I am a reasonably successful student with roughly a 3.3-3.45 GPA in a number of honours organizations as well as other high profile student groups, professional associations, with numerous internships, and scholarships. I am preparing this next year to begin applying to graduate schools after my thesis presentation late 2013. My biggest concern at the moment is that my grades appear very sporadic; many A's and B's with more than a few F's, C's, and D's sprinkled all over. I am coming to realize, with the help of a psychologist, that a great deal of the problems I have had largely come down to symptoms of relatively recently diagnosed AS. I have discussed this matter with my councilor and my psychologist, but both hesitate to give me a real answer. I fear they may be afraid of at once giving sound advice and possibly making me feel ashamed at the same time. So, I thought I may ask among this community to see if anyone has experience or just an opinion on the matter:
In my written statement for graduate school, would it be helpful or detrimental to describe my AS as a reason behind the sporadic grades and as a notable part of my character? I only worry that, though my advisors regularly say it is illegal to discriminate, it would be very easy for a council to dismiss my application based on these combining factors. I know it's best to accept who we are, but in cases such as this would it ultimately hurt me to bring it into the open?
Please let me know what you think. I've got about a year yet but, as an academic, it weighs heavily on my mind all the time. I'm terrified I won't get in anywhere, let alone the caliber of schools associated with my career choice.
In my written statement for graduate school, would it be helpful or detrimental to describe my AS as a reason behind the sporadic grades and as a notable part of my character? I only worry that, though my advisors regularly say it is illegal to discriminate, it would be very easy for a council to dismiss my application based on these combining factors. I know it's best to accept who we are, but in cases such as this would it ultimately hurt me to bring it into the open?
Please let me know what you think. I've got about a year yet but, as an academic, it weighs heavily on my mind all the time. I'm terrified I won't get in anywhere, let alone the caliber of schools associated with my career choice.