<p>Say I had a very traumatic event happen in my life that resulted in lower grades/absence in my classes. How would I tactfully work that into my essay as an explanation/excuse of sorts?</p>
<p>If i were you, i wouldn’t state directly that the death was the reason for your poor grades. I would instead showcase how traumatic it was and imply that it affected other things and let the reader decipher on their own that it probably had an effect on your school work also. Than it seems less like an excuse</p>
<p>anyone? .</p>
<p>As I read in other threads ask your guidance counsellor to write it. It is sound more liable when it is coming from your school. If you can make that event to convey something about you beside an excuse for your grades write about it, otherwise I think it will bad idea.</p>
<p>But, I think you need other responses . I am an international so maybe I am wrong.</p>
<p>I agree with ido.potter. Have your guidance counselor mention it, but unless you are writing your essay about that very subject (which is also a very overused subject in college essays, btw), I don’t think you should work it into your essay.</p>
<p>Hi guys,
I am also going to talk about my father`s loss and how it affected me. But do you think it is good to talk about such things in a college essay? It is not meant to justify any gardes or anything.
Thanks.</p>
<p>You can talk about hardship or death in your essay as long as the story is about YOU and the trauma you experienced led to something positive for you. I have helped kids with essays who wrote very moving and inspiring essays where the topic was the death of a parent and how it affected them. It really depends on the individual essay. Have someone who is not in your immediate family read it and give feedback.</p>
<p>If you want to make sure a college has the info but would like to write your essay on some other topic, then put a simple statement in the section on applications that asks, “Is there anything else you would like us to know?” briefly describing what took place and the impact it had on you. It is NOT whining or making excuses to say, “The extended illness and subsequent death of my Father impacted my entire family; one way it impacted me was an inability to focus as well as usual on my academics, and there was a period of time where my grades dropped. I am happy to report that I have earned a 4.0 GPA since Month/Year. If you have any questions regarding this situation, please contact me or Mrs. Smith, who is my Guidance Counselor at Acme HIgh School.”</p>