Medical Should I explain grade trend on secondaries?

[TheBoneDoctah]

Hello!

I first wanted to give a slight overview of my app: 3.65 cGPA, 3.55 sGPA, 521 MCAT, Really Strong LORs, Really Strong ECs, Went to a top school known for grade deflation. (3.5 > 3.2 > 3.7 > 3.9 roughly)

So I am considering addressing my grade trend for schools that I am at or below their 10th percentile in secondaries. My trend is mostly effected by coming from a rural not great high school for my freshmen year. For my sophomore year, I experienced an assault directed at me due to my LGBT identity while visiting home combined with my Mom getting cancer. Obviously, this added a lot of stress to the year, but I still never made below a B-.

Would it make sense to bring this up in my secondaries? I was thinking it could be done in additional comments or perhaps even in my diversity essay in relation to some of the volunteer work I do now with survivors of similar events and my passion for working with the LGBT community.

Is the 3.5 > 3.2 > 3.7 > 3.9 your yearly GPA? If so, U-shaped trends are very common and are not a big deal assuming you figured it out at the end (which it looks like you did with a 3.7/3.9). The more worrisome trends would be 3.9>3.7>3.5>3.2, which you don't have.

Do not bring up your grade trends unless specifically asked about (which is very unlikely given your trend).

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[Mr.Smile12]

Agreeing that you shouldn't make this the centerpiece of any essay unless specifically prompted. That said, from your explanation, you may want to shift your focus to starting college from an underresourced school (not a college prep factory school) and also undergoing personal and family adversity for appropriate essay prompts.

 

[tantacles]

I don't think you need to address this specifically. let your GPA and grade trends speak for themselves, and address difficulties you've had in adversity essays. LGBTQ+ is also a great thing to talk about in diversity essays.