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I read the following advice in an SDN personal statement thread from a few years ago:
"Remember to address any insufficiencies or lapses in your grades (or any major weaknesses in your application)"
I would like to ask about that. I already wrote my personal statement, it flows well and tells a story. Now, I do have a very weak semester. In my sophomore year (I was at a community college back then), I got a W, a C, and a D (in physics). This poor performance was because I was immature and thought I would get by without studying. After that bad semester, I learned my lesson, got straight A's the following semester, was on the dean's list for the majority of subsequent semesters, and went on to earn a degree in Engineering.
I think the upward trend of my grades speaks for itself, and obviously I mastered Physics (not only did I get an A the following semester, but I went on to graduate in Engineering).
Do I have to explain this lapse in performance in my personal statement? As of now, my statement flows well, and inserting an explanation of my bad semester would break up the flow and sound awkward in my opinion. Also, does my increased performance indeed speak for itself, or do I have to explain it? I would be more than happy to write about it, I most certainly learned an invaluable lesson from this experience, but is the personal statement the appropriate place to write about it? [For instance, I can discuss it in my secondaries, but will I even get secondaries if I don't explain this in my personal statement.]
"Remember to address any insufficiencies or lapses in your grades (or any major weaknesses in your application)"
I would like to ask about that. I already wrote my personal statement, it flows well and tells a story. Now, I do have a very weak semester. In my sophomore year (I was at a community college back then), I got a W, a C, and a D (in physics). This poor performance was because I was immature and thought I would get by without studying. After that bad semester, I learned my lesson, got straight A's the following semester, was on the dean's list for the majority of subsequent semesters, and went on to earn a degree in Engineering.
I think the upward trend of my grades speaks for itself, and obviously I mastered Physics (not only did I get an A the following semester, but I went on to graduate in Engineering).
Do I have to explain this lapse in performance in my personal statement? As of now, my statement flows well, and inserting an explanation of my bad semester would break up the flow and sound awkward in my opinion. Also, does my increased performance indeed speak for itself, or do I have to explain it? I would be more than happy to write about it, I most certainly learned an invaluable lesson from this experience, but is the personal statement the appropriate place to write about it? [For instance, I can discuss it in my secondaries, but will I even get secondaries if I don't explain this in my personal statement.]
