What should I put in the University of Chicago additional information section?

Use UChicago’s additional information section only for facts that clarify your application, not to squeeze in another essay or repeat activities. The best uses are brief explanations of unusual grades, course changes, school limitations, family or health disruptions, disciplinary context, or major responsibilities that affected your record. If everything in your application already makes sense on its own, it is completely fine to leave it blank.

For UChicago, this section works best when it is concrete and restrained. Admissions readers are already getting your personal voice from the main essay and UChicago’s supplemental prompts, so the additional information box should read more like a clear note than a polished narrative. Think explanation, not persuasion.

Appropriate things to include might be a semester where grades dropped because of a documented illness, a gap in extracurriculars due to caring for siblings, the fact that your school does not offer APs or certain advanced classes, or a schedule change caused by transferring schools. You can also use it to explain inconsistent testing access, a late start in English if you studied in another language, or a significant time commitment such as paid work that is not fully captured elsewhere.

What not to put there: another personal statement, extra honors you forgot to organize into the activities section, a long explanation of why UChicago is your dream school, or expanded descriptions of every club. It also should not become a place to apologize for every imperfect grade unless there is real context that a reader would otherwise miss.

If you do use the section, keep it to a short paragraph or two and focus on information that changes how an admissions reader interprets the rest of your file.