<p>If my first years in college I had a low gpa and in my last couple of semesters before senior year, I get really good grades but the cumulative is still low, where/or if I should highlight this in my application? Is this something that goes in the personal statement, cover letter, etc?</p>
<p>I mentioned a similar issue in my personal statement at the advice of various professors. You just have to make sure to do it very tactfully. You can’t throw it all in there as an excuse and blame your problems on whatever your excuse happens to be except perhaps if it was like a death in the family. Even then, you need to tread lightly. Instead, I, for example, framed it as part of the greater learning experience wherein I learned how to manage stress more effectively and the virtues of not over-extending myself so much.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should explicitly mention grades. I did put in my statement however that there was a semester I took to difficult math courses I wasn’t ready for and I realized during the semester that I had overloaded. I didn’t frame it in terms of grades, the point I made was even though I didn’t get as much out of the classes then, I still learned a lot about the material in other contexts after the class was over. I think this must have worked very well. Got into 5 top ten schools and am going to Harvard.</p>
<p>It depends on the reason why.</p>
<p>If you had a significant illness or family issues that are now resolved, you could either briefly mention it in your personal statement or have a recommender discuss it. One of my recommenders discussed my junior year health issues in her letter and thus, I didn’t have to discuss them myself.</p>
<p>But if it was just normal freshman adjustment stuff or there was no particular reason, then I wouldn’t try to explain it.</p>