Do I need to explain my low grade

[abeautifulday]

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Hi,

I have 2.6, 2.8 and 2.9 for General Biology series and other pre-pharm preq are above 3.0. My sci-GPA is about 3.4 and 3.5. Should I explain about grade in biology in my personal statement?

Thanks

 

[tehshield]

You can probably just mention it if you were asked in the interviews. Personally I would leave it out of the personal statement and that is what basically a C average for general biology which is not that bad. Use the limited space in the personal statement to accentuate more positive highlights and plus if you do not mention it in the personal statement it would draw less attention to those grades.

 

[BC89]

Any reflection of "extreme oscillation" with retaken courses are the only situations id say briefly mention in your personal statement and i agree, leave the rest for the interview if it comes up. Keep it as positive as possible with what you can bring to the table. That being said, back in 2011 a Tornado took out my hometown while i was attending my undergraduate studies in hawaii. It took the lives of some of my friends and family members living in the midwest leaving me with no place to return too. For that reason, I had retaken my gen chem and molecular courses (F's) since i couldnt withdraw from my classes...however, next semester it all went to A's. If you have something THAT extreme ( rare incident for sure ) then it would be nice to counterpart that big of a fluctuation in your personal statement. You sound like your doing ok, and highlight positive goals and accomplishments whenever possible and convenient.

 

[abeautifulday]

Thanks a lot for you guy's advise. Sorry to hear about the Tornado to your family. Actually, I didn't have any extreme oscillation. They are hard classes at my university and I don't think it's a good excuse. I heard people saying that the admission don't like the excuse for the low grade. so, I think I will leave for the interview. Should I mention the low grade on the interview even though the interviewers don't ask?

 

[blueheron]

Not for one class. If you had a whole bad semester you could explain that. Hell I got a C in child psych but I was also taking 4 upper division chemistry classes and an upper gen ed with it.

 

[aboveliquidice]

No.

 

[gwath]

They don't care about grades if they offered you an interview. You got past the academic screening already.