Explaining
Blemishes
Certain parts of your
application may call for an explanation. Such aspects might include any
of the following:
-
Undergraduate grades
-
Entrance exam scores
-
Deficiency in the number
of letters of recommendation submitted
-
Lack of work experience
-
Lack of extracurricular
activities
-
Why you are applying
again after being denied previously
-
Gaps in the
chronological account of your education or employment
-
Disciplinary action by
an institution of higher education
-
Criminal record
Under what circumstances
should you use your personal statement to explain a particular
deficiency, weakness, or other blemish? First of all, the application
might explicitly invite you to explain deficiencies, weaknesses,
aberrations, or any other aspect of the application that might not
accurately reflect your abilities or potential and fitness for graduate
study. Almost without exception, schools ask specifically about the last
two items above (see Disclosing Skeletons in Your Closet below).
Although most applications do not explicitly provide room for such
explanations of the other items, the schools nevertheless permit and
generally encourage applicants to provide brief explanations. Most
schools suggest that you attach an addendum to your personal statement
for this purpose, reserving the personal statement itself for positive
information about yourself. If you are in doubt about the policy and
preferred procedure of a particular school, contact the school
directly.
Another point you should
keep in mind is whether you have a valid reason. Staying up late the
night before the GRE is not a legitimate reason for a bad performance,
while documented sickness could be. A particularly bad semester could be
explained by a death or illness in the family. If you lack research
experience, you might point out the number of hours you had to work to
make college more affordable for you and your family.
There are many more gray
areas. For example, is it worth noting that you simply have a bad
history of standardized testing? Doing so tactfully (in other words,
don't rail against the arbitrariness of tests or demand the right to be
considered for your grades alone) can help the schools understand your
exact situation, but it most likely won't have a substantial effect on
their perspective, since they know to take into account the imprecision
of standardized tests. What about the class for which you simply did not
grasp the material, or a subpar GPA during your freshman year? Again,
what you have to say won't constitute an extenuating circumstance, since
everyone has weaknesses and faces the same challenge of adjusting to
college. Your best approach might be to try to transform such blemishes
into something positive by pointing out particular courses in which you
performed well, especially those that were more advanced, more relevant
to your intended career path, or more recent.
Finally, make sure that you
do not take a contentious tone. Don't accuse your teachers of unfair
grading standards or complain about lack of extracurricular
opportunities at your school. Be clear that you're not trying to excuse
yourself of responsibility, but emphasize that you simply want the
schools to have the complete picture.
Disclosing Skeletons In
Your Closet
Perhaps you were once the
subject of disciplinary action at your undergraduate college. Should you
inform the school about this in your application? If so, should you
include this discussion in your personal statement? In all likelihood,
the application will inquire about academic discipline as well as a
criminal record. You will undoubtedly be denied admission (or expelled
if you are already matriculating) if the school discovers that you have
intentionally concealed disciplinary action or criminal conviction. The
admissions committee may very well overlook that indiscretion of youth
(i.e. during your freshman year of college) if you bring it into the
open and explain the circumstances. Many applicants do not fully
appreciate that admissions officials make every effort to afford
applicants the benefit of the doubt in such cases.
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