"Personal problems" in undergrad

[spacecowgirl]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I see this often in the WAMC threads, not just in pharmacy, but in other disciplines - people explaining that they had "personal problems" as undergrads which caused them to have bad grades. I realize that crappy things happen but I'm wondering what constitutes a serious enough personal problem to excuse bad grades? Illness? Death of a family member? A break up? Freshman disillusionment? Senioritis?

Discuss.

 

[owlegrad]

I see this often in the WAMC threads, not just in pharmacy, but in other disciplines - people explaining that they had "personal problems" as undergrads which caused them to have bad grades. I realize that crappy things happen but I'm wondering what constitutes a serious enough personal problem to excuse bad grades? Illness? Death of a family member? A break up? Freshman disillusionment? Senioritis?

Discuss.

I am curious why you are curious?

 

[spacecowgirl]

I am curious why you are curious?

Research.

 

[PharmyDude]

I know one girl who was date raped by members of the football team. Someone else who got really sick and left for about 3 weeks mid semester. That's it for personal stories, but a death in the family would defintely make the cut. Your post seems odd. If your closet family member or friend died, your not sure if that would be a personal problem that could affect someone's grades?

 

[UNMorBUST]

Wow, talk about a controversial topic. I don't know the answer, but I hope this thread doesn't get out of hand.

 

[GwenFuu]

Who cares as long as these individuals eventually get back on their feet and redeem themselves from their past mistakes. You're only an epic fail if you give up on yourself.

 

[spacecowgirl]

If your closet family member or friend died, your not sure if that would be a personal problem that could affect someone's grades?

Of course. I was only listing a range of things that could happen to someone, not implying they are trivial. That would be awful and really hard to deal with while staying focused on school. I was only asking what, in the opinion of SDN, is a personal problem? People frequently ask if they should bring up this or that in an application or interview and I don't know the answer to that.

 

[SarahLorraine]

During undergrad I was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, found a boyfriend deceased after his suicide, and went through a divorce...each time school was ROUGH to focus on.

You just never know what people are dealing with.

 

[joetrisman]

I worked a salary job during undergrad and had a up swing in my work hours to 60+ / week while taking 12 credits one semester. Ended up failing my easy A class because of it. Took a couple of years off school to get financially stable and switch jobs. Came back and made Dean's list every semester thereafter.

 

[Jabberwocky12]

Of course. I was only listing a range of things that could happen to someone, not implying they are trivial. That would be awful and really hard to deal with while staying focused on school. I was only asking what, in the opinion of SDN, is a personal problem? People frequently ask if they should bring up this or that in an application or interview and I don't know the answer to that.

I think basically what they are saying this: there is a line between what is considered extreme circumstances worth noting and some that are not. Obviously a death in the family is something that is so past the line that anyone can tell it is a big deal. This person is talking about issues that are sitting right near the threshold worth mentioning or not, and where do people draw that line? Is mentioning that you got extra hours at work going to be extenuating circumstances? What about moving in the middle of a semester? Those things some people may deem worthwhile and others may deem not worth mentioning because they don't want to seem like they can't handle adversity in their lives.

I know someone who got unemployed and got evicted from his home. He failed his classes because he picked up the fastest job he could that was day shift during his classes. He dropped out the following semester and came back after a year.

 

[Jabberwocky12]

Of course. I was only listing a range of things that could happen to someone, not implying they are trivial. That would be awful and really hard to deal with while staying focused on school. I was only asking what, in the opinion of SDN, is a personal problem? People frequently ask if they should bring up this or that in an application or interview and I don't know the answer to that.

I think basically what space is saying this: there is a line between what is considered extreme circumstances worth noting and what is not. Obviously a death in the family is something that is so past the line that anyone can tell it is a big deal. This person is talking about issues that are sitting right on the threshold of worth mentioning or not, and where do people draw that line? Is mentioning that you got extra hours at work going to be extenuating circumstances? What about moving in the middle of a semester? Those things some people may deem worthwhile and others may deem not worth mentioning because they don't want to seem like they can't handle adversity in their lives.

I know someone who got unemployed and got evicted from his home. He failed his classes because he picked up the fastest job he could that was day shift during his classes. He dropped out the following semester and came back after a year.

