<p>I'm applying to some top schools, and I wonder if I should mention something in my essay.</p>
<p>During my sophomore year I was afflicted with meningitis - brain inflammation. It wasnt a severe case and didn't leave any permanent effects on me. But, it did screw up my academic record and my ECs during that year. I had a 3.08 UW GPA and no ECs till mid junior year.</p>
<p>The thing is, I don't know if they'll believe that I'm fine now. They might think I'm lying and that it did impair my abilities. This can't be seen thorugh my records, I had a 3.69 UW GPA in junior year and ample ECs this year but some people are telling me I shouldn't mention it.</p>
<p>I do have other excuses. I did move to Serbia that year, from the US, and it was my first year in the Serbian school system. My parent's also got divorced during that time. But, none of these seem like good excuses.</p>
<p>What do you think? Do are adcoms weary of people who "might" be impaired?</p>
<p>I'd especially like answers from adults or people who've had similar predicaments.</p>
<p>=] Hi! Well to tell you the truth, I wouldn' t want to know about what happened to you in your essay. I would want to know something about you that showed your personality not how you messed up your education or your parents. Let your advisor or someone who knows you very well in your recs. Write something about you that shows your personality. Not about your grades or something affeted your grades. Just my opinion! And goodluck! =]</p>
<p>=] Hi! Well to tell you the truth, I wouldn' t want to know about what happened to you in your essay. I would want to know something about you that showed your personality not how you messed up your education or your parents. Let your advisor or someone who knows you very well in your recs. Write something about you that shows your personality. Not about your grades or something affeted your grades. Just my opinion! And goodluck! =]</p>
<p>a lot of schools have an extra section that lets you include a letter about any extenuating circumstances. You could do that, but don't waste an essay on it. </p>
<p>Also, tell your guidance counsler about your predicament. She can include it in her letter.</p>
<p>Hey, my whole essay isn't about this. Its just like a mid sized paragraph.</p>
<p>Besides, I have to explain my GPA gap, otherwise theres no way theyll accept me. Its a perfectly good excuse and I think the admission comitee would be like "why didnt he say this in his essay?" if they only read it in the counselor thing.</p>
<p>But thats what I think, what do you think? I'm specifically asking ppl that already got into colleges or've had kids that've gotten in, but feel free to say even if you're applying for the first time.</p>
<p>Mention it in your supplemental "anything else we might need to know" essay.</p>
<p>Also, if you say you're fine, you're fine. And, do mention the divorce and the moving to Serbia. Maybe you could talk about your experiences in Serbia in other ways as well.</p>
<p>If it's the online Common App, there's the additional information section. I'd recommend using that space to explain. I asked an admissions officer from Knox during a chat, and she said though my GC mentioned my circumstances in her recommendation, it'd also be good if they got something from ME about happened.</p>
<p>putting those on essay would require it to be extremely well written, or it'll just come out as crude excuses! i wouldn't recommend putting it in essay, but maybe in the interview, you could sneak it in. i am very sorry your parents got divorced :(, stay strong and get in to those schools! best of luck!</p>
<p>I think meningitis is fine to talk about because it's like any other physical condition.
(Unless I'm misunderstanding)</p>
<p>It's not like depression, anxiety disorder...something that you'll always have to live with, you know.
And also your junior year grades/ECs show that it's no longer affecting you.</p>
<p>Well, its unlikely my GC will talk about it, I don't wanna explain why.</p>
<p>I know the divorce thing is a crude excuse but there are some perfectly reasonable excuses out there, you know? I've read a book on writing graduate school app essays and they say that as long as the excuse is short, sympathetic (im not sure if that was the word), and not likely to happen again then it's fine. The meningitis thing is just that. As said, my main concern is not WHERE I should mention it but wether I should mention it AT ALL. GC, Essay, extra from, doesn't matter. I'm jsut wondering if it's a good idea to say I've had a disease that could be (but wasn't in my case) permanently impairing. They might think it did leave some effects (I dunno, you can get epilepsy from it for example) but that these aren't seen in my record. So please, if at all possible, stop with the "have your GC mention it" and start discussing if I should HIDE it or not.</p>
<p>EDIT: also know that I've read that adcoms like it when the essay sorta "makes sense" of the rest of your application, ties it together, and I think my sophomore year grades are a very important thing I need to "make sense" of. Otherwise there's no way I'l get into the top schools with a 3.08 GPA during one year, not without a hook (which I don't have).</p>