Less than stellar course grade in rec letter

[rams1986]

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So I was taking an extremely challenging Advanced Orgo class this semseter with mostly all grad students at a top 5 undergrad, since I found orgo to be interesting and I really loved this prof. I was doing pretty well in the class, until the morning of the final exam, when I heard some bad news about someone in my close family, and I simply wasn't able to focus on the final, and as a result turned in an absolutely awful performance. I ended up getting a B+ in the class, and I talked with the professor and he said that he thought I did superbly in his class for being a junior, and that I was one of 2 undergrads whose performance blew him away- but he of course couldn't make any exceptions for the final performance and final course grade (which is fine by me, because i like to have earned my grades on my own right). He did say however, that he would be more than happy to mention in a letter of rec what the circumstances were behind my final exam performance. I had this Prof also for one of my intro orgo classes, but I didn't really get a chance to interact with him much, though I did earn an A in this course.

What I am wondering is- do you guys think it is worth it to mention such a circumstance in a rec letter, or do you think it may come off as a distractor and sounding like an attempt to justify a bad grade? My BCPM grades were 4.0 (2A's and 1A+ in intro orgo sequence) before this, now 3.95 after this B+. My overall GPA is 3.967.

What are you guys' thoughts on this matter? I should say that I am not fretting the B+ too much or anything to stave off any potential flames.

 

[boo-yeh]

I would definitely go for it. 1) B+ is not a bad grade. 2) If you get a professor that is that willing to write you a rec. then you should capitalize on that, regardless of the grade. 3) If he mentions the circumstances it seems to me that, if it did anything it would definitely help.