How to explain serious extenuating circumstances in PhD apps

[em-c-squared]

Hello!

I am planning on applying to physics PhD programs in the fall. My first two years of undergrad I averaged Bs in my lower division classes. Last two years I got a majority of As and A-s in my upper division courses.

Those first two years I had some extremely personal extenuating circumstances that destroyed my grades. I had a severe eating disorder and was then repeatedly sexually assaulted in a relationship. Because of the latter I ended up dedicating a LOT of my time to improving the environment of the physics department for women...I became president of the women in science club and also joined a committee to prevent sexual assault in the department.

Regardless, all of this ended in me being hospitalized in the first semester of Junior year because of a suicide attempt. I ended up with an incomplete in one of my electives that semester, and the spring semester got straight As as I started to turn my life around. Grades kept getting better right up till graduation.

I'm not sure if it would be worth it to mention any of this in my applications as 1) it's so, so personal 2) any professor I might end up working with would have read some of the most personal, raw parts of my life 3) I don't want to sound like I'm pimping out personal tragedies to catch a break since everyone goes through their own sh*t in undergrad.

Please help!

 

[Choppy]

Very sorry to hear you had to go through that.

The decision on how much to disclose on something like this is entirely your own. One option is to state that you experienced extreme personal trauma that influenced your academic performance into the first semester of your junior year. Generally in my experience, admission committees are able to take personal trauma into consideration without requiring specific details (general statements can cover a wide range of circumstances -- illness, loss/grief, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.). The fact that your grades improved in more advanced classes will also go a long way to support the case that you're a competitive candidate for graduate school.

 

[Vanadium 50]

You have a couple of choices:

1. You just send in the application as is. You have one incomplete and a B average in your first two years and an A average in years 3 and 4. That's not the end of the world, particularly if you did well on the GRE.

2. If you don't want to go Route 1 and you don't want to go into the circumstances in detail, you can say you were a victim of a crime with a long recovery process and leave it at that.

 

[PeterDonis]

I'm not sure if it would be worth it to mention any of this in my applications as 1) it's so, so personal 2) any professor I might end up working with would have read some of the most personal, raw parts of my life 3) I don't want to sound like I'm pimping out personal tragedies to catch a break since everyone goes through their own sh*t in undergrad.

All of these are good reasons not to mention those things in your applications. Another good reason is that lots of people have trouble for various reasons in their early undergrad years; the key is that you were able to get it together and show marked improvement in your later undergrad years. I would focus on that in your applications. If any follow up questions are asked about your early undergrad grades you can always say something along the lines of the second option @Vanadium 50 described.

 

[jtbell]

If any of your references know about your situation, it might be helpful for them to mention it in their letters, at least in general terms as described by Choppy and V50.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

You've gotten real good advice above.