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should i mention an illness in my essay?

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paki
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should i mention an illness in my essay? [#permalink] New post   16 Jan 2006, 19:12
when i was in college, i faced an illness that took a lot of time and effort to deal with. that was partly a reason my grades suffered and resulted in a low gpa. i am scared applying because my gpa is only a 2.6. i took the gmat and scored 610 and am taking it again next week. i am not applying to any top 10 schools or anything. i'm applying to schools such as Rice, SMU, Boston U, Babson, and Wake Forest.

in the optional essays, should i include an essay about my illness, talk about what i faced, how it affected me, and how i ovecame the challenge? or will they see it as a negative? i dont want them to think that i need sympathy or am making excuses for my low grades, but i do want to somehow convey it affected me greatly. i would appreciate any help.

also, is 3rd round late for these schools? are there stats any acceptance in each round? i couldnt find it. i read that late rounds are not good for the top business schools, but i am not applying to those. i've thought about waiting till next year, but i would like to start B-school in the fall.
thanks for all the help
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paki
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[#permalink] New post   18 Jan 2006, 12:44
can anyone help answer my question? i want to have my applications in ASAP. thanks
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mah927
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Yes, I think you should [#permalink] New post   18 Jan 2006, 15:05
Hi,

I think you should include. However, I am not an expert, perhaps others in the group can give a better idea.

Good Luck,

MAH
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paki
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[#permalink] New post   23 Jan 2006, 10:56
i'm bumping this to the top since its been posted for a week now. any help would be appreciated linda. thanks
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greenandwise
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[#permalink] New post   23 Jan 2006, 11:35
Hey Paki,
I am not an expert either but I also had the same situation in graduate school and I ended up having to leave to deal with my illness. I mentioned this in my optional essay. I understand your worry about it seeming like your looking for sympathy but the truth is you had a health problem that affected you during your time in school (which a lot of people don't deal with). The way I mentioned this in my essay was to frame it as something positive, something that I had to deal with which ultimately made me a more mature person because I had to overcome something significant. Framing it in this way makes it look a lot less like you are "whining" and more like you encountered a problem and overcame it (a skill highly valued in b-school).

I hope this helps.
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Re: should i mention an illness in my essay? [#permalink] New post   24 Jan 2006, 23:02
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paki wrote:
when i was in college, i faced an illness that took a lot of time and effort to deal with. that was partly a reason my grades suffered and resulted in a low gpa. i am scared applying because my gpa is only a 2.6. i took the gmat and scored 610 and am taking it again next week. i am not applying to any top 10 schools or anything. i'm applying to schools such as Rice, SMU, Boston U, Babson, and Wake Forest.

in the optional essays, should i include an essay about my illness, talk about what i faced, how it affected me, and how i ovecame the challenge? or will they see it as a negative? i dont want them to think that i need sympathy or am making excuses for my low grades, but i do want to somehow convey it affected me greatly. i would appreciate any help.

also, is 3rd round late for these schools? are there stats any acceptance in each round? i couldnt find it. i read that late rounds are not good for the top business schools, but i am not applying to those. i've thought about waiting till next year, but i would like to start B-school in the fall.
thanks for all the help


You should discuss it. They will want to know (and consider) extenuating circumstances that affected your undergrad performance. Be factual about what you had to deal with and describe the impact, but also discuss how dealing with illness made you stronger or affected you positively in other ways.

Good luck!
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paki
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[#permalink] New post   25 Jan 2006, 17:24
thanks for all the replies and help!
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[#permalink] New post   31 Jan 2006, 22:39
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paki wrote:
thanks for all the replies and help!


You're welcome!
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gmatclubot
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31 Jan 2006, 22:39

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