Explaining Bad Grades in a Transfer Application
Where to explain bad grades, W's, probation or a leave on a transfer application, how USC, UT and Common App recount grades, and 3 constructed notes.
Explaining Bad Grades in a Transfer Application
Explain bad college grades once, in a short factual note, usually in the Additional Information question of Common App for transfer: what happened, which term, what changed, and how your grades look since. Michigan goes further and says it requires "an explanation for any Ws, Is, or gaps in education" in that section.
Then stop explaining. Do not spend your transfer essay apologizing. Transfer readers recompute your record by their own published rules, so an apology changes nothing they calculate. What the essay can change is how they read the semesters that came after. If you are still deciding what each school asks you to write, start with the Common App transfer essay prompt guide.
Every Common App help page and university page quoted below was checked on October 30, 2026. Grade rules change, so recheck each school's transfer credit page before you submit.
On this page
- How transfer readers recount your grades
- Decision table: note, essay, or nowhere
- Three constructed notes
- Mental health and medical leave: how much to say
- What the essay does instead
- Do not copy first-year limits
- Checklist before you submit
- Questions about bad grades on a transfer application
- Get a free review of your transfer essay
How transfer readers recount your grades
| Who | Published rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Common App for transfer | "Common App for transfer is required to include all repeated courses in GPA calculations, regardless of an institution's or state's academic forgiveness policies." | Your old grade stays in the GPA the platform reports |
| USC | "If you repeat a transferable course for which you earned a grade of D+ or lower, both grades will be included in your transfer GPA. If the grade on the first course was a C- or higher, only the first grade is included." USC "does not honor other colleges' academic "renewal" or "forgiveness" programs". | A retake of a D or F adds a grade; it does not erase one |
| UT Austin | "Courses with grades lower than C- do not transfer. Grades from transfer credit are excluded from a student's internal UT Austin GPA computation." | A D costs you credit, not your future UT GPA |
| Georgia Tech | "Georgia Tech is unable to waive or exclude prior college credit or enrollment." Its overall GPA review "includes coursework taken at all previous institutions". | Every college you attended counts, including one you left |
| Michigan | "The closer a student is to having 60 transferable credits, the less the student's high school work will be used in the evaluation." | More good college credits shrink the weight of everything before them |
| Columbia General Studies | Transfer credit only "as long as the grades are C or above" | Low grades do not carry over as credit |
Sources: Common App for transfer, College Coursework, USC transfer students, UT transfer credit resources, Georgia Tech application requirements and GPA requirements, Michigan requirements and deadlines, GS transfer students.
Common App also tells you to "Report all courses on your transcripts. Be sure to include courses from which you withdrew, repeated courses". UNC asks for transcripts that include "coursework you enrolled in but later withdrew from". Nothing disappears.
Our view: "I retook it" is not a fix, so it should not be the center of your explanation. Under these rules the old grade is still on the page. The trend after it is the only thing you can still change, so the note should end on the trend.
The countercase: Texas residents applying to UT Austin may have a real fix. UT's Academic Fresh Start lets Texas residents "exclude academic records from seven years ago or older for admission purposes". It is "an irreversible procedure" and can be used "only once within the State of Texas". If you qualify, that decision matters more than any note.
Decision table: note, essay, or nowhere
| Situation | Where it goes | Length | What to include |
|---|---|---|---|
| One bad semester with a clear cause | Additional Information | 2 to 4 sentences | Term, courses, cause, what changed, grades since |
| W grades | Additional Information (Michigan requires an explanation) | 1 sentence per term | Term, courses, reason, retaken or not |
| Incomplete (I) grades | Additional Information; at Cornell, a written explanation if the Mid-Term Report has no grade | 1 to 2 sentences | Course, status, completion date |
| Academic probation | Additional Information | 3 to 5 sentences | Term, cause, what you changed, current standing |
| Medical or mental-health leave | Additional Information | 3 to 5 sentences | Leave dates, return date, current course load |
| Disciplinary action | The school's conduct question, answered exactly | As asked | The facts the question asks for |
| Time out of school | Additional Information, or the essay at Columbia General Studies | 1 to 3 sentences | Dates and what you did |
Three facts sit behind that table.
