Worth mentioning a serious illness in SOP?

[nakuu]

Hoping for some people to weigh in on an issue with my SOP that i'm not quite sure how to deal with. It might sound ridiculous but i just want to cover all my bases!

 

In short, i got a C in a survey course which covered Renaissance Italy in my second year of undergrad. My degree is in Political Science so i was taking it mostly because it fit in my schedule (although it was quite interesting). This was a 0.5 credit course (meaning Sept-Dec) and i became seriously ill, then was hospitalized and couldn't return to school for the rest of the year because i needed the time to recover. This meant that i was able to wipe my transcript during that year since the rest of the courses i was taking were full year but the "C" remained. I decided to keep it since it felt like a waste to go through an entire semester without any credits to show for it.

 

Now, I'm a bit worried that it looks like I was lazy and only took half a credit in an entire year managing only a C! I'm not sure whether this is even worth mentioning in a SOP?

 

For me, the reasons not to mention it seem to be:
A) It was in second year, and it's the only C on my transcript

It's not even relevant to my major (Poli sci)

 

Perhaps i'm just overthinking it as the deadlines for applications approach, but i'd really appreciate some input!

[thegirldetective]

I'd mention it, since it looks like that was the only course you did that year. Maybe not in your main SOP (which should be about selling yourself) but in an additional "extenuating circumstances" document.

[nakuu]

I am not able to upload any documents except my SOP so if i did mention it then it would have to take up some space in my SOP. It's already 1 page which seems to be the limit for most programs i'm applying to.

 

I'm worried that i'd be flagging something that seems irrelevant. Also, my illness is incurable so i'm also concerned that it could be held against me. I know that would be considered discrimination but i'd never be able to prove that they passed on me because i was a 'risk' due to health reasons.

Edited January 22, 2014 by nakuu

[RomulusAugustulus]

You could say something like "Despite having to withdraw my sophomore year due to illness, I returned to..." etc., etc., something about how well you did when you came back. That way, you don't have to call explicit attention to that .5 credit "C", but if they're wondering, you've got an explanation for them. It is actually probably a good idea to mention something about this, since you were out of school a year, the admissions committee will probably expect some brief explanation of why you took a year off. (Does it say something like "medical leave" on your transcript?) Also, no need to mention that your illness is chronic (and frankly, don't, because it isn't relevant to an SOP). 

[nakuu]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

It doesn't offer any explanation in my transcript to maintain confidentiality so it looks no different compared to a student who decided to take 0.5 credit for an entire year. I also asked my profs about this and they responded along the same lines that it would be "useful for the commitee" to have this information to explain my absence.

 

Unfortunately the deadline for one application already passed so nothing i can do about that but at least i can include it in my remaining ones.

[Scat Detector]

I encountered something similar, where you need to mention something but dont want to be excluded on the basis of mentioning it.

My first round of apps on 2010 i did half where i mention it and half where i did not.

Some schools refused to take my payment for the application fee and returned my application with an email that said "Dont apply  here. we didnt charge you your application fee either"

 

The other half i was wait listed and accepted when i omitted these details from my SOP. The ones I mentioned it was politely worded such as the example above making brief mention and moving onto the rest of the statement. 

[Scat Detector]

Mentioning something of this kind is really an all or nothing type of thing. If you mention it, then its worse to be ambiguous. the ambiguity of your brief statements leave their imagination wandering all over. That results in rejection.

 

However, contact program coordinators individually and request to provide an additional letter of explanation for extenuating circumstances that are reflected on your transcript.