How to write your UU
The Special Circumstances/Anything Else Essays
- THE BAD NEWS ("SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES")
- THE GOOD NEWS ("ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO TELL US?")
- you have a special talent or athletic gift only a portfolio or videotape can convey…
- you embody a “Kodak-moment” form of diversity that will make some white-bread college’s viewbook look good…
- have a TOEFL travelog of insightful tales to tell…
- and your stats are, well, TOO perfect.
- All college applications include or imply a section that gives you the opportunity to volunteer any “special circumstances,” which, if fully explained, might improve your chances for admission. If your special circumstance is due to a learning disability, the wording of the question puts disclosure of this information solely in your hands and legally conforms to Section 504 of the Federal Disabilities Act, which protects applicants with handicaps, including learning disabilities, from discrimination. If you can show that your formerly low GPA was due to a documented condition that subsequent academic support has corrected, this is the place to let the admissions committee know. Family problems, illness, divorce, a brush with the law, and similar hopefully transitory setbacks may also fall into this category.
- Since the question reads, “ANYTHING ELSE,” UU urges you to take full advantage of this invitation, especially if…
Alas, these days, suburban valedictorians with perfect Board scores are a dime a dozen. To counteract this stigma, consider including a supplementary essay that shows ‘em how, despite all your serious accomplishments, the key to what really makes you tick is this endearing little secret: Even when you cop a Nobel Prize, you will always be a kid at heart.
