marginal grade on third yr IM clerkship, should I include that in personal statment?

[4th yr]

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Hi everyone.
I have a problem. I got marginal grade in myThird yr IM rotation. I am a fourth yr US med student. I am applying for FP or maybe IM. My advisor thinks that I should include this in my personal statement wether I apply to FP or IM. He says then I should say how I did better in the rest of third yr and in fourth yr. He says not including it will be like hiding it. He further says that it can hurt me when it is time for admission commitee to rank applicants and they might suddenly realize at that time that I have a marginal on one of my rotations.

 

[edfig99]

i perhaps wouldn't dwell on the fact that you got a marginal grade, since that is evident in the transcript the programs receive (and the dean's letter) and impossible to hide, but it's important to consider what your advisor says, and should find some way of addressing the marginal and it's impact on the rest of your time at your med school. hopefully you'll do electives/subIs that will also highlight that it indeed was more of a fluke and not something that needs to jeopardize your career choice. also, you'll likely get your advisor to write you a letter of rec, or someone else in IM or FM -- hopefully they can address it as well. it could hurt your chances of those so-called top tier programs, but otherwise, you'll still end up doing IM or FM if that's what you want to do.

 

[E'02]

Hi everyone.
I have a problem. I got marginal grade in myThird yr IM rotation. I am a fourth yr US med student. I am applying for FP or maybe IM. My advisor thinks that I should include this in my personal statement wether I apply to FP or IM. He says then I should say how I did better in the rest of third yr and in fourth yr. He says not including it will be like hiding it. He further says that it can hurt me when it is time for admission commitee to rank applicants and they might suddenly realize at that time that I have a marginal on one of my rotations.

I suggest that you should do your medicine sub-I asap and try to get an honors. That may help redeem your marginal. I think though, if you have a legitimate reason for what you got (i.e. you got sick, etc), then it might not hurt to mention it in your essay.

 

[4th yr]

Today is my last day of my 4th yr medicine SubI, in addition to that I took one other medicine rotation in the beginning of 4th yr (i got High pass in that rotation). I am confident that I will get either high pass or honor in my medicine subI.
My advisor is the guy in whose rotation I got marginal. He is going to write me a letter. I got marginal because of the shelf exam.
So I think I have already done everything to compensate for that marginal grade in my 3rd yr. But the question is, do I include all this in my personal statment?
One of my classmates told me that the personal statment is where you say only possitive stuff about yourself not negative stuff.

 

[tigershark]

Dont bring up anything negative in your personal statement. Your PS is your opportunity to sell yourself as a person....it is not some full disclosure document where you have to list and make excuses for your shortcomings, whatever they may be...

 

[chicamedica]

I'd think that you should just focus on all the positives in your portfolio. By not mentioning the marginal grade in your personal statement you aren't hiding it any more than you're hiding your other grades (which hopefully you're not wasting space with in your essay). As someone said, they'll see all your grades in your transcript.

And like you've said, you've already pretty much redeemed yourself, and the attending from that rotation is writing you a great letter. I really dont see why you'd put such a spotlight on your one weakness, especially that it doesn't accurately reflect your current ability to function on the IM wards. The personal statement is supposed to showcase your strengths!

Perhaps your advisor means that you should put in a sentence that mentions something like although initially this was a new environment for you, you loved it so much that you were motivated to excel and persevered in doing so. Something along those lines. Put a positive spin on it. NOTHING negative should go in your essay.

 

[eyestar]

Is the same advisor who gave u a marginal grade in IM also giving u the LOR?
be careful. One grade in one clerkship is no big deal. However, it might affect you in top-tier programs mainly. But if your advisor makes it a big deal and writes a mediocre letter, that could hurt you big time.
If I were you, I would try to get a letter of rec. from somebody in IM or FM that you worked with, preferably dept. head indicating how competitive you are. DO NOT SEND THE LOR FROM YOUR ADVISOR who u know is not going to give u the best LOR
Hope it helps

 

[4th yr]

yeah, he is the same guy. I got above avg evals from him, but did not do good on the shelf and osce exams. So he was not responsible for the marginal grade. He even did not know about it until I told him.
Looks like he does not look down on my marginal grade and he knows that it was just those two exams plus IM was my first 3rd yr clerkship.
but you have a good point eyestar.