Should I talk about my C grade in the secondary essays

[pre-spring]

The title above. Basically got a C in one of my classes in the last semester of school. Couldn't attend the final as I had to go to my grandmothers funeral who died of COVID-19. Don't know if I should even mention this. Talk about other stuff in COVID-19 essays, and now debating whether to mention this. My GPA's not bad even with the C, it's above a 3.8 and I don't really want to come off as complaining or bring attention to the grade itself. Not talking about it in the additional information essay as well. So, I'm debating whether to talk about it now.

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[Doctoscope]

No, don’t do that, it’ll literally do 0 benefit for you.

 

[Goro]

The title above. Basically got a C in one of my classes in the last semester of school. Couldn't attend the final as I had to go to my grandmothers funeral who died of COVID-19. Don't know if I should even mention this. Talk about other stuff in COVID-19 essays, and now debating whether to mention this. My GPA's not bad even with the C, it's above a 3.8 and I don't really want to come off as complaining or bring attention to the grade itself. Not talking about it in the additional information essay as well. So, I'm debating whether to talk about it now.

Never bring attention to a negative. Explanations Nearly always come across as excuses

 

[gyngyn]

It's cringey.

 

[Tabiyou]

Definitely not.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

OP: Could you explain why you want to do that?

 

[pre-spring]

Never bring attention to a negative. Explanations Nearly always come across as excuses

Thank you for letting me know. For some of the schools, they require us to fill out the prerequisites in the secondary application and sometimes they ask us about the grade for that class. So I'll have to put in this class, since its an Orgo Chem Lab. Should I explain my C grade in the comment section, where they give us the option to explain anything we want.

 

[Goro]

Does this apply for more extensive academic issues? I basically failed my entire Freshman year and have several retakes, but I’ve tracked upwards since then including a year of post-bacc with an A average.

I’ve avoided the issue completely on my primary essays based on the same rationale you’re using here, but some of these secondaries make me feel like I should say something. Like, it feels like way too big of a blemish to just ignore :|

That's something worth talking about; there are indeed prompts for stuff like this.

 

[Goro]

Thank you for letting me know. For some of the schools, they require us to fill out the prerequisites in the secondary application and sometimes they ask us about the grade for that class. So I'll have to put in this class, since its an Orgo Chem Lab. Should I explain my C grade in the comment section, where they give us the option to explain anything we want.

When it's specifically asked for, then yes, you discuss it.

That said, the reason I advise to not bring attention to a negative is that there are SDNers who feel that anything that smacks of less than perfection will keep them out of medical school, so they have a physical need to explain everything as to why they weren't prefect. We try to throttle the pre-med delusion that anything less than a 4.0 is lethal for med school.

Adcoms also dislike perfectionism, and we try to convince people that grades are not a measure of their self-worth, or value as human beings. It's an uphill battle.


Pointing out a single C, especially in a PS, is like pointing to a black spot on an otherwise white canvas. You notice it immediately, while otherwise it would have been ignored.

 

[Dral]

Leave it out. You don't have to explain 'life happens' to anyone for a single isolated event.

If asked, give your concise explanation of what happened. It's ochem lab. No offense to any ochemists reading this, but....it was ochem lab.

 

[pre-spring]

When it's specifically asked for, then yes, you discuss it.

That said, the reason I advise to not bring attention to a negative is that there are SDNers who feel that anything that smacks of less than perfection will keep them out of medical school, so they have a physical need to explain everything as to why they weren't prefect. We try to throttle the pre-med delusion that anything less than a 4.0 is lethal for med school.

Adcoms also dislike perfectionism, and we try to convince people that grades are not a measure of their self-worth, or value as human beings. It's an uphill battle.


Pointing out a single C, especially in a PS, is like pointing to a black spot on an otherwise white canvas. You notice it immediately, while otherwise it would have been ignored.

So, I didn't really talk about my C grade anywhere. But some of the secondary applications like Pitt ask us to list our coursework and grades and ask us to mention any special circumstances in the comment box next to the class. I'm doubtful whether I should mention anything in these comment boxes, or leave them blank as well.

 

[Goro]

So, I didn't really talk about my C grade anywhere. But some of the secondary applications like Pitt ask us to list our coursework and grades and ask us to mention any special circumstances in the comment box next to the class. I'm doubtful whether I should mention anything in these comment boxes, or leave them blank as well.

You're not getting it, are you?

These types of prompts are for things like entire semesters of bad grades, or multiple Fs and Ds.

They don't care about a single C.

In fact, unless the prompt specifically asks about "grades lower than B", your attempting to explain a C will telegraph that you are a perfectionist or worse.

Capeesh?

Just a an FYI, people get dismissed from residencies for being unteachable.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Absolutely not.