Idealist.org’s article “Admissions and the Application” suggests talking to the Admissions Departments of your target school about any shortcomings in your application, such as low grades, difficulty finding academic references, needing certain coursework, etc.
If worse comes to worst, and you have a shortcoming in your application that you can’t overcome within a year, write a brief addendum to the essay or the application to address the shortcoming. For example, if your grades were weak during a certain semester, explain why. Don Asher’s “Graduate Admissions Essays” recommends that the cause for any shortcoming you discuss fit these criteria: it should be in the past, resolved, sympathetic, and unlikely to recur. It should also be true.
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*http://www.idealist.org/en/psgerc/application.html Retrieved 10/2 12:28am
