouped by Awards (not covered elsewhere), Jobs, Volunteering, EC, etc. .
D got calls and people asked her to vote, since she volunteered for phone banking before. She always said… I wish I would…not 18 until after she graduates. Very interested in politics and for some school, she is applying public policy and political science minor.
@fun1234 RE: NM deadline - Not quite. The child does not have until October 12 to complete the NM information and essay. The school has to finalize the app by October 12 so the child has to complete their portion in advance. The school may have set a deadline for your son to get his portion complete by a certain date prior to Oct 12. You will want to confirm with the school. Your son can use his CA or a supplemental essay that he likes, tweak it and he can get it off his plate.
@stlarenas - Thank you so much for the Top Scholar link. This is exactly the information I had looked for and even better than the video I had found. Thank you, thank you!
We debated whether to watch the debate, so figured that was close enough. Actually, due to an EC, we didn’t even finish dinner until 9:00, so homework took precedence.
Good mail day today. Letter from UA with official announcement of the Presidential scholarship, and an invite to one of the Top Scholars dinners for UofSC that others here mentioned prior. Even though no surprises, still fun for the kid to open those envelopes… And the place they are holding the TS dinner is quite nice…albeit an hour away.
DD had a great AP Gov class last year. Even though over half of them graduated, they still message each other constantly. She had three of them over and they watched the debate together and talked about it. It was great to hear the excitement from such wonderful young people. And the best part is this group has kids with different beliefs and they all respect each other. Go figure.
Took a poll: All 4 kids at the EC (website maintenance team for his engineering program) wanted to be watching the debate.
P.S. DH, DS, and I are seeing a lecture by Fareed Zakaria, CNN commentator, tomorrow night at our local UC.
West coasters here watching it as a family on tape delay. It’s S17’s Sr. Civics homework. He would vote if he could and was an active campaign contributor and rally attender.
@rtidwell USC is spending a pretty penny on those dinners. Did your child already apply? Not sure how they decided on invites. D has not applied yet. She has started the app and sent various parts in but she still needs to finish 1 more essay.
@itsgettingreal17 Wow, that’s so interesting that your daughter was invited, yet hasn’t even applied. I’m not sure how they come up with their list, then. My daughter has applied, but I’m now guessing that the invite did not originate from the app. Sounds like maybe some other source…or just ‘starting’ the app was enough. I mean, I notice my daughter keeps getting emails from UA asking her to apply, when she’s already been accepted.
Anyway, she completed the app about a month ago and I confirmed on Friday that all her supporting docs have made it safely. We also visited.
We watched the debate as a family (though the 9-year-old opted out and read her new Rick Riordan book instead). Very nice for once, being in our time zone—we arranged our schedules to all be home by 5:00p, and the debate was done at 6:39p, at which point we pulled dinner out of the oven and had lively dinner table conversation. 
I watched every presidential debate since 1992 including today’s. This is the first time I will be voting and probably vote 3rd party DS was busy with homework!
@Michigan Georgia I think that is a bit extreme to expel them for that. Unless it’s a private school, I bet parents could probably bring in some lawyers. My D12 did know a top kid who was the lead in the school play when he got caught with pot in school. (Yes… dumb idea.) Drama teacher was pissed, she had to recast half way through rehersals. Don’t know the details except he was expelled, did finish H.S. at a private school & did go to college.
QQTD: I’m not at all concerned what to put in the extra section of the CA. S17 has only one CA school, it’s the last app he will work on in Dec, and that school is one of the few that will get his letter of rec. The teacher writing his letter of recommendation can & is planning to talk about the only thing I would suggest go there so he will probably leave it blank.
The question for those already doing the UC California App. My son has started it but I haven’t seen it yet. (And I’m not going to push him yet.) Besides the new insight essay & grades. Does the application have other sections for bragging like the common app? I know there is place to put in EC’s & clubs and such. (I’ve seen the Cal State & Common App before but never the UC App.) What about honors/awards, or other brags? Just trying to figure out what types of things I should push him to include that he might not consider.
@itsgettingreal17 DS got the top scholar dinner invite from UofSC and he hasn’t started an app either but it did get him interested and he started an app today for them. He can’t seem to find their honors college essay prompts anywhere. Anyone know where to find them without finishing the whole app first? He wants to see how much work it will be. Having two affordable acceptances has really put a halt to progress around here.
@RightCoaster That tour reminds me of Bentley where they said that the sidewalks were heated so kids didn’t fall down the steps in the winter. I liked the school and they had some great programs but the steps, oh the steps!
DS finished his homework early to watch the debates but he won’t be old enough to vote in the election. We will be at an Adele concert on election night. It will be nice to see the aftermath after the concert.
@curiositycat333 The UC app has the following question after the 4 insight essays:
The “Activities & Awards” section has the following subsections:
– Coursework other than A-G (can include not-for-credit courses)
– Educational Preparation Programs (we are using this for summer programs mostly)
– Community Service (up to 5 x 160 characters)
– Work Experience (up to 5)
– Awards & Honors (up to 5)
– Extracurricular Activities (up to 5)
@srk2017 Congrats on this being the first time you are voting!