Mature student with chronic illness needs grad school application advice

[JennNick]

Hi,

 

I am new to these forums and so apologize in advance if I've missed a similar post(s) where my questions have already been answered.  So, I am a 40-year old student who recently graduated with a BS in Wildlife Biology. I am applying to several graduate programs including a Master of Veterinary Public Health and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Zoology and Wildlife Conservation. I also have a chronic illness for which there is no cure, so it will be with me through my graduate career. The symptoms of my illness wax and wane in flairs. I completed my BS degree with a 3.96 GPA; however, most semesters I took 11 hours rather than 12 (the amount of hours considered "full time"), and I also did not participate in many school activities, leadership positions, etc. as most of my time spent outside of my studies was spent traveling back and forth to doctors appointments and specialists out of town, researching experimental treatments for my condition (which is very rare), and trying to maintain my health. I am worried that my lack of leadership roles and participation in extracurricular activities will not look good on my app. I did do a lot of volunteer work at a zoo for years and have had some leadership experience in the professional world prior to going back to school. However, that leadership experience was in a totally unrelated field. So, I feel I need to address my lack in these areas in my personal statement. To do so would involve mentioning my chronic illness, which I have read on some topics here that is not recommended. So my questions is, do I go ahead & mention my chronic illness to explain my lack in these areas, or is there perhaps a different way this should be handled? Sorry for the long post. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[nugget]

Do you meet basic admission requirements in terms of the number of hours that you currently have? This is important because having related experience shows admissions committees that you are interested in the field (sometime students think they are interested in something but they aren't after they try it out) and have a basic skill set needed to succeed at school. If you do not meet minimum requirements, you may want to try explaining why but realize that this strategy may backfire if applications are initially weeded out based on minimum entry requirements.

 

If you meet minimum requirements but are simply lacking extra hours to stand out as a stronger applicant, consider speaking to some of your references about this. If any of them are aware of your health issues, perhaps they could strategically and tactfully mention this in a reference letter. This could stregthen your application depending on how it's framed and your story will also be more credible if it comes from your profs.

 

If this isn't an option for you and you still wish to mention it in your SOP, I'd try my best to frame it as a strength rather than an excuse. Could your health challenges have helped prepare you for this program in some sort of way? ie: influenced your research interests, etc... (sorry, I'm not in your field so I can't offer much in terms of suggestions). Focus on the benefits of your health challenges rather than the problems it created to strengthen your application.

Edited October 13, 2014 by jenste

[JennNick]

Hi jenste,

 

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have the minimum requirements, just not the extra activities, etc. to make my application stand out. Good idea about possibly getting my profs. to mention my completion of the program despite my health issues. I will talk to them about that. Yeah, I didn't want to sound as if I were just providing excuses.

 

Thanks again

[TakeruK]

Extra activities like student leadership positions do not really make any difference towards most grad school admission decisions so I wouldn't draw attention to your illness by trying to explain why you didn't do these extras. Grad schools don't really care about extra-curriculars. 

 

It might be a concern that you did not maintain full time status throughout your entire undergrad degree and that it doesn't sound like you have research experience. However, you can probably explain the first part without mentioning your illness if you don't want to, and the second part is nice to have, but not every grad student has a ton of research experience either. 

 

I agree with jenste that if you do want/need to mention your illness, you can frame it as a positive instead of an excuse!

[Admissions Advice Online]

Hello,

 

As always, I recommend that applicants NEVER mention anything negative in their SOP. Remember, your SOP should always come from a standpoint of strength. Also, as a 40 year old applicant, you will not be expected to have a extra curricular activities  portfolio as robust as let's say a traditional undergraduate. However, there will be no excuse for a complete lack of involvement. Just highlight the experiences that you do have and frame them as best as you can. -Admissions Advice Online

[JennNick]

Thanks for the replies. Now I feel better about not having a lot of extra activities to list. I do have 1 semester of undergrad research so I will make sure to discuss that. I really appreciate the feedback!