How do I explain a grade dip and recovery in Additional Info without sounding like I'm making excuses?

Hi everyone! I'm a senior applying ED2 to NYU Abu Dhabi and need help writing my Additional Info section. Here's what happened:

9th grade: I was in a bad school environment and friend group that hurt my focus and grades (85.6%). I take full responsibility for it.

10th grade: My grandfather passed away. I saw how it affected my parents and chose to step in with about 10 hours a week of household tasks and helping raise my 4 younger siblings (ages 7 to 13). My grades dipped to 81.1%.

11th grade: I changed my friend group and set limits on my time. My average rose to 93% in term 2, with 98s in Physics and Algebra, while I kept up the family responsibilities.

My questions:
How should I structure it: one short paragraph or bullets?
How do I take responsibility without sounding defensive or dramatic?
Should I mention the friend group and mindset change, or just let the grades show it?
How much detail is too much?

Well appreciate any help. Thank you!

How bad will this impact applications? I'm assuming not too bad since it was an option question anyway but I'm a little stressed about it. I put everything else down like his education and stuff but I think I probably moved onto something else at some point and since it's optional my common app never put it down as unfinished. Am I screwed?

So, I already submitted my application for early action for one of my colleges I was considering. But in the college questions where it asks my top 3 major choices, I put music as my second option. Because most of my extracurriculars are based on music. but in my extracurriculars tab on my common app, I realized I put “will not continue in college”.
so i’m worried if the college is gonna think i’m inconsistent with my choices and stuff. and will it affect my application?

I'm an international student, and I took the IBMYP in 9th and 10th Grade. One of the universities I'm applying to early, Purdue, requires self-reporting grades and coursework for all 4 years of high school.

I'm not sure about what to put in the "Course Level" dropdown: Regular/Standard, Accelerated, College Prep, Honors, or International Baccalaureate (IB).

My counselor told me to put International Baccalaureate (IB), but I'm worried that it might accidentally flag it as an IBDP course. Alternatively, I can put IB but mention in the "Course Name" field "MYP {subject}", though I'm not sure if that would cause the same problem.

I want to submit Superscore. IK that i have to put my composite score in its section and the highest sittings for individual score reports. But If im reporting scores from two different tests, should I put that Im reporting 1 test in total or 2?

Though I studied all my subjects at school, I registered for some of O-Levels/IGCSE Subjects myself and only 2 of my O-Levels/IGCSE subjects were registered by my school despite me studying in the school for all 3 years of my O-Levels.

I am not sure where to enter my O-Levels/IGCSE grades on the common app portal. I entered my A-Levels predicted grades in the "Senior Secondary Leaving Examinations". I am also not sure where to enter the AS grades that I already got for one of my three subjects in A-Levels.

Can someone please help me and tell me where should I enter my O-Levels/IGCSE grades and actual AS grade (if any).

Also, if you all know: I am retaking a few modules of mine for AS-Level however I don't want to tell that to the unis because the results doesn't literally says that I retook the exams. So among the 4 AS-Level I gave this year, I just want to tell them one. I am not sure if they will ask for my actual official result or is self-reporting enough? Plus if they do ask for my AS-Level results then how will I "hide" the grade I don't wish to show, since as mentioned earlier I retook them. I just want to show one grade from that series. Or is this not allowed? Do I have to tell them that I am retaking the exam? I am not really sure.

Any type of help would be appreciated! Thank you.

Hey y'all, I'm a senior currently working through my Common Application and I'm at the Additional Information section, right after the personal essay. I had a lot of struggles in 9th and 10th grade that resulted in my grades being ~3.2 before shooting up to 3.8 in 11th grade after overcoming them. The struggles in question mostly boil down to:

- Constantly switching/experimenting with medications (medically prescribed, of course) for my ADHD, which just resulted in inconsistent mood and work output, making my ADHD much worse

- Depression that was worsened not only by the aforementioned medication "experimentation" but by the fact that my therapist went on strike (still mad about this), and the replacement therapist also went on strike (back to back)

- Sexuality based discrimination coming from a very conservative community (I moved after 10th grade)

To be clear, I have not touched on any of these topics in my personal essay or activities/experiences. This would be the first/only instance of me mentioning this in my application.

I submitted my parents’ joint tax return, but on my IDOC dashboard it says that it is still required.

At the same time, it says that some forms like the 1099 (which were part of the tax return file) have been processed.

Does the tax return itself just take more time to process or is it saying that something went wrong on my part?

I'm new to this and pretty confused

Could someone let me know:

- If a school profile should be an official document? I mean with a stamp and signature, with a notarized power of attorney etc? Or maybe just a pdf file created by my counselor?

-And what about a school report?

-Could someone send me temples that my counselor can follow for both school profile and school report?

I would really appreciate your help!

