When does misfortune become excuses?

[Konkey]

Bad things seem to happen at the worst of times. At the end of my second semester back in school I was in a major car accident (not at fault) that prevented me from taking my midterms. Last year the Friday before finals I discovered my roommate's dead body and wasn't allowed to enter my room for a few days. When I was finally able to go back, I saw that my room had been robbed. During this semester's finals my neighborhood flooded and the ceiling to my house consequently collapsed.

I have evidence of each of these events occurring with verifiable dates and e-mailed my professors as soon as I could each time. While many of them were understanding, the only accommodations that could be provided were often an incomplete or none at all. Because I am reliant on financial aid, incompletes were not an option. This is reflected in my GPA trends. When I spoke to my college's dean about a way to denote this on my transcript, he said it was an impossibility.

My GPA is noticeably higher in semesters in which nothing happened, but I feel that the frequency and timing of these events might come off as suspicious or me making excuses.

Other than in an essay, is there a way for me to explain this to schools? Is there a way for me to provide my evidence (police report, obituary, etc.)? Lastly, would adcoms likely interpret this as me making excuses?

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[Goro]

Bad things seem to happen at the worst of times. At the end of my second semester back in school I was in a major car accident (not at fault) that prevented me from taking my midterms. Last year the Friday before finals I discovered my roommate's dead body and wasn't allowed to enter my room for a few days. When I was finally able to go back, I saw that my room had been robbed. During this semester's finals my neighborhood flooded and the ceiling to my house consequently collapsed.

I have evidence of each of these events occurring with verifiable dates and e-mailed my professors as soon as I could each time. While many of them were understanding, the only accommodations that could be provided were often an incomplete or none at all. Because I am reliant on financial aid, incompletes were not an option. This is reflected in my GPA trends. When I spoke to my college's dean about a way to denote this on my transcript, he said it was an impossibility.

My GPA is noticeably higher in semesters in which nothing happened, but I feel that the frequency and timing of these events might come off as suspicious or me making excuses.

Other than in an essay, is there a way for me to explain this to schools? Is there a way for me to provide my evidence (police report, obituary, etc.)? Lastly, would adcoms likely interpret this as me making excuses?

When we see life events occur to students that have bad outcomes, what we look for is resilience and good judgment. Why did you not simply take a withdrawal?

 

[Konkey]

I couldn't withdraw because most of these things happened after my school's deadline for withdrawals. At that point, the school only offers incompletes, which negatively affect financial aid eligibility. My GPA in the following semester is always higher, so I thought that might show that the effects of these events are not long-lasting. Is this an inappropriate mindset?

 

[Goro]

I couldn't withdraw because most of these things happened after my school's deadline for withdrawals. At that point, the school only offers incompletes, which negatively affect financial aid eligibility. My GPA in the following semester is always higher, so I thought that might show that the effects of these events are not long-lasting. Is this an inappropriate mindset?

I think that you might be OK if your LOR writers can put all these events in context.

 

[Konkey]

For context regarding numbers, my average GPA for these bad semesters is around a 3.4, without out them it's about a 3.8, and my overall GPA is just under 3.7. I'm concerned because I think it ruins any positive trends I need to set, especially as a non-trad.

 

[965978]

When we see life events occur to students that have bad outcomes, what we look for is resilience and good judgment. Why did you not simply take a withdrawal?

One of the life lessons I’ve learned is that it’s extremely important to know when to take a step back and calm down rather than move forward and risk damage.

 

[Goro]

For context regarding numbers, my average GPA for these bad semesters is around a 3.4, without out them it's about a 3.8, and my overall GPA is just under 3.7. I'm concerned because I think it ruins any positive trends I need to set, especially as a non-trad.

You're fine. You have good fodder for your secondary essays

 

[LizzyM]

Three possible approaches:
1) If you have a "committee letter" be sure to make these situations clear to the committee with documentation: obituary, police reports, email from student housing barring you from your room during the investigation, news accounts of the flooding, etc. It can be very powerful to have a committee letter that notes your string of bad luck and your ability to show resiliance in the face of adversities. I can recall a letter than pointed out that the applicant was an only child whose unmarried (divorced?) mother was injured and eventually died in a car crash after dropping the applicant at college. The letter pointed out that the applicant was the only "next of kin" and had enormous responsibilities as a result of this event not to mention the emotional toll it took. The applicant made no mention of it aside from marking mother as deceased on the AMCAS application so having the story from the advisor/committee was tremendously enlightening.

2) AAMC does allow for circumstances such as these to be put in your Personal Statement so as to explain a rough patch in a transcript. That said, I don't believe that 3.4 is that rough that it would be appropriate to explain (if you dropped to 2.3 that would be another story).

3) Don't worry about it. The GPA is reported by academic year, not by semester so a bad Spring semester preceeded by a good Fall semester will be combined together and mitigate the hit that your GPA took.