8 years ago, I had a brain injury that caused me to start having seizures on a daily basis. The problem is that they were not typical, it just looked like I would faint, and then I wouldn’t be able to speak or move for 5 minutes after. Because of this, I went undiagnosed and was not referred to a neurologist for 4 years. I still went to school, and my memory was NOT what it once was, and my brain could not comprehend a thing. I kept going to class though, I was raised to finish anything I had started, and even though I studied and studied, I still failed a couple classes, and the rest I got C’s and D’s in. Before my brain injury I had A’s and a couple B’s. The next semester was the same, C’s, D’s, and an F. I dropped my course load to half the next semester hoping maybe with less info I’d be able to comprehend things again, but no. I gave up on school after 4 and a half semesters (One of those being a summer semester), and I finally got referred to a neurologist after telling my dad how bad my seizures had gotten, and he stepped up to the plate and advocated for me. My neurologist was able to diagnose me within 5 minutes looking at my EEG. I haven’t had any seizures in 4 years, unless I become extremely ill which is almost never, and I’ve even made the Dean’s list the last 2 semesters, and my GPA has been good, at my university it’s at a 3.68. But that previous university that I had epilepsy at is barely above a 2.0. I submitted my transcript, and a personal statement explaining what happened, but I’m just so worried all of my hard work is for nothing because of that stupid transcript. Do any of you think I still have a chance to get in, or am I doomed?
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3Does this answer your question? How are Ph.D. applications evaluated in the US, particularly for weak or borderline students? Am I likely to get into school X?– SursulaSep 15 at 6:09
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And if is doesn't, your question is far too dependent on individual factors to be a fit here.– SursulaSep 15 at 9:09
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3Wow, your doctors failed you very badly.– Anonymous PhysicistSep 15 at 12:16
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They absolutely failed me. They tested me for drugs (ive never even thought about doing drugs my entire life, I rarely even drink alcohol), and accused me of faking it because they didn't see anything in my CT (you wouldn't be able to because epilepsy is electrical misfiring in the brain). It was so degrading truly the worst years of my life.– JessSep 15 at 17:34
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1 Answer
This is a textbook example of a case where any competent decision maker would disregard the period of bad grades. The relevant aspects are:
- You have an identified reason beyond your own control for how the bad grades came to be.
- The underlying problem is fixed, it shouldn't have a significant impact on your future performance.
- You already have evidence for your post-problem-fixing performance.
Of course, there is still a remaining risk that an individual application could fail because it gets filtered out by GPA before a competent decision maker looks at it; or that the decision maker isn't competent and maybe has some prejudice against people affected by neurological issues, etc. But I hope that this is a small risk, and that your overall chances aren't diminished too much.
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5+1. Also, those remaining risks can be reduced by applying to multiple places. Sep 15 at 9:49
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Thank you so much 🩵 im really hoping they'll be able to see how hard I've worked at overcoming everything and that I'm a good student now. Fingers crossed 🤞– JessSep 15 at 17:31