Should I respond to secondary questions about academic discrepancies?

[yogurtpimple]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Secondary Prompt: "Please explain any academic discrepancies or extenuating circumstances that you feel the Admissions Committee should know. (optional)"

During my sophomore year, I earned a C in Biochemistry I. That semester, my car broke down, my dad lost his job, and I struggled to attend lectures and keep up with quizzes. But, I made A's in all other courses that semester, so I don't necessarily think I couldn't handle it. I continued to find biochemistry difficult, earning a B in Biochemistry II three years later in my Masters. I think I was just not studying for biochem in the right way. I was 19 and immature then, and did not see the value of reading text books.

I graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.85, science GPA of 3.80, and a 521 on the MCAT. It's been 8 years since I took that class, should I talk about the difficulties I had that semester or leave these prompts blank?

 

[Goro]

That prompt is not for the occasional c. It's for someone having multiple decent f's, or horrendous MCAT score