Inconsistent GPA - too personal to mention suicidal parent?

Question

I have a 3.7 GPA, 67% in my country (70 is an 4.0). First year I did super well and got a 4.0. From my second year, I had to deal with a mentally ill parent who kept attempting to take their life. Overall, my grades are all over the place with As-Cs. Should I address this in the supplemental information?

Balancing that and student responsibilities became hard but that feels too personal to tell them. I could say I was dealing with a family illness that required significant caring responsibilities? Or do I just be specific?

Or do I even need to address an inconsistent GPA? I just feel it looks worse to get As and Cs than constant Bs.

bb · Answer

Hi. I’m sorry you had to deal with such challenging situation during college when you don’t expect to become a provider or a caretaker.

It seems like you have a strong GPA and hopefully pairing it with a solid GMAT score will address any concerns that the admissions may have…

If your GPA is high enough compared to your peer applicants, you may not even need to bring it up. At the same time, if that’s the weakest spot of your application, I think a three sentence explanation with the assistance of chat GPT writing condensed and powerful language would not hurt. Being more specific is always better. Providing a diagnosis adds authenticity. I would not beat around the bush with mental illness or unwell or something like that. I would stay the exact diagnosis how it was in the medical records.

Sorry again

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Admissionado · Answer

gmattakeer749404 :

You can definitely mention this in the optional essay in your application. It feels very appropriate. It might not matter, in the end, since the AdComs look at the bigger picture and GPA - while important - is only one consideration and it sounds like you still managed alright in the end.

Terribly sorry.

-Admissionado

TheWrongGrammer · Answer

Hey,
You definitely should tell the story.
It shows your quality of dealing with unwanted situations and not giving up.

I was reluctant to tell my story of depress and anxiety and how it affected my scores but I am glad I did and interviewer was very receptive, understanding and supportive (got an admit also).

Edited:
I believe there is more story to it then just parents being suicidal.
You could write an essay about what was the problem, how did you figure out, how it affected you, what did you learn and how you evolved and how it affected your emotional intelligence and gave you a different person about life.

The essay can be for the questions “ Changes yiu brought in people’s life”, “how did you evolve or most proud of” etc…

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MBADecoder · Answer

Hi,

I feel the impact of your parent's illness would have been more than them just trying to take their life. Mental illlness/ depression would impact them on a day to day basis and if were one among their caretakers, it would impact you as well, in every possible way. I am so sorry to read about this as I can imagine what it could mean for you to deal with it.
If you believe your academics were impacted, you should tell this in the optional essay. although maybe you can tell the overall picture and not only about the suicidal tendency. I think the more important element for me would this experience changed/shaped you as a person- what did you learn out of it, how it made you stronger etc.

IMHO, I wouldn't want to have the adcom guessing on what's going on with the grades.

Inconsistent GPA - too personal to mention suicidal parent?

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