loserbuddy

My story is not unlike yours. I had been going to college on-again-off-again ever since the late 1980s. I finally buckled down and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 2013. Immediately after I went straight into a PhD program in a social sciences field, but after one year I quit seeing that it was a bad fit. I then decided to switch tracks back to my original interest (which is a STEM discipline). However, I was nowhere near adequately prepared for entry into a PhD program so I enrolled in a 2-year Masters program to bring myself up to speed. Now I am finishing up the 2nd year and expect to graduate this spring. For this current application cycle I have applied to a number of PhD programs (in my new field) and have been accepted by 2 institutions so far. To answer your question, when writing my Statement of Purpose I only explicitly mentioned things from my academic history that I felt were relevant for the admissions committee to make their decision. For example, I discussed the fact that I was previously a PhD student in another field and am now a Masters student, because that was necessary for me to explain how I developed my interest in pursuing a PhD in my current field. Things such as taking me over 20 years to get my Bachelor's degree, the fact that I had attended x number of schools, the long breaks of inactivity, etc. were really irrelevant in my case, so I didn't mention them. (Besides they would see that in my transcripts and CV anyway.) However, I did apply to several of the University of California campuses and they require a Personal History statement (in addition to a Statement of Purpose) for graduate admissions. This Personal History statement can considered something like a diversity statement in which you are free to discuss how you overcame difficulties, issues that promote or engage diversity and equity, etc. So in each of my UC applications, yes, I did mention the long academic road I took to get where I am now. By the way, the acceptances that I got were both from UC schools. So who knows? Maybe mentioning those things may have helped, but my feeling is not really. I think it's more important to convince them that you're an interesting and well-qualified applicant. Just hang in there buddy.