Death + Illness = 2.7 GPA
Hello,
I am a freshman student at a target school. I finished my first year with a 2.7 GPA due to the unfortunate passing of my mother and being in and out of the city I go to school in, in order to help out my father with my 4 younger siblings. I was also hospitalized this year for 2 weeks because of an illness.
If I manage to pull of a 3.5+ GPA next year, will recruiters give me a chance to interview after justifying my low freshman GPA? Also, how would I go about informing recruiters of the series of unfortunate events?
I was also wondering if this puts me out of the race for some sophomore programs which usually require at least a 3.3 GPA (yes, I am a minority).
You need to aim for 3.7+ in general (as in, if you'd gotten two 3.5 semesters it wouldn't make you competitive)
Adding a 2nd year GPA alongside your cum GPA in your resume is probably the best thing you can do to communicate some sort of anomaly in your first year.
Otherwise network as much as possible so that you have an opportunity to let people know whats happened
Contact your student life office immediately. They will document your circumstances and open up a support network. Whatever you do, don't suffer in silence.
Agree with this, reach out to people who can help you. I would simply list your cumulative GPA after your first year and put a * next to it and explain during interviews. Nobody in their right mind is going to look down on you for slipping up after your mother died. You're obviously smart if you can get into a target school.
Best of luck.
What are you studying?
Death in the family explains away A LOT. You should be fine if you work hard from here on out.
I had a crazy situation my freshman year; I retook classes i bombed over the summer and that pulled my GPA way up; not sure if thats an option for you/or what the policy is about retaking courses at your school. Best of luck to you and pat on the back for continuing to pursue your goals!!! :)
Thanks a lot guys. I was wondering if the recruiters would ask for official documentation, such as death certificate or doctor's notes. Or should I just state my circumstances in the cover letter? I know I'm a year and a half away from recruitment, but I just need to know.
its only your freshman year. bounce back hard, you'll be fine.
Plus, being at a target really does help. Seriously, just do well from here on out, take some time off if you need, and then you'll be ok.
This might sound harsh but this is the real world. People die and people get sick, and the world keeps spinning, whether you're feeling upto it or not.
The people your competing against get sick and have loved ones that pass away, and they still perform at the top of their game.
I went through some pretty traumatic circumstances myself while in college, which was further exacerbated by the amount of stress and time it cost me... but the world keeps spinning.
Reality is not sensitive, understanding or sympathetic.
I'd say stay strong and work hard (academically and networking wise), and use this experience as a way to describe the maturity you've gained through the unfortunate events.
Sorry to hear about your loss.
Sorry to hear about your loss. Speak to your dean and see if you can get the classes in that semester dropped with grades of W. Retaking a semester may be better for you in the long run. It really sucks that it happened to you in the freshman year because you don't have any other proven personal equity to fall back on. If you work hard and raise your GPA, you will have a chance to spin that you are actually even better than what your grades show because you dealt with some serious events. If you don't raise your GPA, nobody will really care WHY it's low. I mean HR people and managers are trained to pretend that they care to hear your life story, but they really don't give a shit. People who haven't dealt with such a loss also will have no inkling of what you are going through, it will be shit like "Well my parents divorced when i went off to college, and that was really hard for me, but i bounced back, you can do it too!"
Definitely do not put it on your cover letter. The reaction isn't gonna be "wow this kid is dealing with a lot, well that explains the grades, I think he is capable of performing well"; it will most likely be "hm, this kid might be smart, but he is going through some tough times right now, I don't think he is gonna be able to concentrate on the task at hand" .
BTW, you hardship may not be over yet. Go to a counselor/start keeping a journal/whatever to help you deal with the emotional impact in a healthy manner, otherwise it might really fuck with your head and life (i.e. heavy drinking, social anxiety, self-destructive behaviors, self-sabotage, etc etc) Also figure out an arrangement with your dad where you are able to concentrate on your studies instead of having to take care of siblings. If you realize you are struggling, try to take a semester off and concentrate on yourself/family, try to recover, rest; have some time to think and digest and then go back to school with fresh mind.
As far as sophomore programs go, your university officials have to be more understanding of your situation, and most of them will be. As long as you have the confidence to go for it, and the humility to act nicely, there's no reason why your appeal to be considered due to extenuating circumstances should be denied. With that said, be prepared to run into an occasional power-tripping d-bag that is intent on "making things fair for other students" by giving you all kinds of grief. Get friendly with dean's office and ombudsman to deal with a d-bag like that. Good luck, kid
The big thing is that by the time recruiting rolls around, you need to work this deficit to your advantage. If you need time off, then take it: it's better to lose a year than be a basketcase. Make sure you're in good shape by the time you graduate, because once you're in the work world, you will meet some seriously pathological assholes who make you teachers' efforts at douchieness look like one armed schoolchildren.
Rest up, recover, and come out swinging....for what it's worth, I was in your exact same position at one point.
You could fix the problem by putting 'current gpa'. In this way if they ask you can explain your unfortunate freshman year which they will understand or they will just be happy seeing 3.9
Sorry for your loss mate. Just concentrate on achieving your goals, and definitely go to counselling/ talk to someone. It helps, trust me.
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