<p>Starting the second semester of freshman year of college I started experiencing pains in my stomach after I ate. I thought it was just stress or lactose intolerance, so I didn't see a professional about them. These pains grew considerably worse over the next year. Eventually my friends, sick of hearing me cry in the fetal position on the bed after every meal, dragged me to the health center, where I was diagnosed with either ulcers or gastritis and sent home with some meds. A month later I'm still taking the meds and still doubling over in pain at night, so I'm going to see a specialist next week for a GI and/or gastric endoscopy.</p>
<p>As a consequence, my grades during sophomore year slumped a little. We're not talking a drop from A's to D's, but from A's to A-'s. My 4.0 is now a 3.8, which advisers insist is impressive enough in the sciences to satisfy any graduate admissions committee (I'm not shooting for Harvard, here...more like the Purdue range). I know the ulcers/gastritis impeded me from doing my best, since whenever I would get hungry the increased acid in my stomach would irritate the nerves and send me into a distracted tizzy. They certainly prompted more than one stupid mistake on exams that dropped a couple solid overall A's down five percentage points.</p>
<p>I still have two years of college to go, but I'm thinking ahead to next year when I start putting together my graduate school applications. Is this worth explaining in an attachment? Since my grades are still relatively high, it might look like obsessive perfectionist whining if I say I had this condition during sophomore year that affected my grades, and then they look at those grades and see that the lowest point is a shocking B in genetics. But it still bothers me that I got that B in genetics when I could easily have gotten an A if I was healthy.</p>
<p>"Seriously, calm down, take care of yourself, and don't worry about a B."</p>
<p>Myth: Ulcers are caused by stress.
Reality: Ulcers are caused by bacteria.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the reaction I get when I bring up that I might have ulcers is almost always a torrent of advice based on the assumption of the myth. "You have ulcers? It's because you're always studying! You need to have more fun! You need to relax! You're so uptight!"</p>
<p>This is the only disease I can think of that people assume is an indication of character. Say you have strep throat, someone must not have washed his hands before touching the doorknob. Say you have the flu, it's just that time of year. But say you have ulcers and everyone tells you it's your fault for not taking care of yourself. Smelling the roses won't kill the microbes, people. I already spend more hours in the day playing Twilight Princess than I should, start every morning by dancing around to mediocre performers singing "When I grow up, I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies" and fill my idle hours with Sailor Moon, fencing techniques, and colored pencil drawings of a video games I'd like to make.</p>
<p>I am not worried about the B. I am mad at the B. I did the work to earn an A, and the little unicellular menaces took it away from me. <em>sulk</em></p>
<p>Sorry...I was being facetious about stress=ulcers...my point still stands that you worry too much, regardless of the fact that said worry is not the cause of your illness. "Slipping" to a 3.8 is not something to have to justify no matter the cause (illness, relationships, any other multitude of things that go wrong during your college years).</p>
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am not worried about the B. I am mad at the B. I did the work to earn an A, and the little unicellular menaces took it away from me. <em>sulk</em>
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<p>I totally understand, my grandfather died and I ended up with a B in Calculus. I am still a little frustrated about the circumstance, but at the end of the day I doubt this will ruin your career...it did nothing to mine. </p>
<p>So...calm down, dance, draw, take care of yourself, and don't worry about a B. :)</p>
<p>I agree with New_User on this one. You'll be fine, especially if you don't want to go to Harvard like you said. And that myth/reality thing is simply not true. Almost all body ailments are exacerbated by stress. It may not have been the original cause but your stress certainly doesn't help it. If I were you i'd stay away from these forums until the Fall of your senior year. They'll just stress you out thinking about applications when you can't even apply.</p>
<p>"If I were you i'd stay away from these forums until the Fall of your senior year. They'll just stress you out thinking about applications when you can't even apply."</p>
<p>I actually can. I'm a senior and could easily graduate next semester with a bio BS if I choose. I've been persuaded to stay a fourth year to take advantage of scholarships and tack on a chem BA, but a) the Scrooge in me would rather take that year of tuition and put it towards my masters and b) I'm getting really tired of the undergraduate slog of lecture-quiz-lecture-test-grade and want to be able to concentrate on in-depth projects soon. So I have been considering applying now to the graduate program at my current institution, and if it doesn't work out I stay for the fourth year of undergraduate and apply elsewhere. But that's for a different thread :)</p>
<p>I had an illness second semester of my first-year that caused me to drop nearly 2 letter grades in a few courses (I couldn't go to class for over 2 weeks and was in and out of the hospital/doctor's office). Most of my professors were sympathetic and gave me extra time to make up work, but some weren't, and caused my grades to suffer...There's not much you can do about situations like that. Life isn't always fair. </p>
<p>If it's really bothering you (which it shouldn't), then you can have one of your professors briefly address the issue in their LOR. But I can also tell you, based on my experience, it's not necessary to do that because it's not that big of a deal.</p>
<p>Do NOT address this in a statement of purpose. There is absolutely no need, and the space in the SOP should be devoted to important issues, like your intended subfield of interest.</p>
<p>Do NOT address this in an "addendum" -- these are not welcome in an application.</p>
<p>Letters of reference should also not refer to this. It is irrelevant.</p>
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This is the only disease I can think of that people assume is an indication of character.
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<p>Really? I can think of many. Anything that is correctly or incorrectly associated in the popular understanding with obesity, for instance. Or lung cancer. Or high blood pressure. Or most mental illnesses. But I digress, since your post isn't actually about ulcers.</p>
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it might look like obsessive perfectionist whining
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<p>Yes, yes, it will. It does in your post, to be honest. Your profs are right when they tell you that your GPA is fine anywhere...I'm not sure why you're not taking their advice. The admissions committee doesn't care about your obsessive lingering resentment over the fact that your perfect record was marred, and there's no reason to inflict your resentment on them. They care about your potential as a researcher.</p>