Mentioning chronic illness/a peer connection in SOP?

[falernian]

Hi everyone,

 

This forum has been really, really helpful. I've been combing through old posts and didn't see two questions I have answered--was wondering if anyone has any advice?

 

1. I dealt with a really severe chronic illness in undergrad. It forced me to miss spring semester of my freshman year, and caused me a lot of problems throughout all four years (absences bumping As down to A-s, etc.) Despite this, I was really determined to double major, get departmental honors, and graduate on time, which I somehow managed to pull off. I'm kind of proud of it, it was a huge struggle and took a lot of work, but I'm worried that mentioning a chronic illness will immediately make programs worry that the same sort of thing could flare up again in grad school. On the other hand, I feel like it explains the odd blank semester on my transcript, and might help show how determined I am to do well in school. Is it something I should mention in passing, or would it be better left for a rec writer to address?

 

2. One of my best friends attended my number one school in the mid 2000s--she was their top candidate and did really well. I mentioned her name in passing in an outreach email to my POI there ("One of my closest friends, ____, is a graduate of the program, and has always spoken very highly of her experience. After discussing my specific research interests with her, she strongly suggested looking into your work and considering applying to ____.") He remembered her and was glad to hear she is doing well. Would it be helpful include this same kind of reference in my SOP, or is that not the place?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

[Sigaba]

Were I in your position, I would not mention the chronic illness, not only for the reason you mentioned, but also for the additional concern that one or more of the Powers That Be could have a negative reaction to the disclosure and hold your disclosure against you. The nicest professors in the world can also be hard asses from time to time.

 

I would not mention the friend at all. Not only do you risk coming across as a name dropper, you also don't know how the Powers That Be really feel about her. (If she's really the cat's pajamas and your close friend, she will find a way to throw in a good word on your behalf anyways.  )

 

My $0.02.

[falernian]

You've been the best with helping out today, thank you . Your reasoning totally makes sense to me. Do you think the missed semester should be addressed at all, maybe by a letter writer? I don't want them thinking I have something to hide by not mentioning it at all, you know? 

[LittleDarlings]

I mentioned my disability in my SOP, my situation is different in that I wrote about it to explain my motivation to go into this specific field. I don't see the harm in mentioning as a reason for the gaps in your transcript. I wouldn't harp on it but just a mention about how despite your illness you managed to accomplish all that you did. If that makes sense

[danieleWrites]

I have epilepsy and ADHD. I mentioned none of it at any time during the application process. Considering my epilepsy was large and in charge through three degrees and half a semester of adjuncting (and collecting data on the programs I was interested in applying to), some people would consider it relevant in light of my requirement to TA. But blah. It affected my grades and gave me a metric ton of credit hours in the first field I tried, but couldn't pull off because the epilepsy got in the way too much. I got into my preferred school. I got into my preferred school with two blank semesters and one semester with really bad grades that were later not-bad-grades when I retook the courses. I have Rs on my transcript.

 

The problem with illness and disabilities is that they are not allowed to judge you based on disability or illness, but it's human nature to do it anyway, particularly when professors have heard every "I was too sick to do homework/take the test/show up for class (but not too sick to par-tay! hope you don't find out!)" in the book. If you bring it up, do so in a positive way. My brush with tuberculosis brought about my interest in Keats....

 

As for the second, your SOP should focus on you. What are you interested in researching? What can you bring to the program? How does the program fit your interests? What makes you a better candidate than anyone else? Name drop your research interests and the faculty that can help you. Your friend is good for a casual mention with the POI or DGS, but not in the SOP where you want the attention focused on you.

[Kermit]

I have struggled with the same thing. I didn't mentioned in my pos when applying for my MA the other year and I'm not including it with my PhD applications this year. Do you have any indication that you are a student with disabilities? I got registered with my school so they can find out on my transcript/call the school for verification if they are interested in it. However, its never explicitly mentioned. 

 

PS I have epilepsy too, it sucks. Last year I had a seizure on the metro and totally peed everywhere on my way to TA. 

[falernian]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

 

jkirtz, unfortunately my condition wasn't the sort of thing you could classify as a disability--I've basically been hit with a double whammy of a digestive disease and an autoimmune disease, both of which are much more under control now than they were, but still. There's definitely medical documentation of everything on file at the university, but I don't know how much that will help me.

 

All things considered, the only real impact it had on me transcript-wise was that missing semester and a bunch of A-s instead of As in my major from one particular professor. It sounds like a lot of you have been doing alright just not mentioning it at all... that might be the route I take, just to be on the safe side. 

[Loric]

Mentioning a medical condition as a reason for A- versus A makes you sound like an academia-gold-star-chaser, one of those people who cares about grades and not work in the actual profession. Like you'd sort a professor's laundry if you knew it'd get you an A and not an A-.

 

Hit the wrong person on an Adcomm with that sort of notion and they'll do their best to sink you.

 

Just keep that in mind when you write your stuff.