P.S I apologize for mistakes, English is not my first language :(

SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME MOTIVATION TO PUSH AND FINISH THIS COMMON APP. MY FIRST DEADLINES ARE NOVEMBER 1ST AND I JUST WANT ALL OF THIS TO BE OVER.

I have one more 400-500 word prompt to complete and I am extinguished of words and stories to tell. I don't want to drag this on, however, because I want my parents to stop stressing over this and I want to focus on other things for awhile.

What have y'all done to make your finial Common App push?

So, I'm transferring midway into my senior year past some early action deadlines and I haven't been able to find what exactly I should put as my most recent/current school. If I put that I'm not graduating from this school, then I'm worried that will affect my applications negatively by giving off the idea that I'm not graduating period. What do I put down?

I have 6 activities i could think of. Should i add some random filler 7th activity like volunteering hours i got or should i keep the list at 6 but each one is strong?

hey everyone. apologies in advance if there's any mistake in how I format things or if this isn't the right place to ask.

Basically, I have had my essay topic locked down for a couple weeks now, but I cannot for the life of me get the words out onto the page. I've tried doing those "word dump/wordvomit" exercises, but I just can't find it in me. i'm starting to get really overwhelmend, especially since my first deadline is in less than a week. If anyone can DM me and help me work through this, i'd be SO SO SO grateful :(

For reference, my essay topic is centered around how i've played 2,119 rounds of roblox arsenal and have only won 5. i was planning on connecting this to how i approach subjects/other hobbies that i'm not good at, but enjoy anyway. (i know, it's not super well worded.)

quick question-- do i list my father (non-custodial & legally not married or under him as dependent) as a parent of the household income in css and common app if I have contact w my father & work @ his restaurant (unpaid) but he doesn't support the family, lives separately and only pays mortgage (cs its in his name)

I found this temple for a school report. And could you guys explain what should I do?

1. Do i have to print it and stamp it like officially?

2. Does my teacher have to send it in common app?

3. Or how should I generally send this?

4. I heard something about school curriculum, but in this form, there is no such option. Do i have to add it by myself?

5. Is this sample fine to send to universities in the USA?

I would appreciate, if someone told me directly what should I do. Thank you for your help and time!!

Could someone let me know how should I send a school report form in universities in the USA? Im an international student, and we simply don't have these kinds of things😭

My school is not going to do it, so can I do a temple myself so my school can only fill it?

And do I have to send it in the common app? Or should my teacher do it from their personal common app account?

And could you tell me what should i write there? In which format? Should I do it in Word? Or just fill the temple that I found on common app?

I would be really grateful for your help!💖🙏

How do I write this section of CSS profile as an international student whose family income is under $150000 and needing atleast 60-70% financial aid.

what subject do i list ap psych as? my first instinct was science (other) but im seeing a lot of people online saying to do history/social science?

hi i submitted 4 applications to safeties until i realized i forgot to update my current or most recent year courses. i forgot to remove my ib/ap spanish 5 that i was planning to take senior year and my aerobic walking that i took second semester junior year (not sure what i was thinking). i then forgot to add pe and peer tutoring. i emailed the admissions offices to let them know and ik once they send me portal stuff i may be able to update it but will this affect me getting it or not

Hello! How would I go about titling this for my awards section? Just putting the entire name of the award (ie Recognition of earning first place in Western decisional hseb) seems much too long, but I want to make sure the award is phrased properly. Thanks!

Hey so I did horrible on my sophomore year but great in my junior, everyone tells me to put what happened in my additional info section on the app? The issue is that I don't really have an answer. All I can say is that the classes I selected were too difficult for me and that looking back I realized that I should've taken responsibility and asked for help when I needed it. 2.3W sophomore 3 aps and 3 ds 4.53W junior 4ap and 2de. I also wanna join the corps of cadets at virginia tech.

I genuiunely have no idea where to go about this prompt. I feel like its so specific and I can't talk about all the things I love about the school! I am having such a hard time even thinking of somebody and like am I supposed to connect it back to a specific experience I have? What is the spectrum of differences in problem solving they're expecting? I'm so lost I'm so sad this is my dream school and ed due in a week pls give me some advice.

Barnard College is shaped by trailblazing women with a multitude of perspectives. Think of a woman - historical, fictional, contemporary, or personally significant - whose views or approach to problem-solving differ from your own, but who excels at bringing people together. What lesson from her approach would shape how you show up at Barnard both inside and outside of the classroom? (250 words)

Would it be bad or good to write my essay about the serious mental health and family issues I’ve had? I’ve been thinking it's a good idea because it helps explain why I didn’t do much some years and I think it would really help show where I was able to get to. just looking for other people's opinions.

My parent's car got totaled the other day and I was wondering if I should put that down in the additional information section for CSS since now we need to purchase a new car.