Should I address bad grades from other disciplines?

[Lp_space]

I am a rising senior from a top school in the US and I am planning on applying to statistics PhD. I have been doing well in almost all math/stat courses and among about 20 math/stat courses I took, I have never obtained anything less than an A-. However, my overall gpa is not that great (around 3.55 ish) because of some bad grades from other disciplines and electives. For example, I got a D+ in mathematical finance and a C- in loss model. In addition, I also obtained quite a few B's in finance courses and electives. I am wondering how these bad grades might negatively impact statistics PhD admissions. Should I address them in my SOP or they don't care about these grades at all?

[BL250604]

In general, they mainly care about your math / stat and related coursework. That being said, they might be curious about mathematical finance as that is typically a class that math majors don't struggle with (speaking from experience, having been a math and finance double major). I would say that if it is explainable, it might be worth addressing briefly. If the reason is that you didn't really try, were learning the ropes of college, etc. then I don't think it's worthwile. However, if providing an explanation will give them insight into your personal challenges and ability to overcome hardship (and you can spin it well), then perhaps use a sentence or two to do so. 

Hope this could be of some help!