Is it appropriate to... Forum

[mwhuzain]

Attach a "statement of diversity" AND a "statement of hardship" as addenda? This is in addition to the PS, of course. Also, I have a "grade addendum," explaining the 2 F's and a D I got when I was 17 AND a "transcript addendum" that is definitely relevant and will be included. Oh yea, and don't forget the criminal record explanation I need to include, too.

Too much?

[Domke]

I don't know if it's appropriate or not but you must have one hell of a story.

[rinkrat19]

That is a lot of addenda. Is there any compelling reason you can't combine the transcript and grade addenda? Neither should be more than a paragraph or two on their own, after all.

And I do think that having both hardship and diversity statements (in addition to all this other stuff) may just be a bit much in terms of sheer volume. Even if they're individually really good, that's a lot of stuff that the adcomm has to wade through. Can you write a combined diversity/hardship statement? Hardship, after all, is a type of diversity.

Also for the hardship thing: some schools will want you to speak specifically about your financial situation at some point during the application process. Northwestern, for example, wants a separate mini application for scholarships in the spring and gives you 500 words or something to discuss why you deserve to get money (both for merit and need reasons). If you'd already sent them a hardship addenda, you might not have anything left to say on the topic. So I'd recommend researching what each school will want later on in the process.

[mwhuzain]

That is a lot of addenda. Is there any compelling reason you can't combine the transcript and grade addenda? Neither should be more than a paragraph or two on their own, after all.

And I do think that having both hardship and diversity statements (in addition to all this other stuff) may just be a bit much in terms of sheer volume. Even if they're individually really good, that's a lot of stuff that the adcomm has to wade through. Can you write a combined diversity/hardship statement? Hardship, after all, is a type of diversity.

Also for the hardship thing: some schools will want you to speak specifically about your financial situation at some point during the application process. Northwestern, for example, wants a separate mini application for scholarships in the spring and gives you 500 words or something to discuss why you deserve to get money (both for merit and need reasons). If you'd already sent them a hardship addenda, you might not have anything left to say on the topic. So I'd recommend researching what each school will want later on in the process.

The transcript addendum explains how UC Davis (quarter system) transcribed my grades from abroad (semester system) by splitting the two semester's classes so that the winter quarter slot was full. I got some VERY good grades but I don't want them thinking that I was taking only 3/4 classes at a time, as it was actually a full load of 5 per. Like the grades addendum it's pretty concise (2 paragraphs each).

The hardship is about both my parents having MS and PKD, respectively, and me helping out financially throughout my teenage years and the diversity is essentially me being Palestinian in a very jewish and Israeli neighborhood and how it simply didn't matter because we're all people. It's obviously more articulate than that. As I write this I'm in the West Bank so it really is a mind blow how geography can determine relationships more than actual nationality, but I digress. Then the ds goes into how I'm a citizen of the world thanks in part to the aforementioned and the institution(s) I've been educated in, as well as my travels. The ds would be the most irrelevant out of all, if not needing the most revision, as well.
You know what, I'm just going to post it in another topic and let you guys give it to me strait.