 

And you seriously just said "unfortunately it wasn't a disbability." - so really think hard about what you put before an adcom.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Loric

[fuzzylogician]

Mentioning a medical condition as a reason for A- versus A makes you sound like an academia-gold-star-chaser, one of those people who cares about grades and not work in the actual profession. Like you'd sort a professor's laundry if you knew it'd get you an A and not an A-.

 

Hit the wrong person on an Adcomm with that sort of notion and they'll do their best to sink you.

 

Just keep that in mind when you write your stuff.

 

And you seriously just said "unfortunately it wasn't a disbability." - so really think hard about what you put before an adcom.

 

Two things. First, some people care about their grades and about all kinds of other things. There is nothing wrong with wanting good grades and with realizing that lower grades can affect things such as admissions to graduate school and funding, which could affect a person's ability to obtain the training they need for the career of their choice. I don't know where you get that stuff about laundry. The OP has a serious question about a medical condition that has affected their performance.

 

Second, having a serious medical condition that is not recognized as a disability is unfortunate because you don't get the help and recognition that you otherwise might, but it still seriously affects your life. It is unfortunate to have chronic diseases.

 

OP -- you got some good advice above, in particular from Sigaba, danieleWrites, and jkirtz. I'd follow it. Good luck!

[Loric]

You do realize for something to be a disability it has to disable you, right?

 

As in, "illness i got over and am fine now" or "illness that i can live with and function at a totally normal level with treatment" is not even in the same league as a disability.

 

Saying it's unfortunate that your life wasn't permanently changed to make you disabled - as in unable to function normally on a continuing and on going basis - is the epitome of everything that's wrong with the mindset this place fosters.

[Loric]

And further - precisely what "recognition" are you talking about?

 

Oh right, exactly what I assumed - the "recognition" of an impact on a fractional slip of grades for one semester. "Oh woe is me, I'm not permanently disabled so a tiny fractional insignifigant drop in my grades wont be seen as part life changing event that did not actually occur but I'm so devestated because I feel I need a life altering permanently debilitating event in order to explain the most minute change in my grades for a single semester."

 

Yeah, that IS how crazy you all sound.

[fuzzylogician]

On 12/5/2013 at 10:27 AM, Loric said:

You do realize for something to be a disability it has to disable you, right?

 

As in, "illness i got over and am fine now" or "illness that i can live with and function at a totally normal level with treatment" is not even in the same league as a disability.

 

I speak of my own personal experience, but my impression was that the OP's experience is similar to mine. I've dealt with an illness of the kind that can majorly disrupt your life but is not categorized as a disability. Eventually I learned to manage it, balance my medications, and most importantly - listen to my body and know its limitations. For me, this means keeping a very regular schedule, aggressively guarding my sleep hours and rest, planning a heck of a lot of my time in advance, and giving up on various activities that would over-tax my body, which my friends and colleagues regularly participate in. This all is not a complaint, everybody has something or other deal with and some is much worse than this, but the point is that being able to function normally has come at important costs and sacrifices that healthy people don't even need to think about. If you are going to hold my accomplishments against me as a proof that there is nothing wrong with me, then there is something flawed in your logic.

 

On 12/5/2013 at 10:27 AM, Loric said:

Saying it's unfortunate that your life wasn't permanently changed to make you disabled - as in unable to function normally on a continuing and on going basis - is the epitome of everything that's wrong with the mindset this place fosters.

 

You get extra points for creative reading of my post but you fail at comprehension.

 

 

On 12/5/2013 at 10:30 AM, Loric said:

And further - precisely what "recognition" are you talking about?

 

Oh right, exactly what I assumed - the "recognition" of an impact on a fractional slip of grades for one semester. "Oh woe is me, I'm not permanently disabled so a tiny fractional insignifigant drop in my grades wont be seen as part life changing event that did not actually occur but I'm so devestated because I feel I need a life altering permanently debilitating event in order to explain the most minute change in my grades for a single semester."

 

Yeah, that IS how crazy you all sound.

 

More points for creative reading, here.

 

I've been fortunate to attend a school that has been very forthcoming in accommodating my needs, e.g. with regard to TA assignments and such. However, everything that they have done has been a sort of favor to me, out of kindness, and could stop if it didn't suit them any longer. I need to explain personal details about my health to roughly two new people (professors, admin assistants) a semester and hope for their kindness. I happen to get it very often, but I'd really much rather not have to reveal such personal information and instead just say I have been diagnosed condition X that requires consideration Y and be done with it. Since it's not recognized, however, I end up having to explain why a request that may seem small or petty to some can make the difference between me being a happy and healthy person and being constantly tired and hence unhealthy, unproductive and generally unhappy for 3-4 months (the semester + some recovery time).

 

When I was in undergrad this would have affected my grades (also my health, happiness, loved ones, etc) and hence my ability to get into a good grad school. In grad school, it affects my research productivity and in some cases it might affect my effectiveness as a teacher and hence affect my students. This in turn would affect how my profile might look when I graduate and hence what postdoc or assistant prof positions I might be hired for. That is, it might affect major life goals. Your trivializing how a chronic illness affects a person once it's balanced reflects a very narrow-minded way of thinking, which I find very sad.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Why did you steal fuzzy's avatar? Now I'm confused.