Drawing a fine line

[Megalofyia]

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How do you decide when someone is just making an excuss verses explaining a situation?
I'm sure most people will think this is easy but there are some cases where it is a fine line between the two, and it is those situations that I want to know what makes the difference.

 

[Megalofyia]

bump

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

constant explanations for situations become almost like excuses. whether or not it is habitual is where i would draw the line.

 

[isidella]

Your concern here is pretty general, but quite interesting. I think the difference between a valid explanation of the situation versus an "excuse" is the perception of the person listening.

For instance:

Q: "So, why did you withdraw from biochemistry?"

A: "Well, my mother passed away in the middle of the semester and rather than drop out of college completely, I chose a course to withdraw from and make my load lighter. It happened to be Biochem."

So, this was a question at two separate interviews I have had. One interviewer, who was sympathetic to the situation said he completely understood and just wanted to make sure I did not drop it for irresponsible reasons. (The rest of my transcript shows I am quite versed in biochem as I spent three years isolating, purifying and characterizing proteins for my undergrad research.)

At another interview, however, the interviewer said, "Hmm, I don't see here on your transcript that you chose to retake. Its a pretty important class for someone who wants to go to medical school." I think he thought I was just making excuses.

It is a very fine line. The point is, I think you have to feel the waters and know what type of person you are explaining things to.

 

[Megalofyia]

Thank you for your responce. That is pretty much the type of example I had in mind. Part of the problem is that you don't always know the person you are explaining things to or their background.

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by isidella
Your concern here is pretty general, but quite interesting. I think the difference between a valid explanation of the situation versus an "excuse" is the perception of the person listening.


I totally agree. And I think part of what influence a person's perception (in addition to the frequency/habitalness mentioned by Joe, and touched upon by isidella) is if you have a good reason (which is, of course, subjective and dependent upon the listener). If you drop a course and your reason seems great to the interviewer it probably won't be an issue....but if you drop a course because it was too hard and you were too busy partying, you're probably screwed.