Talking about my sucky freshman year

[dianathehuntress]

Hi All,

I'm a long time SDN follower, but this is my first thread post so bare with me. I'm wondering how I should explain my rocky first year as an URM (low-income, mixed race) and (former) track-athlete at a top 20 university. My first year at college was pretty rough: along with the rigorous academics and a part-time job, I was beginning to train at a high caliber level, and I was extremely anemic, and hypothyroid at the time. My coaches and even doctors did a poor job helping me gain the health and strength I needed to perform at my best. During the same time I was also providing income to my mother and trying to generate income for myself. Overall, a myriad of things contributing to a low freshman GPA, and eventually my decision to quit college track to focus on my health and pre-medical studies.

While every URM story is unique, I would like advice about how to incorporate these experiences into a personal statement or even just interviews. My struggles aren't excuses, but I would rather not come off as overwhelming.

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[naijacardriodoc]

lots of ppl have a rough first year in college...what matters is how you overcome this....best thing is to really map out what you you need to do to make your gap competitive. 3.3+ science and overall gpa...and getting a good MCAT score (500+) so that you are competitive to apply to medical school. don't use excuses...adcoms have seen every scenario/story in the book...just make sure you don't get any C's...actually aim for all A's from this point forward and rock the MCAT.

 

[NimbleNavigator]

Just keep pushing! Whatever you do, DON'T GIVE UP.

 

[confidentandgood]

What year of college are you in now? You should try and focus on improving over the next few semesters and raising that GPA to a respectable level. While incorporating those circumstances into your personal statement is important, you want to make sure you have improvement to show graduate schools as well. Like you said, your struggles aren't excuses.

 

[f4reignbeauty]

I agree with the above posters. Your plan of attack will all depend on what year you are in school. Also, when writing about challenges, I try to focus on the lessons learned, and how I used those very lessons to overcome.