Mentioning medical conditions?

[surfinsunshinekat]

Hello everyone! I am very new to this site so forgive me if I am posting in the wrong place or if there is another thread that answers my question.

This question is mainly about explaining a poor grade due to a medical condition.

Basically, at the end of my sophomore year and the beginning of my junior year, I developed really serious skin problems. It took my dermatologist a long time to figure out what I had and in that period I was under suspicion of having skin cancer or something else that was very serious. Thankfully, I just have extreme dermatitis and very bad eczema (it was all over my face, arms, neck and on my leg). Before this conclusion was discovered, I went through about 15 different medications (one I had an allergic reaction to which was particularly nasty), had many tests done and missed many classes because of this. As a result of this, my grades suffered in my fall quarter of my junior year (when the condition was the worse) but the quarter before I pulled a 4.0 quarter, the following two quarters were 3.7's, my most recent quarter was a 4.0 as well and I am working very hard to achieve the same goal for my last few quarters. I have nearly all A's in my major but suffered horribly in a few general education classes that I took during this episode. I am retaking some of these classes now, confident I will ace them.

No one in my family has ever went to graduate school so as far as parental help, I am on my own (for measure, bless my mother but she didn't know what the GRE was). I'm sure I'm not the only student who is first to seek graduate education, but this detail is just so everyone understands where I am.

I am wondering if or how I should mention this in a SOP to explain the dip in my GPA (I will probably graduate from my bachelors with a 3.5-3.6). Will such an explanation be frowned upon or...what?

Thank you everyone! I am grateful for finding this website!

[Starlajane]

Yes, you should definitely mention it. There's a big diff between someone who's grades dipped b/c of a health condition, family problems, etc. (justifiable) and someone who's grades dipped b/c they had trouble with the classes or were partying a bit too much (unjustifiable). Mentioning that you struggled but were able to get through it, and can talk about it, will speak to your character.

[MCS_aspirant]

I would also certainly mention it.

Good luck!

[surfinsunshinekat]

Starlajane and MCS_aspirant, thank you! good luck to you both as well. any more advice from anyone is appreciated!

[brancan]

I would also mention in.

I have one fail on my record (in my first year of undergrad). I failed an exam the day after I came out of the closet, as I didn't come out under very good circumstances and completely broke down. Because I failed that exam badly, I failed the class by 2% (I was already having a LOT of trouble with the class). I was then not allowed to continue on in my program. Despite that, I worked my way back up into honors status in a different program. But I never mention this on my applications because it's only one mark. My other marks weren't fantastic, but they were average or just above average. If my mental state/circumstances had affected a whole term or more, I'd certainly mention it. So that's what I'd suggest you do. That said, I would frame it in a way that was straightforward, but did not harp on the sob story aspect. It sucked, I'm sure, but many people go through crappy things and you don't want the people reading your application to see you as exploiting the scenario. That's always my biggest fear when justifying my failed course.

I also think it's awesome that you stayed in school throughout that ordeal. I know many people who have taken semesters off (or dropped out) for far less stressful reasons.

[mandabeth]

I was diagnosed with mono a couple days before taking the subject GRE, and obviously didn't do so well. I ended up not mentioning it in my personal statement, because I decided to focus on the positives (and really wanted to talk about the research and experience I have outside the classroom, since I definitely wasn't going to get in on the strength of my GPA/GRE alone.) So far I've been accepted to a couple programs, so I don't regret my decision at all. However, if I hadn't gotten in, I might have regretted it--what if that would have been the difference between a rejection and not?

Maybe talk to your recommenders, and see what they suggest. My academic director suggested that I have a prof who knows my work comment on it in the LOR, since they'd have more authority to say that they thought I could do better than I did (obviously, any student has excuses for why they didn't do better.)

[modernity]

I would not. I had health problems in undergrad as well - surgeries and things that kept me out of class and certainly influenced my grades. However - there are lots of students out there that go through the same things and have not let it influence their grades. You'll sound like your making excuses for your behavior - at least to certain personalities. You're taking a gamble on who will be on you adcom - some may feel sympathy, others will say "wow, so what if something happens while they are in grad school? will they have the same problems?" In addition, it takes up valuable space in your SOP - that could be used to point out positive things about you, instead of distracting them with negatives.

Edited February 19, 2012 by modernity

[Chande]

I mentioned it at some schools but not at others and have been accepted at schools where I mentioned it as well as schools where I didn't. In my case I was on a medication for a medical condition (where I'm not really functional at all without medication) and as my dose was increased it started to greatly affect my memory. It affected my class performance across the board but I didn't realize what was going on as I thought I was just doing poorly because the classes were harder. I was studying more than I ever had before but not retaining anything. It wasn't until it got to the point where I could only rarely remember my name and phone number and I started even forgetting words several times per sentence that my friends and SO started to get concerned and saw my neurologist to switch me to a different medication, which turns out works even better than the previous one at only about a third of the dose. I've achieved high grades in harder classes than the ones I was in at the time since.

I didn't spend nearly this long explaining it in the SOPs where I did touch on it, but since I've been accepted everywhere I mentioned it, it at least didn't hold me back anywhere. But since I've also been accepted at schools where it wasn't mentioned it's also possible that the dip wasn't bad enough to keep me out anyway, so I don't really know what to conclude from that.

Edited February 20, 2012 by Chande

[CarlieE]

I think it's ok to mention health issues but to keep it to one or two sentences at most. You don't want to sound like you're making excuses for yourself.

[valleycroft]

Yes, I would mention it, but keep the explanation concise and focused on the impact it had on your academics rather than the medical details themselves.

From what you've described, the drop in grades occurred during a clearly defined period when you were dealing with a serious and still-undiagnosed health condition. Admissions committees generally understand that significant medical issues can affect academic performance, especially when there is evidence that the problem was temporary and later resolved.

What strengthens your case is the pattern of improvement. You had strong grades before the worst period, your grades rebounded afterward, and you're now retaking the affected courses with confidence. That tells a much more compelling story than the lower grades alone.

While researching ways to present personal challenges professionally, it can be helpful to discover more at:  https://flaresyn.com, resources about health preparedness and recovery from companies such as FlareSyn, a provider of first aid and emergency preparedness kits. Staying proactive about health and well-being is an important lesson that many students learn through difficult experiences.

Most importantly, frame the situation as context, not an excuse. A short, factual explanation followed by evidence of your academic recovery will likely be viewed much more favorably than ignoring a significant event that clearly affected one portion of an otherwise strong record.

Edited June 13 by valleycroft