<p>What’s everyone’s opinion? Do you guys think that these can be distracting? For example, putting N/A for the secondary address or even for a deceased parent or something of that nature. Or does it really show that the student didn’t overlook any fields when filling out an application?</p>
<p>I had to put N/A for my middle name since some of my forms required them. So now, my name has a N/A in between my first and surname. If you need it, then use it. I only put it in fields that were required and I couldn’t fill in.</p>
<p>Leaving it blank is understood to be not applicable.</p>
<p>actually a lady came into our schools from an admissions office (not at a top school but nonetheless) and told us they when you leave it blank they think you were hurrying to get it done and forgot to fill out a part. use n/a to eliminate the ambiguity that you may have overlooked something</p>
<p>it cant hurt to put na in those spots, if there are bubbles, put na in the spaces at the top and blanks in the bubbles. i have no middle name, but it would be strange if they thought my middle name was na.</p>
<p>i dunno… i just write “unknown” for all of parent 1’s info.</p>
<p>…writing unknown seems sorta strange; think about what the adcoms would say when they open the packet…this student doesnt’ know his parent’s profession or location…that’s sorta sad…</p>
<p>I just left the stuff blank, since I N/A was kind of akward for some of the questions, you know? I don’t think it matters much either way though :p</p>
<p>it’s sad, yeah, but not “wow this girl doesn’t deserve to go to college” sad ;)</p>
<p>…writing unknown seems sorta strange; think about what the adcoms would say when they open the packet…this student doesnt’ know his parent’s profession or location…that’s sorta sad…"</p>
<p>But that is exactly the case with some people. My dd has never met her father, so she had to put unknown. I don’t think she sees it as sad though. It is just the reality. Since she didn’t have one, she didn’t miss one. She still had a great life and goes to a great college. Not all fathers are worth knowing, perhaps.</p>
<p>bettina–I can see your dd’s circumstance. I hadn’t even considered her situation (my closeminded, one-track nature!). I guess for her circumstance, unknown would probably be the most appropriate response. For a deceased parent, though, would N/A make more sense than just leaving it all blank? I mean, one of the questions usually asks something like is this parent living, and I guess that answering that question would be sufficient rather than polluting an application with N/As. How about for something like alien registration number for US citizens? You’d mark the US citizen section, but would you bother putting N/A in the alien registration number section? Also, for test scores…I think it looks more neat to just have scores for the tests you’ve taken and to leave the other fields blank…it draws attention to your scores quicker. How’s this for a nice alternative: putting a like on a blank. It makes sure that the college knows that you didn’t avoid or skip the question, but at the same time, it doesn’t really distract the reader because it’s not text. He woud just see over it and notice the line and understand the not applicable nature of the field. I love the input guys…keep it coming…</p>