personal statment -- mention health problem

[baba ganoush]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi,

I'm currently completing a MSc in Clinical Psych and I am applying to PhD programs this year.

In my first year of grad studies, I believe I did not live up to my academic potential, because I always felt like I had the flu. I never missed a class, but I spent the majority of my time sleeping. In turn, I completed nearly all of my assignments the night before, resulting in half-arse work. A few months before beginning grad school, I was diagnosed as hypothyroid, so I assumed I was having problems regulating my thyroid with medication. However, although I went to the doctors numerous times, they would test my thyroid, tell me it was fine, and basically send me home.

This summer, before entering my final year, I finally found out that I have severe food intolerances to a lot of foods. Once I began my strict diet, all of my symptoms went away.

Currently, I'm writing my personal statement and I am contemplating whether or not I should mention that my first year grades in the master's program were affected by my health and if I should specify that it was undiagnosed food intolerances. On the other hand, I think I might be being too hard on myself. I maintained an A- average, however, the committee will see on my transcript that the class average for each class was often an A or an A+.
Am I making much ado about nothing? Should I even mention it?

THANK YOU

 

[psychapps]

I think it really depends on what schools you're applying to. You said A- which is usually around 3.6? That's around or above the median for many schools, and may not require explaining, especially if you have great GREs, experience, match, etc.

But if you're applying only to really competitive schools, particularly ones that seem to have a GPA cut-off, then you should probably write a brief note of explanation. Just be sure to focus on the fact that your food allergies are now under control.

 

[buzzworm]

If you do decide to mention it, I wouldn't spend a ton of space on it. Don't go into specifics, mostly because they don't need to know exactly what condition you had, but also because it might take too long to explain. Since the essay is pretty short, and your grades really do sound pretty good, you don't need to take up too much space explaining them away.

Maybe you could just add a sentence or two mentioning "serious health problems" during that year that made it harder to study - but also focus on the fact that you did well despite them!

 

[psychapps]

I second buzzworm on the brevity part.

As for how to mention it, just saying serious health problems might be too vague. You don't want them trying to guess what serious problem you had and whether it will crop up again during grad school. I don't see the harm in saying something like, "undiagnosed food allergies that affected my performance during X semesters but are now under control."

 

[buzzworm]

I second buzzworm on the brevity part.

As for how to mention it, just saying serious health problems might be too vague. You don't want them trying to guess what serious problem you had and whether it will crop up again during grad school. I don't see the harm in saying something like, "undiagnosed food allergies that affected my performance during X semesters but are now under control."

I guess my only concern about specifically mentioning food allergies is that, because food allergies don't often cause such long-term problems, it might be hard to convey how serious these ones were. Without pretty careful wording, it could end up sounding like an excuse, even though it's not.

 

[psychapps]

I guess my only concern about specifically mentioning food allergies is that, because food allergies don't often cause such long-term problems, it might be hard to convey how serious these ones were. Without pretty careful wording, it could end up sounding like an excuse, even though it's not.

That's a good point, I hadn't thought about it that way. You're right, it may be hard to convey the severity of the allergies, especially if you're trying to be short and to the point.

 

[deleted176373]

Hi,

I'm currently completing a MSc in Clinical Psych and I am applying to PhD programs this year.

This summer, before entering my final year, I finally found out that I have severe food intolerances to a lot of foods. Once I began my strict diet, all of my symptoms went away.

Am I making much ado about nothing? Should I even mention it?

THANK YOU

I don't think I would mention it unless asked about it in an interview where you could explain this clearly... The GPA isn't sufficiently low to warrant explanation.

Mark

 

[Buzzwordsoldier]

Hi,

I'm currently completing a MSc in Clinical Psych and I am applying to PhD programs this year.

In my first year of grad studies, I believe I did not live up to my academic potential, because I always felt like I had the flu. I never missed a class, but I spent the majority of my time sleeping. In turn, I completed nearly all of my assignments the night before, resulting in half-arse work. A few months before beginning grad school, I was diagnosed as hypothyroid, so I assumed I was having problems regulating my thyroid with medication. However, although I went to the doctors numerous times, they would test my thyroid, tell me it was fine, and basically send me home.

This summer, before entering my final year, I finally found out that I have severe food intolerances to a lot of foods. Once I began my strict diet, all of my symptoms went away.

Currently, I'm writing my personal statement and I am contemplating whether or not I should mention that my first year grades in the master's program were affected by my health and if I should specify that it was undiagnosed food intolerances. On the other hand, I think I might be being too hard on myself. I maintained an A- average, however, the committee will see on my transcript that the class average for each class was often an A or an A+.
Am I making much ado about nothing? Should I even mention it?

THANK YOU

One angle that hasn't been considered -- if the health issues were somehow "me-search" related, for example if you are interested in health psychology, discussion would seem appropriate and you wouldn't need to "justify" poor grades so much as you'd have an opportunity to showcase your resilience. Then again other folks on these boards would be far more qualified to tell you how well received "me-search" interests are at this stage of the game.