Stressing about my personal statement

[Farmcat1]

I have been completely stressed out about writing my personal statement for my grad program.  It took me 4 years to complete my Associate's degree because of drug/alcohol addiction and general lack of motivation and enthusiasm for my academic career.  I entered into rehab and have been sober for over 3 years.  I completed my BS with a 3.88 GPA, but I know I will have to explain my low GPA and gaps in semesters during the time I was using drugs and drinking.  My transcripts show a clear mark from before treatment and after treatment, but how much should I talk about how my addictions made me the person I am today?  Is there anyone out there that has told this kind of story AND gotten into grad school??? 

[avflinsch]

Your final gpa is what matters, and the 3.88 is nothing to be ashamed about. You really don't need to mention anything that you are uncomfortable with in your personal statement. If you really wanted to reference it, you could always say something along the lines of "It took me a while to complete my Associates degree because I was having difficulty finding my focus, but after taking some personal time I realized where I needed to be..."

FWIW - I had no focus at all during my early undergrad years - changed direction several times before taking a 20 year absence from academia. I didn't return to finish my undergrad until I was 46, and finally finished it when I was 52. After that it was straight thru the masters and now starting the PhD.

While our reasons for taking a long time may be different, what matters is that once you found your focus you showed a great deal of determination in getting things done.

 

 

[_kita]

First off, congratulations on being 3 years into recovery. I know how much that changes your life and becomes infused in every part of your decision making and life. It sounds life recovery has made you who you are and helped you guide your future.

That being said, admissions committees do not need to know anything about your recovery, youthful indiscretions, or any other personal details of your life. If you don't discuss your "younger years" the committee will simply thing that you just needed more time to find out your passion. They really don't think that everyone should be 7 years old with their life planned out. Different people need more time. The stark contrast between associates and bachelors will only solidify that assessment. The personal statement can be crafted as a "where I want to go from here" instead of a "where I've come from." You can discuss classes that changed your life, questions or professional problems you want to solve, or anything else.

As for if the recovery story can get you into grad school, depends on the program. My counseling masters program expressly asked me to discuss a time that I helped someone. Other schools want a diversity statement. The problem is the word count. When a school really wants a short concise statement saying where you want to go, the recovery story usually takes up most of the room. It's impressive, but often times irrelevant to what they want to know.

When I wrote out my personal statements, I wrote several drafts. The first one was a personal summary/chronology. That helped me brainstorm. I suggest writing down your recovery story anyways - just to write it. That might help you see ideas and concepts that will strengthen your actual statement when you begin drafting it as well as being cathartic.

[Farmcat1]

On 10/26/2017 at 4:48 AM, avflinsch said:

Your final gpa is what matters, and the 3.88 is nothing to be ashamed about. You really don't need to mention anything that you are uncomfortable with in your personal statement. If you really wanted to reference it, you could always say something along the lines of "It took me a while to complete my Associates degree because I was having difficulty finding my focus, but after taking some personal time I realized where I needed to be..."

FWIW - I had no focus at all during my early undergrad years - changed direction several times before taking a 20 year absence from academia. I didn't return to finish my undergrad until I was 46, and finally finished it when I was 52. After that it was straight thru the masters and now starting the PhD.

While our reasons for taking a long time may be different, what matters is that once you found your focus you showed a great deal of determination in getting things done.

 

 

6

Thanks so much for the advice and congrats to YOU for completing your masters! Best of luck with the PhD!  

[Farmcat1]

On 10/26/2017 at 6:06 AM, _kita said:

First off, congratulations on being 3 years into recovery. I know how much that changes your life and becomes infused in every part of your decision making and life. It sounds life recovery has made you who you are and helped you guide your future.

That being said, admissions committees do not need to know anything about your recovery, youthful indiscretions, or any other personal details of your life. If you don't discuss your "younger years" the committee will simply thing that you just needed more time to find out your passion. They really don't think that everyone should be 7 years old with their life planned out. Different people need more time. The stark contrast between associates and bachelors will only solidify that assessment. The personal statement can be crafted as a "where I want to go from here" instead of a "where I've come from." You can discuss classes that changed your life, questions or professional problems you want to solve, or anything else.

As for if the recovery story can get you into grad school, depends on the program. My counseling masters program expressly asked me to discuss a time that I helped someone. Other schools want a diversity statement. The problem is the word count. When a school really wants a short concise statement saying where you want to go, the recovery story usually takes up most of the room. It's impressive, but often times irrelevant to what they want to know.

When I wrote out my personal statements, I wrote several drafts. The first one was a personal summary/chronology. That helped me brainstorm. I suggest writing down your recovery story anyways - just to write it. That might help you see ideas and concepts that will strengthen your actual statement when you begin drafting it as well as being cathartic.

Thanks so much for the response.  I free-wrote about 5 pages, and you're right- it's a verrrrry long story.  I'm going to take the "where I want to go from here" route.  Thank you for your help!

[_kita]

You're welcome! I'm glad it helped.