How much to divulge?

[EquestriAnn]

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I'm wondering how much information about a past hardship should be divulged during interviews? I applied for psychology (behavioral neuroscience) PhD programs, and in my personal statement I said that I recovered from a significant health issue (it was an eating disorder, but I didn't specify this) and was then able to be more involved in school, simply as a way to explain my really bad grades that really quickly turned into really good grades, but not as an excuse by any means. In any case, I figure they might ask me about it in interviews, or even if they don't ask I might want to explain further, but I don't want it to be used against me. I probably wouldn't say anything if it were clinical psych, but given that I'm not looking to be a clinician, I think it might benefit me to explain what happened. My low overall GPA (because the first two years are abysmal) is the only area I am lacking in on my application, and it is quite an anomaly compared to my upper-div GPA, research experience, GRE scores (not amazing but decent), LORs, etc. What do you all think?

 

[kiwish]

I am working for a company right now who interviews counselors for different programs (not educational programs but general counseling services). We often ask them to talk a bit about something which happened in the past, what they learned, and how they coped with it.

If I were interviewing you, I would be specifically looking for what you learned, if you coped, and what kind of support networks you have if you were to have a problem now. For me, what exactly the issue itself isn't too much of importance. Nearly everyone I interview can think of one difficult time they have had (and if they can't they are lying). I don't want to judge you for what you did in the past BUT rather what you are doing now and whether or not you would be okay in my program. I want to know you are not going to just drop out on me if something bad happens, have developed effective coping strategies, and if you have to that you have some kind of support to hold you together.
Normally, if someone says they had a support network of family and friends to help them they usually pass my questions just fine.
If this was early on in your undergraduate career, they may not worry about it too much. Usually, the last few years are what the focus is.

--One last note. If they do ask about it. Pay specific attention to what they ask in the question. Often, I ask how someone "feels" about something and I get answers about what they would physically do, etc, but not the feeling words I am looking for. If they asked how you coped, answer the question, don't give a lot of background (unless needed). Don't give them any reason to feel like they need to know more about it.
Sometimes, when asked about their past, people jump to the part they know, have thought about, or understand, but don't always answer my question.

(These are just my suggestions from an interviewer's perspective. I haven't interviewed anyone for a Phd program, but rather for a counselor training program.)

-kiwi


***edit***
A few last things,
If you are uneasy about it, it will show. I have interviewed some people and when they talk about the situation their eyes kind of glaze over or they loose eye contact from me for the first time or they shift uncomfortably. The most successful interviewees I had thought a moment about the question and answered in a steady tone, steady eye contact, body language etc. They were obviously comfortable talking about the situation and had over come it.

 

[WaitingKills]

I'm in the same boat as you. I had an serious ED during my first 2.5 years in undergrad, then was in a bad car accident. My grades during that time were absolute crap. Like you, once I recovered from the ED and accident my grades significantly improved. I also wrote a vague letter regarding my 'long term health issue' (was more pointed regarding my head injury) with all of my applications to help explain the discrepancies with my grades.

Sooo, a couple of ways that I've thought I'd deal with this issue if brought up, if I get an interview (fingers crossed!).

For me, if I'm not asked about it in an interview, I'm not going to bring it up. My reasoning behind this is obviously it's not that big of a deal for them if they are interviewing me and not asking me about it. The real competition during the interview in this situation would be research match and personality fit.

If I am asked about it in an interview, I think it would depend on the person I'm sitting with and how they are reacting. I think that I would disclose that it was an ED and while it was very serious at the time I am very happy in recovery and cannot see myself ever going back to that painful life (blah blah blah I think with the ED issue, if you do disclose it, it's VERY important for them to know that you are far into recovery and don't see a chance of relapsing). While I would make a brief disclosure, I don't think I would say much more on it if I'm not asked. If I am probed about it, it would really depend on how comfortable I'm feeling as to what more I would say. I don't think I would talk about hospitalizations or anything like that, if that's in your history, but I would try to restate how great life is in recovery and how stoked you are to be able to do all the things you dream of now and redirect the conversation towards your actual interview.

The last issue I could see is if you are going into ED research. This is a very sticky topic I think because POI's may see having a fairly recent history (I'm assuming that you've recovered in the last 5 years) that working so in-depth with the topic may be triggering and increase chances of relapse. However, they may go the other way and love the fact that you have personal experience and will have that much more understanding and insight on the topics that you are looking at. Hard to say. I'm staying away from ED research so I haven't really thought about this scenario that much.

I hope this helped a bit. 🙂
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