Will adcoms just see this as an excuse?

arduouspallor
Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:17:56 +0000

I will be as short as possible.

This summer and beginning of the school year were really stressful for me (family/financial problems caused in part by my dad getting liver cancer). Everything is great now (financial problems still there, but my dad’s cancer free), but my grades took a small dip (due to various reasons revolving around this). (The BEST my grades can be is B, B+, C/B-, B, A.)

I wouldn’t be worried if I wasn’t aiming for schools like Tufts/UC Berkeley/UCLA.

There’s a huge difference between my first and second quarter grades (for example, I got a 76% on one of my first calculus tests and got a 97% on a recent one. 77% on AP Chem exam, 113% on the most recent one) Of course, the grade averages out to a B (C-work first quarter, A-work second quarter).

I really don’t think my grades reflect my potential or academic ability. It just reflects someone who didn’t know how to balance her schoolwork and personal life. I definitely learned from this, and as you can see, my scores have gotten better.

What I’m wondering is: is it worth it to write a letter explaning (not looking for an excuse, but would it be seen that way?) this and have my counselor attach it to the midyear report? She also wouldn’t mind writing about it instead.

Thanks.