Explaining bad grades..

[acl3623]

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my drew secondary asks if i had an uneven academic performance...i do kinda. during my sophomore year i took down two part time jobs (so i worked 30 hours) and i had just moved in with a new roommate who i thought was ok but turned out to be a phsycho about a two months into the year...she was depressed, really violent, and long story short it became impossible to live with her...so i moved in with my boyfirend and his roommates and basically it was really hard to keep my grades up in a party house. i ended up with two C's in orgoI and II...go figure, the only classes that adcoms look at.

i guess i dont want to feel like im making excuses, cause i hate doing that. should i talk about these things? or should i not even address it? mmm...tricky secondaries.

 

[nightowl]

I'm in a similar situation. My grades went: 3.9, 3.3, 2.7!, 3.6 (with a W), 3.4, 3.7...and the main reason for the big dip was a bad two year relationship that absolutely absorbed me. He had multiple stays in the hospital, dropped out of school, and was diagnosed with major depression... Anyway, it screwed up my sophomore year (C in orgo, of course, and W for orgo II), which I'm retaking this summer. Also, a close friend was killed sophomore year, which also contributed. So, I'm also wondering if you address these things or not...Will a positive trend speak for itself? Are bad relationships seen as trivial? How personal should you be?

 

[sdnstud]

Here's my $0.02.

If you have a solid explanation, do it. I read the two situations above and thought they were great explanations. my advice to you is to make sure you have done something to address the poor performance you are talking about. for example, if you have received a poor grade, tell the adcom you have taken a upper division on the same subject and did well.

 

[myodana]

you know that question that says "do you have anything else to tell us?" that's your chance. use it to explain stuff that might not be obvious from looking at your application (i.e. bad grades due to personal problems, health, other circumstances). that's what they want to know, which is why they ask that question.

 

[acl3623]

thanks, nightowl...i think it is worthy of telling your story, especially since you withdrew from orgoII. i think a W is defenitely something you have to explain, after thinking about it some, they have to understand were human too!!! life happens...oh yea go red sox!!

 

[Mistress S]

i ended up with two C's in orgoI and II...go figure, the only classes that adcoms look at.

i guess i dont want to feel like im making excuses, cause i hate doing that. should i talk about these things? or should i not even address it? mmm...tricky secondaries.

If your only bad grades are 2 C's in orgo, I wouldn't bring it up in secondaries and in fact, would not address it at all unless asked. Plenty of people get into med schools with C's, even in orgo--it is most certainly not the only class that adcoms look at, they care about how you do in all your pre-reqs. If your other science grades are good and your overall GPA is good, I don't see how it benefits you to draw attention to this relatively minor blemish in your transcript by discussing it in secondaries. If asked in interviews, I think that would be a good time to mention that you dealt with some difficulty in your living situation at the time, without sounding like you're making excuses. If, on the other hand, you have a lot of C's from that period in other classes as well or any D's or F's, that would be approriate to address in a secondary. Good luck!

 

[DOitright]

i agree with sdnstud...your goal shouldn't be to make excuses for why your grades slipped, it is to tell them how you have addressed the issue. what steps have you taken/what have you learned to assure that this won't happen while attending their medical school.

good luck!

 

[Fermata]

Tell the truth.