<p>So I’m about to apply to physics grad schools. One important event occured in my personal life, which was my father’s illness and eventual passing away. I was doing alright in my undergrad, and had a 3.8 major gpa, until my last semester, where I rushed to complete my units asap so my father could see me graduate in time. As a result, my major gpa fell to a 3.63, which isn’t exactly great compared to other physics applicants. But my gpa also fell that quarter because I spent alot more time on my research with a prof than I expected</p>
<p>Should I mention that family issue I faced in my SOP? Or would it make my SOP sound negative and thus sound worse than not mentioning it at all? Or perhaps I should just ask the prof who knew me the best to mention it in his LOR?</p>
<p>Ask the professor to mention it, rather than explicitly stating your issues in the statement. The professor could say “…was a wonderful student whose grades slipped because of a family illness and the dedication that he/she showed towards my research”. This should suffice.</p>
<p>My impression after reading boards for years and helping my kids research and get into MD & PhD & MA settings, nearly everybody has something that has happened to make their results less than their potential, the profs have heard it all. Do not mention it yourself, because it sounds like an excuse even when it is the truth. Ask your LOR writer what they think, if they feel it merits a mention, they can do so.</p>
<p>ok, I’ll ask my main LOR writer to mention it. I should just ask that prof who knows me best, right? My 2nd LOR will come from a prof I did a summer research project with 2 years ago, so should I ask him to mention it also? My 3rd LOR doesn’t know me as well as the previous two. I’m just asking for his LOR since theres no one else I could ask</p>