The Additional Information question is real and open. Common App for transfer's Other Information article says: "You may use this question to share relevant details of circumstances or challenges that you haven't included in other parts of your application." It states no word limit; check the live box.
Your college will report your standing anyway. The 2026-27 Common App College Report asks a college official "Is this student in good academic standing?" and "Is this student eligible to return to your school?", each with "If you answer no, please attach an explanation." Cornell says its College Report "confirms that an applicant is in good academic and disciplinary standing". If you were on probation, say so first, in your own words.
Conduct questions are separate. Michigan's conduct reporting page asks whether you have "been found responsible for a disciplinary violation" that resulted in action that "could include, but are not limited to: probation, suspension, removal, dismissal, or expulsion". It adds that answers "do not automatically bar applicants from admission". Georgia Tech says it considers "student discipline situations on an individual basis". Our guide to disciplinary history on a college application covers how to answer those questions.
Three constructed notes
Constructed examples, written by us, not real applicant statements. Names, schools and grades are invented. Each note runs 82 to 85 words.
Constructed note 1: W grades during a family illness (85 words)
In spring 2026 I withdrew from Organic Chemistry I and Calculus II at Riverside State University (two W grades). My mother had surgery in February, and I drove her to treatment three days a week through April. I kept the two courses I could attend online and passed both with B grades. I retook Calculus II in summer 2026 and earned an A. I am retaking Organic Chemistry I this fall, and my mother has finished treatment. My schedule since summer has had no conflicts.
Constructed note 2: probation, then recovery (85 words)
I was placed on academic probation after fall 2025, when my term GPA was 1.6. I was working 30 hours a week at a warehouse and taking five courses. In spring 2026 I cut my hours to 15, met with an academic adviser every two weeks, and took four courses. My term GPA was 3.4 that spring and 3.7 in two summer 2026 courses, and I returned to good academic standing in May 2026. My current schedule is four courses and 15 hours of work.
Constructed note 3: a medical leave (82 words)
I took a medical leave of absence from Lakeview College from October 2025 to January 2026, approved by the dean of students for a health condition. My fall 2025 courses are recorded as withdrawals. I returned full time in spring 2026, completed 15 credits with a 3.5 term GPA, and I am taking 16 credits this fall. My treatment is ongoing and does not limit my course load. I am glad to provide the leave approval letter if it would be useful.
All three follow the same order: what happened, when, what changed, the record since, and the present. None apologizes. None asks the reader to ignore a grade, because under the rules above the reader cannot.
Mental health and medical leave: how much to say
Say four things: that you took a leave, the dates, that you returned, and what your current course load is. None of the school or Common App pages quoted here asks for a diagnosis, and none of the notes above names one.
Our view: leave the diagnosis out unless it explains something the reader cannot otherwise understand, such as an accommodation that changed how you test. The reader's question is whether you can carry a full load now. Dates and a recent term answer that better than medical detail.
The countercase: Columbia General Studies asks for it in the essay itself. Its prompt says the committee is "particularly interested in situations in your life that have led to personal growth or learning", including "events that may have affected your education, such as health and family challenges, personal obstacles or even issues with the justice system." There, a longer account is part of the assignment. Our Columbia General Studies essay guide covers how to write it.
For first-year rules on the same subject, see mental health on a college application.
What the essay does instead
Among the schools here, UT Austin and Columbia General Studies are the two whose essay prompts invite the explanation. UT's Topic A says "The statement of purpose will provide an opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that you feel could add value to your application." The same prompt also says it "should address your interest and preparation for the major you've chosen as your first choice." So even at UT, the circumstance is one paragraph and the major is the essay.
Elsewhere, give the bad semester at most one sentence in the essay, then use the rest for the plan.
Constructed example: from apology to plan
Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement.
Weak version (61 words):
I know my freshman grades do not reflect my potential, and I am deeply sorry for the semester when I struggled. It was a very hard time for me personally, and I made many mistakes. I have learned so much from that experience, and I promise that I am a different student now who will work harder than anyone to succeed.
Revised version (90 words):
The semester that changed my plan was not the bad one. It was the next one, when I took Statistics at night after work and found that the only assignment I looked forward to was cleaning a messy data set from the county health department. Since then I have taken Data Structures and Applied Regression, and I spent the summer helping my statistics instructor code survey responses. I want to transfer into a statistics major that requires a research methods sequence, because my current college stops at the introductory level.
