Where should I explain a very bad semester??

[Premedapplicant]

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I am applying to MD schools this year. I am very curious if anyone has any ideas regarding this situation (preferably informed information) It seems the general consensus is to leave it out of my personal statement but my pre-med advisor thinks I should address the following issue in the PS.

My second semester of college (7 years ago now) I got 4 F's in a bunch of liberal arts classes and 1 A/B in a science course. The long and short is, my GPA is totally off, cGPA is a 3.3 including the bad semester but cGPA is 3.75 without it. My sGPA is a 3.85. Also, this bad semester was a long time ago, and I ended up taking time off for 2 years shortly afterwards and my performance since I returned to finish my undergraduate degree has been significantly better.

My question is, should I use the Personal Statement to address this discrepancy or just ignore it and focus on all the positive aspects of myself in the PS? I have heard there is a space on the AMCAS application which says "Is there any additional information you would like to include?" or something to that affect and I could add the explanation there. Also I have been advised to send a letter to the MD schools to which I apply and explain the bad semester there.

Any feedback or ideas?

BTW, the reason for the bad semester was the university I attended was not a good match for me, the 1st semester I had a 3.6 and the 2nd was a disaster, the 3rd I got a 3.0 and then I transferred, got a 3.7 and then I left school to pursue an acting dream in the city.

 

[njbmd]

I am applying to MD schools this year. I am very curious if anyone has any ideas regarding this situation (preferably informed information) It seems the general consensus is to leave it out of my personal statement but my pre-med advisor thinks I should address the following issue in the PS.

My second semester of college (7 years ago now) I got 4 F's in a bunch of liberal arts classes and 1 A/B in a science course. The long and short is, my GPA is totally off, cGPA is a 3.3 including the bad semester but cGPA is 3.75 without it. My sGPA is a 3.85. Also, this bad semester was a long time ago, and I ended up taking time off for 2 years shortly afterwards and my performance since I returned to finish my undergraduate degree has been significantly better.

My question is, should I use the Personal Statement to address this discrepancy or just ignore it and focus on all the positive aspects of myself in the PS? I have heard there is a space on the AMCAS application which says "Is there any additional information you would like to include?" or something to that affect and I could add the explanation there. Also I have been advised to send a letter to the MD schools to which I apply and explain the bad semester there.

Any feedback or ideas?

BTW, the reason for the bad semester was the university I attended was not a good match for me, the 1st semester I had a 3.6 and the 2nd was a disaster, the 3rd I got a 3.0 and then I transferred, got a 3.7 and then I left school to pursue an acting dream in the city.

If you put the above in a personal statement, it would come across as making excuses for why you basically screwed up. If you have completely come beyond your early mistakes, then leave this alone especially in your personal statement.

The other thing is that you can't entertain what your uGPA would be without that semester because it is there. The thing "is what it is" and thus, you deal with the consequences. A better strategy would be to make sure your personal statement accentuates only the positive so that the last thing (and most things for that matter) anyone reads about you is positive.

Members of admissions committees,being pretty experienced in reading an application, will figure out that you had a rough start and will figure out that you worked hard to achieve after that. In short, don't make excuses but make sure that everything that is under your control on the AMCAS application is positive. Only explain that semester if specifically asked otherwise, it's history.

 

[theheat]

completely agree with the above poster. I am a reapplicant, and talking about my bad first semester in my personal statement is one of the things I regret the MOST about my last application. The sad thing is I was actually advised by my undergrad institution to do just that.

The purpose of the PS is to show why you are interested in a career in medicine and gives you an opportunity to explain to adcoms why you'd make a good doctor. Leave the negative out!

 

[Mattabet]

I'd use my secondaries or my interviews to talk about it - not the primary. A lot of secondaries have a 'describe challenge you faced' essay, this would be a great place to explain your tough semester.

 

[nick_carraway]

I'd use my secondaries or my interviews to talk about it - not the primary. A lot of secondaries have a 'describe challenge you faced' essay, this would be a great place to explain your tough semester.

Exactly right! Almost all secondaries will allow a space for you to work this into the response.

The section of the AMCAS that you're describing (any additional info) IS the personal statement section. There is no additional place to write on the AMCAS so saving it for your secondaries is the best plan.

 

[nick_carraway]

Personally, I addressed two consecutive bad quarters early in undergrad in 3 sentences with the last describing how learning from this mistake has made me into a much better student. I hardly go into this issue extensively and feel it was appropriately placed. Would you guys still advise to omit this?

I maintain that while that's the right way to approach the issue, it's still written in the wrong place.

Does it jive with the rest of your PS in terms of tone and content? I would save it for the secondary unless you have other, better answers for questions that ask about personal challenges, extra info for the adcom, extenuating factors, personally rewarding experiences, etc.

 

[nick_carraway]

I feel it does jive with the rest of my PS in both tone and content. It's not detracting from the overall flow and in fact, perpetuates the flow. It was during a time when I was pursuing a degree that had nothing to do with medicine or the biological sciences. So the subject was placed in a way which reinforced this idea of a 'character transformation' in terms of interests and academic prowess.

Well, if you're comfortable with how it's written then I don't have much to add.

When you share your PS with others, as long as that section doesn't attract too much attention in the context of the entire essay, I think you're fine.

You can always elaborate with more detail on secondaries if you run out of other responses to the prompts I mentioned earlier.