Using Optional Essays Portion of Secondaries to Explain Poor Grades

[DonutShot]

What seems to be the consensus on this?

Let's say you have some poor grades that were briefly explained in the PS, would it be advisable to delve further on secondaries that give you an option to say anything additional that you want to the school (not the ones that ask specifically to explain bad grades).

I feel like skirting around the issue by writing nothing may be taken negatively, but so does highlighting some of your weaknesses.

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[Disinence2]

If you already wrote about it in your PS, no need to bring it up again!

 

[NickNaylor]

If you already wrote about it in your PS, no need to bring it up again!

👍

Unless you have something really compelling to say and you couldn't fit it in your PS, I wouldn't bring it up again.

 

[Astarael]

👍

Unless you have something really compelling to say and you couldn't fit it in your PS, I wouldn't bring it up again.

I agree. Also, my advice is to be careful about what you call bad grades. I don't know your personal situation, but there seems to be some sort of idea on these forums that B's and B+'s count as bad grades. If you have a string of C's on your application or a very large number of B's it makes sense to spend a small amount of time explaining it. But if you have a more or less average GPA for where you are applying to (say 3.65-3.75) explaining your 'bad' grades will just draw attention to the fact that you think they're bad. If that's the case, it might be better to wait for someone to bring it up in an interview.

 

[LizzyM]

A bad grade is like a zit. The adcom can see it, your interviewer may be able to see it (if the interview is open file) and someone may ask you about it and you should be able say something about it but under no circumstances should you point it out or bring it up. Seriously, if you met a blind date would you talk about your zit???

This is your chance to highlight what is good or even great about you. Why should they pick you? You don't say, "Please pick me despite this zit." You say, "I finished the Boston Marathon in under 4 hours last April, coauthored a paper that was submitted to Nature last week and I know three cures for hiccups." 😀

 

[blaithnaid]

A bad grade is like a zit. The adcom can see it, your interviewer may be able to see it (if the interview is open file) and someone may ask you about it and you should be able say something about it but under no circumstances should you point it out or bring it up. Seriously, if you met a blind date would you talk about your zit???

This is your chance to highlight what is good or even great about you. Why should they pick you? You don't say, "Please pick me despite this zit." You say, "I finished the Boston Marathon in under 4 hours last April, coauthored a paper that was submitted to Nature last week and I know three cures for hiccups." 😀

Greatest post ever on the subject.

 

[wrkndply]

sorry for just tagging onto this thread, but..


is it ok to explain a poor first year academic performance on the secondaries if i did not mention anything about it in the PS.

I can only attribute it to poor study skills, not a lack of maturity etc. It has driven me to excel and work harder in subsequent years though and thus i'm not really ashamed of it but also don't want to mention it if it will hurt me.

(in essence it was a failure from which i learned a lot)

 

[LizzyM]

If any of the secondary prompts are appropriate to address this or if it comes up in interview, I'd suggest approaching it as: beginning in my sophomore year, I developed some new study skills including..... The effect was encouraging/dramatic/.... or whatever.

 

[flakpilot]

I agree with LizzyM, plus, may be I'm wrong but I also don't see the point of mentioning it on the PS. I went to a Kaplan personal statement workshop and I mentioned that apparently it was good to explain yourself in your PS if you had bad grades and the lady almost yelled at me with a loud NO. She said the same as LizzyM, if they ask you about it explain it yourself if not, don't and try to point out the best in you and your curriculum. By applying to med school you have to like sell yourself, mention the best about you and your curriclum, why should that medical school accept YOU?

 

[MedAdComMD]

When I was an adcom, I remembered if your grades were good (>3.6) we hardly cared if you had "some" bad grades. Now, if you had several Fs in a pre-req course that you took repeatly, this would be an issue. But rest assured, most of the schools that I know don't really care if you had some bad grades, especially if it was in your first year.

 

[Evil_Abed]

A bad grade is like a zit. The adcom can see it, your interviewer may be able to see it (if the interview is open file) and someone may ask you about it and you should be able say something about it but under no circumstances should you point it out or bring it up. Seriously, if you met a blind date would you talk about your zit???

This is your chance to highlight what is good or even great about you. Why should they pick you? You don't say, "Please pick me despite this zit." You say, "I finished the Boston Marathon in under 4 hours last April, coauthored a paper that was submitted to Nature last week and I know three cures for hiccups." 😀

What if it was much more than just one bad grade? What if it was 2-3 semesters of absolutely terrible grades (I'm talking about less than 2.0 GPA) and being on the cusp of dismissal? And then you made a complete turn around with nearly 3 years of straight 4.0s with 20 semester hours each semester plus additional coursework over summers to pull your GPA back into the competitive range (ie. greater than 3.5)?

In the secondaries I've submitted so far, I've discussed this in those "optional" essays and about what I've learned from this situation, how I've matured since then, etc. Would you still recommend that I avoid mentioning this in future secondaries? I mean, it's pretty hard to ignore on my application and I did learn a lot about myself (as cliche as that sounds) from what happened. I'd like to take responsibility for it and present it to adcoms so they don't have to guess as to what might have happened those first 1.5 years.

 

[frescoengano]

just curious...
fresh - 3.3
soph - 3.9 (physics and o-chem were my favorites)
junior - 3.2
senior - 3.65

ended up with a 3.55...should i explain this rollercoaster trend in the secondaries (ex/ Boston U)? it's mainly bad study habits...but i have a feeling that they might want to hear something else?

 

[whoop]

Discuss your strengths not your weakness. If your trying to sell a car you don't tell the buyer how crappy it is.

 

[LizzyM]

What if it was much more than just one bad grade? What if it was 2-3 semesters of absolutely terrible grades (I'm talking about less than 2.0 GPA) and being on the cusp of dismissal? And then you made a complete turn around with nearly 3 years of straight 4.0s with 20 semester hours each semester plus additional coursework over summers to pull your GPA back into the competitive range (ie. greater than 3.5)?

In the secondaries I've submitted so far, I've discussed this in those "optional" essays and about what I've learned from this situation, how I've matured since then, etc. Would you still recommend that I avoid mentioning this in future secondaries? I mean, it's pretty hard to ignore on my application and I did learn a lot about myself (as cliche as that sounds) from what happened. I'd like to take responsibility for it and present it to adcoms so they don't have to guess as to what might have happened those first 1.5 years.

As I wrote yesterday to someone who PM'ed me about a similar record:

Your situation is not a zit, it is a scar that runs from your earlobe to your chin. The adcom will be begging to know what happened and how you survived.

The story is not so much how you got slashed but how you turned things around and came back against overwhelming odds and triumphed. It could be a great story and I hope you'll write it.

 

[sirRad]

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[byurazorhog]

Hey Sirdoug, I looked at your MDapp profile and apparently you've already had some success this cycle. I'm sure you have many aspects of your undoubtedly great application that interest adcoms. Not that my opinion as a fellow premed is worth much but I think you should just stick with what's working. Congrats on the interviews.

 

[toomuchcoffee]

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