The weak version spends 61 words on feelings and promises a reader cannot check. The revised version names the turn (a course), gives evidence after it (two courses and a summer project), and ends on the reason for transferring. The bad semester's facts are in the note, so the essay does not need them.
For first-year applicants, the same move is covered in writing about hardship without a sob story.
Do not copy first-year limits
Common App's 2025 counselor update says the first-year "Additional information question word count maximum is changing from 650 words to 300 words". That is a first-year rule. The transfer help article gives no limit, and Michigan's transfer instructions ask for the explanation in the Common App's "additional information" section. Our Common App Additional Information guide is for first-year applicants; this page is the transfer version.
Whatever the box allows, the constructed notes above show that a full explanation fits in under 100 words.
Checklist before you submit
- List every W, I, failing grade, probation term and leave on your transcripts, with dates.
- Check each school's transfer credit and repeat rules. Note which grades will count.
- If you are a Texas resident with records seven or more years old, read UT's Academic Fresh Start rules.
- Write one note per situation: what, when, what changed, the record since, the present.
- Put the note in Additional Information unless the school names another place.
- Answer conduct questions exactly as asked.
- Give the bad semester one sentence at most in the essay. Spend the rest on the plan.
- Make sure the note, your College Report and your transcript tell the same story.
Questions about bad grades on a transfer application
Should I explain bad grades in my transfer essay?
Usually not at length. Put the facts in Additional Information. UT Austin's Topic A invites extenuating circumstances, but it still asks mainly about your major.
Do W grades hurt a transfer application?
The published rules here do not say how Ws are weighed. They do say Ws are reported: Common App asks you to list courses you withdrew from, and Michigan requires an explanation for any Ws.
Will retaking a class replace the bad grade?
Not at USC for a D+ or lower, where both grades count, and not in Common App for transfer's GPA calculation, which includes all repeated courses.
Do I have to explain academic probation?
If your college official answers "no" to good academic standing on the College Report, they attach an explanation. You should give yours first, in Additional Information. Applying to UC? Its application has its own box; see UC transfer Academic History comments.
UT Austin's Topic A explicitly invites extenuating circumstances; that page shows a five-sentence withdrawal paragraph.
Get a free review of your transfer essay
Get a free Quick Review of your transfer essay against GradPilot's transfer reasons-and-goals rubric. It checks whether your reason for transferring grows from your current path and whether your next step fits the direction you want. For the note itself, use the Additional Information rubric, which checks that the context is specific, tied to part of your record and clear about timing.
More transfer guides:
- Transfer essay examples: reasons, goals and fit: three constructed transfer essays.
- Fall 2027 transfer application deadlines: the second dates for College Reports and midterm grades.
- Explaining a grade drop on a first-year application: the high school version of this problem.
Sources
Retrieved October 30, 2026, except where noted.
- Common App for transfer help center, College Coursework (updated Sep 14, 2026): report withdrawn and repeated courses; repeated courses in GPA.
- Common App for transfer help center, Other Information (updated Jul 30, 2026): the Additional Information question.
- Common App, 2026-27 College Report: academic standing questions.
- Common App, What's New counselor webinar, 2025 (2025-26 first-year application): Additional Information cut from 650 to 300 words.
- USC, Transfer Students (2027-2028 academic year): repeat and forgiveness rules.
- UT Austin, Transfer Credit Resources and Optional Transfer Considerations (Academic Fresh Start from Fall 2026): C- rule and Fresh Start.
- UT Austin, Essays and Short Answers (no year stated): Topic A text.
- Georgia Tech, Application Requirements, GPA Requirements and Application Review Process (no year stated): prior credit, GPA review, discipline review.
- University of Michigan, Requirements and Deadlines and Conduct Reporting (no year stated; read through a reader service): W/I/gap explanation, 60-credit weighting, conduct questions.
- Cornell University Admissions, Transfer Applicants (no year stated): College Report and Mid-Term Report explanation.
- UNC-Chapel Hill, Transfer Students (no year stated): withdrawn coursework on transcripts.
- Columbia School of General Studies, How to Apply and Transfer Students (no year stated; read through a reader service): essay prompt and C-or-above credit rule.
Review your transfer essay
Check your reasons, goals and the fit your current prompt requests.