Nowhere to address a low GPA in SOP

[shadowclaw]

So I've been working on my SOPs for various schools (I'm applying to biology/ecology programs), and while some of them have fairly general SOP requirements, a few of them (such as WUSTL and UNC) have very specific prompts. For example, the UNC application asks for 2 essays. One is a statement of research interests, proposed methods, and career goals, and the second is a statement of research experiences and how they relate to those interests and goals.

 

I have some cruddy grades in my undergrad record, though all from non-science majors (I change majors a few times). I've been trying to decide if I should briefly acknowledge the rough patch and highlight my near perfect academic record ever since and my success in my masters program, or if I should just leave it out entirely and let the adcomm figure it out for themselves from my transcripts. It seems the decision has been made for me, since some apps (like UNC) do not even give me the opportunity to discuss anything except research. I feel like I may be at a disadvantage by not being able to address the issue, but there really isn't anyway I can slip a sentence or two about it into the essays.

 

I'm not sure if I really have question to pose to the forum since there doesn't seem to be anything I can really do about it. I guess I'm just looking for someone to tell me if I should sit and worry about my application for the next couple months, or submit it and forget it for a while (which wouldn't happen anyway, but still). Of course, maybe I really shouldn't worry about it, since two of my LOR writers are aware of my academic record and will include in their LORs that the adcomm should ignore that part of my history and focus on all the good stuff that's happened recently.

 

Any thoughts are appreciated, even if you're in the same boat as me and just want to commiserate!

[jetvermillion]

I think you should definitely address it, even if it's only in a few sentences. Email the programs person of contact on where you can address it. I am in the same boat. Some have told me exactly where to attach it (as a separate doc somewhere in the app), some have said to put it in my SOP

[Texan_Air]

I never put my reason in my Personal Statement because I didn't want to throw off the strength of the meaning. But advice on doing that seems to be mixed when researching on the internet. To be honest, I think it is right on a case by case situation. My situation was that my first year was pretty bad due to working full time to support myself after my dad lost his job, which affected my grades and left my overall gpa low. My major GPA was .35 higher so I made sure to highlight that in my resume. Application communities state they look at your junior and senior courses and like to see a upward trend.

 

But one of my applications had a "Extenuating Circumstances" optional statement and I made sure to write in that statement. But just keep in mind that a circumstance can't necessarily mean a excuse for all bad grades received during your entire undergraduate.

[shadowclaw]

Thanks for your thoughts! In some of my SOPs, I briefly mentioned that the poor grades occurred (something along the lines of "I stumbled a bit as I began my college career"), then followed it up with "look at my dean's list grades and wonderful research and volunteer activities" and commented on how my past experiences have made me really value my education and the opportunities that have come up.

 

I'm hoping the strength of both my undergrad research project and master's thesis will be the factor that pushes the adcomm into a favorable direction. It's true that many schools state that they look at your last two years of undergrad and weigh it more heavily than the first two... but in my case there is a lot of really, really bad stuff floating around prior to my last three years of undergrad. Although there is also plenty of good stuff, too, like several 4.0 semesters. In any event, I still think it will come down to my research experience and my research interests rather than my grades. I still don't have anywhere to fit in any comments about the grade trend in UNC's application, though!