What are common extenuating circumstances listed on applications?

[London22]

In many of the applications there is a section asking about extenuating circumstances in your academic record.
Do people commonly fill this one? What are good reasons schools appreciate reading?

I happened to leave this blank on mine because I didn't want to make any excuses for myself. However looking back at it, I know for a fact that my GPA would have been much higher had I not been working to support myself. Although if I wasn't working I wouldn't have been able to gain all of the optometric experience I have. During my sophomore year of undergrad my mother almost passed away as well which had a bad impact on my final grades that semester. I'm feeling a little nervous about leaving this information out but at the same time, not sure if they should know all of it.

I've heard of people emailing schools this info after submitting if they left it out. Is it better to just save these conversations for the interviews?

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[WhyNeedAName]

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that about your mom and also glad she's still alive. I know that case can be a good one to use for extenuating circumstances, since you are home caring for your mom and not focusing much on classes. The GPA thing with the work is a "it depends on the school" type thing. Save that one for interviews if they want to know why your GPA isn't up to par.

 

[Iwantobe0D]

If you can, I’d recommend writing about this. Or at least write about this in the supplemental applications. Schools need to know that a GPA dip had a reason behind it.

 

[Elizah46]

I think it would be beneficial to write about it. You have a reason behind the low gpa, let them know or they'll just assume you're not capable of the work, when in reality that's not the case

 

[AcademicEyes]

I agree that telling the schools could be helpful. I contacted them to hear their advice and the schools told me to submit a letter, though they had slightly different criteria.

Try contacting them directly to figure out the best way to communicate that information.

 

[London22]

Thanks everyone!