Addressing low GPA in personal statement

[texasbball]

What's the best way to go about this? Do I briefly mention it, maybe as part of a redemption story? Or do I skip that part in my PS and wait until it's brought up in my interviews?

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[femmegoblue]

When I applied last cycle, I was given the advice to not draw attention to negatives in my PS. So I put it in the "is there anything else you'd like to tell us" section of most secondaries. My PS did say things like "wasn't mature enough to handle college and struggled with study habits", but if you're going to do that make sure to also directly address what you've done to make up for that. Don't say things like "despite my low GPA, I know I can handle medical school" or something like that, but rather focus on the skill set stuff that you've improved upon. And if there is some extenuating circumstance that causes multiple poor grades, W's, etc, that definitely needs to go in the "any other info?" section on the secondary.

 

[bears1992]

Most of the adcoms on this site seem to agree that PS are supposed to be fairly non academic. The PS is your way of telling the reader who you are as a person, not what kind of student you are. Anybody that has taken the time to read your PS will have also taken the time to look at your individual grades and not just your overall gpas.

 

[NonTradtnlMD]

In my PS, I did mention a personal struggle I had to deal with during my Postbac and how that affected me. I only used one sentence. I followed that statement with an example of how I dealt with it and how I persevered. I did not mention anything about my grades, but at least it might have given the AdCom some insight of why my transcript looked the way it did.

That was also a question that came up many times during the process: to mention a difficult time or challenge and how you overcame it.
Best of luck!

 

[PatchA]

The advice I found while researching how best to write mine and the advice I give to others is to use the ps to answer the question "why medicine?" A lot of people fall into the trap of trying to talk about every experience and defend their bad semester of grades, and end up with essays that read as full of excuses and miss the opportunity to reflect on the events and experiences that lead them to choose medicine in the first place. Reflect on and write about those. You will have plenty of space in secondaries to tell the adcom about your GPA. Don't waste valuable PS space.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Your PS is a way for AdComs to get to know you. It's your first chance to make yourself stand out and be remembered. They're going to see your bad grades, there's no need to double down. Even if it is part of a redemption story or other such endeavor, you don't need to spell it out for them. They can read between the lines - oh Mark's family member was ill, someone lost a job, etc. it makes sense his grades tanked, but good for him to persevere and keep going.

 

[Goro]

You don't. It always comes across as making excuses, or worse, having your judgment called into question There might be some prompts in he secondary where you can better address this.

What's the best way to go about this? Do I briefly mention it, maybe as part of a redemption story? Or do I skip that part in my PS and wait until it's brought up in my interviews?

 

[texasbball]

You don't. It always comes across as making excuses, or worse, having your judgment called into question There might be some prompts in he secondary where you can better address this.

Thanks for the advice Goro! This is my 3rd time applying and I'm trying to make it my last.