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Certain
parts of your application may call for an explanation.
Such aspects might include any of the following:
-
Undergraduate grades
-
Entrance
exam scores
-
Deficiency in the number of letters of
recommendation submitted
-
Lack of
work experience
-
Lack of
extracurricular activities
-
Why you
are applying again after being denied previously
-
Gaps in
the chronological account of your education or
employment
-
Disciplinary action by an institution of higher
education
-
Criminal
record
Under what
circumstances should you use your personal statement to
explain a particular deficiency, weakness, or other
blemish? First of all, the application might explicitly
invite you to explain deficiencies, weaknesses,
aberrations, or any other aspect of the application that
might not accurately reflect your abilities or potential
and fitness for graduate study. Almost without
exception, schools ask specifically about the last two
items above (see Disclosing Skeletons in Your Closet
below). Although most applications do not explicitly
provide room for such explanations of the other items,
the schools nevertheless permit and generally encourage
applicants to provide brief explanations. Most schools
suggest that you attach an addendum to your personal
statement for this purpose, reserving the personal
statement itself for positive information about
yourself. If you are in doubt about the policy and
preferred procedure of a particular school, contact the
school directly.
Another
point you should keep in mind is whether you have a
valid reason. Staying up late the night before the GRE
is not a legitimate reason for a bad performance, while
documented sickness could be. A particularly bad
semester could be explained by a death or illness in the
family. If you lack research experience, you might point
out the number of hours you had to work to make college
more affordable for you and your family.
There are
many more gray areas. For example, is it worth noting
that you simply have a bad history of standardized
testing? Doing so tactfully (in other words, don't rail
against the arbitrariness of tests or demand the right
to be considered for your grades alone) can help the
schools understand your exact situation, but it most
likely won't have a substantial effect on their
perspective, since they know to take into account the
imprecision of standardized tests. What about the class
for which you simply did not grasp the material, or a
subpar GPA during your freshman year? Again, what you
have to say won't constitute an extenuating
circumstance, since everyone has weaknesses and faces
the same challenge of adjusting to college. Your best
approach might be to try to transform such blemishes
into something positive by pointing out particular
courses in which you performed well, especially those
that were more advanced, more relevant to your intended
career path, or more recent.
Finally,
make sure that you do not take a contentious tone. Don't
accuse your teachers of unfair grading standards or
complain about lack of extracurricular opportunities at
your school. Be clear that you're not trying to excuse
yourself of responsibility, but emphasize that you
simply want the schools to have the complete picture.
Disclosing Skeletons In Your Closet
Perhaps you
were once the subject of disciplinary action at your
undergraduate college. Should you inform the school
about this in your application? If so, should you
include this discussion in your personal statement? In
all likelihood, the application will inquire about
academic discipline as well as a criminal record. You
will undoubtedly be denied admission (or expelled if you
are already matriculating) if the school discovers that
you have intentionally concealed disciplinary action or
criminal conviction. The admissions committee may very
well overlook that indiscretion of youth (i.e. during
your freshman year of college) if you bring it into the
open and explain the circumstances. Many applicants do
not fully appreciate that admissions officials make
every effort to afford applicants the benefit of the
doubt in such cases. |
