Should I mention failing to get into PhD programs last year in SOP?

[NMDA]

I am starting to work on my Statement of Purpose (SOP) for this coming fall's PhD applications for the Fall 2017 semester.  I applied to 6 PhD programs (all top schools), but didn't get into any of them.  I emailed the department head at one of the schools I applied to and asked what could have been better about my application, and he alluded to certain key courses that were lacking on my transcript. Since I received his email, I took it upon myself to take a bunch of classes that were lacking on my transcript and increase my competitiveness for this fall's application.

There's already a topic on whether or not one should mention failures in the SOP; however, should I mention failing to get into PhD programs last year and how I improved since last year?  On one hand, this could appear as I am very motivated to keep pursuing the PhD (I didn't quit after not being accepted last year), and on the other hand, mentioning that I had previously applied to PhD programs and was not accepted to any may tarnish my application.  

[sjoh197]

I had the same situation where I applied one year and got in nowhere... and then reapplied. 

I didn't mention my failure.... despite the fact that one of the schools was a repeat application, so they could already see that I had previously applied. It is one thing to explain obvious "failures", such as poor marks due to outside circumstances... or quitting school and coming back sometime later to finish. 

But the not getting in last season isn't an obvious to them and I personally wouldn't point it out. 

[Concordia]

You have been improving your skills/knowledge and making yourself an even better candidate.  Let them guess why.

[fuzzylogician]

Your goal is to present yourself to the adcom in the most favorable and appealing way, so they flag you as a definite admit. So of course you want to talk about all of your recent experience and everything you've done to improve your profile in the past several years. But there is no point that I can see to explicitly discussing failures. That just won't advance your case. They will be able to see for themselves that you graduated X time ago and didn't go to grad school immediately, and they'll see that you've done some relevant work to improve your application. They may guess that you tried to apply before and were denied or they may not. Either way, it doesn't really matter. What matters is what you are doing now and how you'll fit into their program. So tl;dr: discuss successes, don't dwell on failures, unless it's short, to the point, and drives home a message about a further success. 

[jazzmintea]

I have a similar question. I failed last year and plan to apply to the same program again. Would it be OK to write an entirely new "story" about my academic and research interests etc...? Would the adcom refer to my last year's application?

[fuzzylogician]

Yes, it should be fine to write a new and very different SOP. I assume nothing you'll say now will explicitly contradict what you said in the past, just that you might emphasize different aspects of your past experience or that you might have developed new interests based on whatever it is that you've been doing and thinking about since last year. That is not a problem at all even if they do remember your old application (which they might, if you were close to the top last time, and wouldn't be a bad thing) or look it up (which is possible but less likely). 

[AP]

Failures are opportunities. Present yourself as having seized an opportunity. There is no point in highlighting what you couldn't do. Highlight what you actually did. Don't play defense, play offense!  Get in those programs!! 

[Quickmick]

If you re-apply to the program that provided that feedback it might be worth considering mentioning due to the fact that you went out and addressed their concerns. Otherwise, I wouldn't mention it, just let the improved app materials do the talking. Most SOP length requirements are pretty tight and that might not be the best use of space. Just my 2¢.