Mention slightly low GPA in SOP?

[bigDbag]

I'm applying for a program where the average undergrad GPA for the current class is 3.67, but my GPA is only a 3.42. My GRE scores are a little above their average by a point or two, and I think I'm going to have really positive letters of rec. My question is, should I talk about my GPA and why it might be lower? I don't know if this would do more harm than good. My explanation would be something along the lines of, two summers ago, I had an internship in this particular discipline and I found that I really want to do that. Since this internship, my GPA has been a 3.65 and 3.73. That being said, I was taking fewer engineering courses for these two semesters than in the previous semesters where my GPA was lower (ranging from 3.2-3.3).

[Munashi]

I'm not in your field, but I wouldn't bring it up.  It's not that low, and you might end up just drawing attention to it.

[commodork]

I'm in a very similar situation and I wound up mentioning it (at least where I had room) because I had some personal stuff my first two years, but have gotten straight A's since. My impression is that it's a good thing to mention, as admissions would rather see improvement when considering a lower than average GPA.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about drawing attention to it, as Munashi mentioned. They'll see the GPA either way, but may need the improvement pointed out to them. Who knows, though. We're all just guessing 

[ducktape]

Only mention it if you have some great "personal history" story you can mention it as part of. E.g. "That fall, as I went from healthy college student to cancer patient in the course of three months, I discovered a deep appreciation and interest in the treatments flowing through my veins (though my transcript from Fall '13 may indicate otherwise)"-- also, I totally made that up, so no, I did not have cancer, and if you did-- please don't take offense, you're stronger than I.

 

Otherwise, why make something an issue that might not be an issue? If the average is 3.67, I would imagine you're within a std dev-- and at that point the quality of your undergrad education and research will matter more in proving yourself that GPA.

 

Chill out. The admissions committees are smart people.

[cafe_au_lait]

I had a very similar situation to commodork (the first two years' GPA wasn't terrible or anything), but opted not to mention it. I was on the fence. I am hoping improvement is obvious and viewed positively.