Injury in SOP (if relevant)

[philipjames11]

So I've seen countless advice to not include any information about mental health issues, and I agree that it can cause admissions to cast doubt on you. However, would injury also fall into this category? My GPA fell quite drastically when I had an accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury which in turn hindered my learning/recollection abilities for a semester or so. It was in fact this injury that ultimately, by coincidence, got me into the field that I'm currently applying for PhD studies in. The latter I don't see as relevant to my application, but the former does seem potentially worthy of being included.

With this context, would it be reasonable to have a couple sentences explaining my weak GPA during said semesters, or would it be viewed as an overall negative for my application?

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

In my opinion, I think it would be good to include your injury explaining you GPA as well as how it resulted in your current research interests. I am not sure how other people feel about this, but I think the admission committee would appreciate your explanation and also help them understand not only your situation but also your interests.

[Sigaba]

2 hours ago, philipjames11 said:

So I've seen countless advice to not include any information about mental health issues, and I agree that it can cause admissions to cast doubt on you. However, would injury also fall into this category?

 

Once you disclose the injury, readers can ask "Will the TBI have long-term effects that will degrade @philipjames11's ability to finish the program as a contributing member of the department or will the injury lead to behavioral/emotional issues that will prove disruptive?"

[aMuzik]

I've also been wondering about this topic. I fell on a bottle (Snapple - non alcoholic) when skating as a teenager and developed a nerve entrapment. Went through countless doctor visits for a diagnosis, only happened after being referred to a specialist after severe clawing (2 fingers of ulnar nerve being stuck towards palm) which caused me a lot of trouble in rehabilitation and took away from work exp & research.

But through recovering I've been intrigued by medical technologies and became one of the reasons for my grad studies pursuit (along with wanting to teach higher education). So I don't know if I should include it in my SOP, I'm hinging on relevance but I don't know many others in the same situation. I've recuperated in strength, and even though feelings mostly lost it shouldn't impinge my studies, anymore that is.

Anyway, I've read that a lack in any area of expectancy should be explained in the SOP, so I've included my experiences in my essays (also history) which ties both of them together but I'm not totally sure. My family's on board, but no one in my family went to grad school, in engineering that is.  

[civitas]

Good luck to you. I have experienced a certain degree of depressive disorder during the last 2 years of undergraduate, which in turn resulted in drastically drop in GPA. I have 3.0 overall, but in the first year, it can be somewhere near 4.0. What I have experienced is not related to academic life; it's because I started my own business and lost $200k from my investor and family. I managed to turn it into a profitable business later on, but the damage on the GPA is obvious. For now, I have written this experience without mentioning my symptoms, but I wonder what will happen if I write those down.

[philipjames11]

@civitas I'd probably say best not to talk about the symptoms based off of what I read. In regards to @aMuzik I think the story is pretty good to include as a nice hook to show how you got interested in your field initially, or maybe even just further down in a body paragraph. Since everyone else felt comfortable sharing, I was kinda dumb and didn't sleep/eat/drink for a couple days and I fainted and hit my head on a desk on the way down lol. Woke up in the hospital and the next few months were pretty hard. Lots of new anxiety and learning difficulties. It got better, but GPA damage was done. I'm going to not mention any symptoms, but rather just say I had an injury and my grades dropped. Personally, I think this is the best way to go, but what to include and what to omit are largely up to individual circumstance. 

 

[civitas]

1 hour ago, philipjames11 said:

@civitas I'd probably say best not to talk about the symptoms based off of what I read. In regards to @aMuzik I think the story is pretty good to include as a nice hook to show how you got interested in your field initially, or maybe even just further down in a body paragraph. Since everyone else felt comfortable sharing, I was kinda dumb and didn't sleep/eat/drink for a couple days and I fainted and hit my head on a desk on the way down lol. Woke up in the hospital and the next few months were pretty hard. Lots of new anxiety and learning difficulties. It got better, but GPA damage was done. I'm going to not mention any symptoms, but rather just say I had an injury and my grades dropped. Personally, I think this is the best way to go, but what to include and what to omit are largely up to individual circumstance. 

 

Thanks for your suggestion! So I just need to stress on the difficulties I overcame, rather than the mental disadvantages during that days.

Edited October 30, 2018 by civitas

[aMuzik]

@philipjames11, thank you for the honest feedback. I absolutely agree that omission and inclusion depend on circumstance.

But I'm definitely leaving out my test / social anxieties. I had a panic attack during an exam of my senior year, and still managed to beat the class average (B). I was shaking, tearing, hyperventilating, and sweating profusely trying not to disturb my classmates. Not to mention it was in a class with the most stunning professor, so embarrassing!! (Not sure if asking for her LOR was a wise choice)

And further back in JC my doctor had me on a ridiculous regiment of medicine for pre-op (~2400 mg gabapentin) which gave me a blackout during one of my courses - admin wouldn't let me drive home and I had to hitch a ride back to town with some faculty member.

Anyway, I sure hope admissions don't read this. Certainly wont do me any good.

Edited November 1, 2018 by aMuzik