Explaining low grades on cover letter

[Anonymous]

Is it a good idea to explain some bad grades on the cover letter for the articling recruit? 

Some exceptional circumstances, beyond my control, impacted two of my grades during 2L and I am worried that leaving those unaddressed would be detrimental to my application. I have decent grades otherwise and tons of work experience. I also do not want it to sound like I'm making "excuses" for bad performance so unsure how to go about this.

Suggestions?

[Hayesy-B]

I wouldn’t, especially if it really is only two outlier grades and you’re otherwise a relatively strong candidate. 
 

I’d suggest just being prepared to answer a question about them in an interview. 

[epeeist]

Warning: My experience is NOT recent, defer to others.

My recollection of advice given and practice of others was, if you think you're probably not going to get an interview because of your grades, then you may as well comment on it because you have nothing to lose.

So for instance someone I knew with a poor mark (D) in the main course in the area they wanted to practice, who'd done very well on the midterm and got along well with the prof and participated in class, just had a bad day with the final exam, got a reference letter from that prof saying how well they knew the topic and how well they had done on the midterm and that the final mark did not reflect their understanding. So they both referenced the poor mark in their cover letter and explained it, and also including the prof's reference letter (and they got interviews and a position in their desired field).

[LMP]

I'd probably avoid drawing further attention to it. If they care that much about grades, you likely won't sway them with a cover letter. 

And if they don't care that much about grades, why waste space defending them when you could be highliting things like your work experience? 

I suppose my advice might be different if the grades are in courses incredibly relevant to the area you are applying to, but even then I'd be hesitant. Rather than explaining perceived weaknesses, focus on showcasing your strengths. 

[Turtles]

1 hour ago, Guest Anonymous said:

Is it a good idea to explain some bad grades on the cover letter for the articling recruit? 

Some exceptional circumstances, beyond my control, impacted two of my grades during 2L and I am worried that leaving those unaddressed would be detrimental to my application. I have decent grades otherwise and tons of work experience. I also do not want it to sound like I'm making "excuses" for bad performance so unsure how to go about this.

Suggestions?

IMO depends on how bad the "bad" grades are, how decent the "decent" grades are, whether the grades undermine your narrative in your cover letter, and how much material you have for the cover letter otherwise.

If you have all B+s and 2 C+s, but the C+s are in subjects completely unrelated to the practice areas you are applying for that you assert are your passion (yada yada, the usual trite stuff), then the individuals reading it might just say "he didn't care or didn't sleep well enough or must have been surprised by the exam or just focussed on the classes he did care about, totally relatable, he clearly is a decent student otherwise". That is a world different from all Bs and then 2 failed courses directly in the practice areas you say you love. It's also a big difference if explaining it requires cutting out your notable awards or work experience or something material, versus if your cover letter will be mostly white space if you don't mention it because you have nothing of value to say (one may draw an adverse inference where it is clear you had opportunity to explain extenuating circumstances and didn't take advantage of it for no apparent reason, as it suggests there were no extenuating circumstances or you hoped they wouldn't notice... but if the cover letter is full of relevant, valuable and concisely written material, it instead suggests there's more to you and they may see it worth giving an interview).

My $0.02 as just another student but who did a lot of hiring in my corporate days.

[SNAILS]

My suggestion is to always talk about your strong characteristics in the cover letter. They will see your low grades anyway. Do not distract from the things about you that make you a string candidate by wasting lines on that.

Be prepared to explain your grades in an interview, but you may not even need to.