 

[pinksparkly]

I had "personal problems" in undergrad (read: medical issue + divorce) that contributed to some poor grades, but I tried to stay away from making excuses. I took full responsibility for what I referred to as "poor decisions" that led to my taking a five-year break from school.

In my interview, my interviewer did ask why I dropped out of school. I went to a private school, so he threw out that money may have run out. I didn't want to lie, so I mentioned that i had some personal issues, including a messy divorce, but that I regretted the decision and have corrected the mistake. That was good enough - he didn't need all of the gritty details.

I can understand things like medical problems and family issues. I tried to stay away from talking about the reasons for my departure from school because I didn't want that to be the focus of my application. So I mentioned it, but I made sure that what I am doing now was at the forefront of my application.

I am of the mind that whatever caused the initial problem isn't that relevant provided enough time has passed things have occurred to establish a new track record that contradicts the previous one.

 

[deleted329060]

I had "personal problems" in undergrad (read: medical issue + divorce) that contributed to some poor grades, but I tried to stay away from making excuses. I took full responsibility for what I referred to as "poor decisions" that led to my taking a five-year break from school.

In my interview, my interviewer did ask why I dropped out of school. I went to a private school, so he threw out that money may have run out. I didn't want to lie, so I mentioned that i had some personal issues, including a messy divorce, but that I regretted the decision and have corrected the mistake. That was good enough - he didn't need all of the gritty details.

I can understand things like medical problems and family issues. I tried to stay away from talking about the reasons for my departure from school because I didn't want that to be the focus of my application. So I mentioned it, but I made sure that what I am doing now was at the forefront of my application.

I am of the mind that whatever caused the initial problem isn't that relevant provided enough time has passed things have occurred to establish a new track record that contradicts the previous one.

good for you 👍

 

[mgignac]

.

 

[PharmyDude]

Midway through my sophomore year I had a seizure caused by a brain tumor. Eventually I had the tumor removed but was unable to drive for over a year relying on my parents to drive me to and from school. Originally I was going to school to become a history teacher but from my experiences and the care I received in the hospital I change my mind and wanted to pursue a healthcare related career. With some advice from my neurosurgeon I decided on pharmacy.

when you applying??

 

[nervoushabits]

My sophomore year (You know, hell year when you have to take organic, anatomy, etc.) my grandfather became severely ill and I ended up watching him pass away in my uncle's house while it was my turn to sit with him and watch him while everyone else left or slept. It was a very traumatic experience for me, and I still haven't recovered from this today. Different people handle different situations differently. You can't base a decision on what a valid excuse is by the excuse itself, but by the way the person handles it and copes with it. Some people can handle death, illness, etc. better than someone else. I had a friend in a similar situation to mine, and her grades didn't suffer like mine did.

 

[nrsair]

I had some relatively minor surgery before school started but was left with a slow-healing open wound. I've had to go back to the surgeon's office in my hometown almost every week (1.5 hours away from school) and home most weekends. My grades this semester should be decent (~3.1... hopefully), but not the 3.5-3.7 that I've been used to for the past few years. It's been pretty hard to manage, on top finishing pharmacy applications and then traveling for interviews.

 

[kmapes]

Two years ago, I found out that one of my fellow students had cheated off one of my lab reports. My grade suffered as a result. The day that I found out, I had to miss my last class, so I could travel to Idaho to go to my grandfather's funeral on my birthday.

That was a tough semester.

 

[mgignac]

.

 

[yes2es]

In my freshman year, my father suffered a nearly fatal heart attack and he was unable to work so things got a little tight money-wise around home. I went to a school 90 minutes from home and I drove home those 90 minutes every weekend so that I could work 20-30 hours each weekend so that I could help make ends meet. It really took a lot away from study time, and my grades reflected that. I put this in my personal statement, but it wasn't the focal point. That time and those experiences were the catalyst for my interest in pharmacy as a career.

 

[Samus2008]

What's up with your father now?

 

[yes2es]

What's up with your father now?

He's doing better, but back to bad habits.

 

[wandernkind]

I was raped by my lab partner. I tried to take an incomplete but it was denied by the committee, thus I ended up with an F in physics. I got a LOR from the physics professor who knew everything as I got an A in his first class. It KILLED my science GPA though. Looks like it's really holding me back at this point. I spoke about it in the "anything else we should consider" section of my applications.

 

[mgignac]

.