Should I Add an Illness that Affected AP exam to the additional info section?Answered
I had an eye infection the day of the APUSH exam. It was no longer contagious (the other eye was previously infected and i had been treating both eyes with the eye drops), and it seemed somewhat okay before I left. By the DBQ my vision was blurry and by the LEQ I could only see out of one eye. I got a 4. Should I put a brief explanation of this in the additional info section of the common app or should I let them assume I just had an off day?
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1 answer
To be honest, it's not worth it. A 4 is still a great score, and colleges barely evaluate your AP Scores in admissions anyway. Plenty of people get into T20s every year with a few 4s and even 3s. Also keep in mind the APUSH fail rate was 52%. Comparatively, you did great.
Compared to serious academic obstacles that some people put in the extra info session, ones that effect students' whole lives and sometimes entire academic years (death of a family member, serious diagnosis, etc.) your eye infection will seem very insignificant here. In fact, some AOs may even assume you made it up to try to make excuses for a score you actually don't need to make excuses for.
Don't overthink it. Congrats on your 4!
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