Do your academic records and test scores accurately reflect your ability to do graduate work in XX? If not, explain why.

[MathToEconomics]

I am not sure how to respond to this question. My grades are good, 3.96/4.0 so I do believe that my academic records and test scores accurately reflect my ability to do graduate work. What makes me unsure is the " If not, explain why.". If the answer is yes, should we explain? I don't want to overwrite and come off at stuck up, but seems off to write one sentence saying that it does and reflects my hard work and passion (or something along those lines). 

[TakeruK]

I think it's okay to either leave this one blank (since your good scores speak for themselves) or just write one sentence like, "Yes, I believe my records accurately reflect my ability to do graduate work in XX".

Don't attribute it to your hard work and passion because that kind of implies that people without such scores/grades did not work hard and/or did not have passion. The point of this question is specifically for people who might have had life circumstances affecting their scores/grades to give more explanation. So, writing about your hard work and passion here would sound like you are putting down these people. This probably won't reflect well on you because the school wouldn't ask this question if they thought that hard work and passion leads to good scores all the time. 

[fuzzylogician]

This sounds like a comment field that is designed to allow anyone with lower scores to explain why they aren't a true reflection of their abilities. If you have good grades, there is nothing to explain. It's okay to either leave it blank or give a short reply like TakeruK suggests. Don't overthink it. 

[bhr]

I'll third the other folks. This question is for folks like me, who applied for schools with some poor academic marks in my history.

That said, it does present an opportunity to spotlight some specific coursework. If any of your upper level courses, for example, were cross-listed as graduate courses (not uncommon in some fields), or if you did graduate level research (something with a presentation or publication as the end goal), you can use this question to highlight that.