DrewlSantaCruz

I am applying for grad school right now for next fall. I have a really good grades overall, 3.6 cumulative gpa, 3.8 last two years and the lowest quarter gpa I ever got was 3.3. Then one quarter I got a NonPass (doesn't count towards gap) and two b minuses for 2.7 gpa. Its not that horrible, except the NP.

I had a legit reason. I got the flu twice in a 10 week quarter, once midway, then during finals week. I missed alot of class especially towards the end and then messed up the finals.

This quarter was very unlike any other. I had two quarters since and done well.

So should I bring it up or ignore it? If I give a one or two sentence explanation about the flu at the end of my SOP does it sound too much like a cop out or is it worth it?

vader1990

Dear OP,

You should include this in the application (where it asks to list anything else pertinent to your application). I don't know/think it will affect you that much overall, but its always nice to include information that is in your favor. Best case, they give you the benefit, worst case they ignore it (I don't think they would count your explanation against you; we're all human, we get sick sometimes, crap happens). Either way, you don't lose anything.

Best wishes,
-DV

juillet

With a 3.6 cumulative and a 3.8 major GPA, I wouldn't even mention this. I had a semester with two Ws and an F on my transcript and I didn't talk about it (I had medical reasons too) and I still got in. I definitely wouldn't be explaining two B-s.

spectastic

I had D-, D+ and F coming into college from high school in classes I had no business taking (diff eq, linear algebra, etc); granted, I bombed due to a variety of reasons, not just heavy workload. I also had a semester where I dropped 3-4 classes to part time in order to accommodate a personal issue. My adviser advised me to address these things briefly. So based on the feedback given above, should I not view these grades as red flags?