To Write or Not to Write.....

[Stversko]

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I have had a miserble semester freshman year where my gpa was shot. I have brought it up as best as i can showing a tremendous jump upward.

In my personal statement should I explain the situation i was in that led to my declining grades or should i omit the information and explain it at the interview? (if i get that far)

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, i've heard both arguments from several people don't know which to choose.

 

[LizzyM]

If you faced a difficult situation and used/developed coping skills that made it possible for you to bounce back academically, or if you were ill and recovered or brought your disesae under control, then it might make a good story that will tell the adcom something important about you.

The whole point of the essay is to tell the adcom about yourself and why you want to serve the public as a physician and how you have gone about preparing yourself for that career as well as preparing yourself for the rigors of medical school.

 

[TheMemoirist]

I was in a similar situation. If your first year sucked, but you have since shown lots of progress, you don't necessarily have to mention it in your personal statement, but a short allusion to that splotch on your record definitely couldn't hurt. The best way to allude to a bad spot on your record is to mention what mindset/problems you overcame that led to your upward swing, but definitely don't dwell on any negatives for too long.

For my personal statement, I didn't explicitly mention my crappy freshman/sophomore performance. I didn't really want to call any more attention to it that was already apparent from my transcript. Instead, I made it clear that my decision to pursue a career in medicine wasn't made until my after my sophomore year, at which point I started taking the medical school pre-recs. I didn't go into much detail about why I sucked at the beginning of college; instead, I mentioned what motivated me to do better.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

 

[Cranial Gavage]

As Lizzy said, if it's a "good story" that reveals your overcoming adversity, building character, etc, then put it in the personal statement.

However, the personal statement is not the place to explain your academic irregularities for their own sake. Rather, compose a brief statement to submit with your secondary applications. Most secondaries have an open question such as "Describe any additional circumstances that we should consider in reviewing your application." You might consider reserving your explanations for that portion of your application.