<p>Talk about my upward trend in grades and my subpar early grades? Just a short, brief explanation of why and a demonstration of my improvement and intentions to uphold that improvement.</p>
<p>If you think it will help, by all means. </p>
<p>I would not. You sound like you have no reason that would be acceptable to an admissions committee as an excuse (eg, serious illness, family tragedy, homelessness, etc). If you have something that is a good explanation like that, have your GC communicate it. And your intention to continue performing well is irrelevant (only matters if/when it happens).</p>
<p>Any other opinions?</p>
???
I think it would be okay to mention if it is not done in a “this is my excuse” way.
What was the reason if I might ask? If like Intparent said it wasn’t something huge, I would advise against it. Also, your guidance counselor would cover it in her rec.
@1203southview @slights32 What constitutes as an excuse or a huge thing though? I had some various home issues and a family illness but those are not nearly as drastic as a personal illness that had me out of school or a death in the family or something. I was planning on just writing a sentence or two mentioning/highlighting it.
If your grandma died, honestly I don’t think that counts. If one of your parents or siblings died, that counts.
I’m not exactly sure what family illness means, but you don’t need to explain it here. Just know that the grandma (even if she’s super close to you, I bet it would be hard to convince admissions officers of this) or the dog or the goldfish isn’t worth mentioning
@slights32 Would it be better if my GC mentioned it? Or would it still have no bearing?
I mean I still don’t know (I’m also a high school senior). But depending on what it was yeah
I just don’t trust the GC to really address it. My son was sick the spring trimester of his sophomore year and his grades suffered as a consequence. The biggest hits were in his two language classes because he was out of school and unable to make up the work. I would have made a bigger issue of it at the time and regret it now. He had two classes with straight As all year end up as Cs that session. All he wrote was a brief sentence that he was sick that term and his grades reflected that. Not in an “excuse-y” way, just an explanation. It is clear when you go from As to Cs that something happened. He had some Bs elsewhere in the high school experience and is not trying to make excuses or justify those but that time when he was sick for an extended period did affect his GPA.
If you don’t have a good compelling reason, I would not bring it up.
Make no excuses, fully accept responsibility, HOWEVER explain why you changed, how this resulted in enhanced academic performance, and why this will make you a far better undergraduate.
Thanks for all the replies
Any other opinions?