Imagine you were interviewing for a new job and had to explain a public smudge on your professional record—a failed project, a dismissal, something that was not an example of your professional best.

You might try to explain it away with an excuse:

I was going through a difficult time at home…
My boss was not supportive and set me up to fail…
I had a health problem that prevented me from working as hard as I might have…

The problem with offering up only an excuse—even a legitimate one—is that you’ve given the interviewer nowhere new to focus. They either accept it or they don’t, but either way, the best case scenario is that you avoid a negative impression.

But what if you somehow learned from or overcame whatever was marring your record? Imagine you offered one of the reasons above, then followed it with:

… but when things calmed down at home, I broke the company’s sales records for two months in a row.
…but once I was off that doomed project, I created a training program to help prevent those mistakes in other departments.
…but when I got well enough to put in the hours, I got promoted twice in 8 months.

Many college applicants want to use their application or essays to address what they worry are weaknesses or failings. But like the professional examples above, offering an explanation—even a valid one—for a low grade, a long break in your activities, a disciplinary infraction at school, etc. doesn’t give the reader anything new and positive to focus on.

If you follow with a description of how you got over that challenge and thrived on the other end, now we’re on to something.

Trying to explain away a weakness on a college application usually just brings more attention to whatever you’re hoping will go away. If you decide that something on your record needs an explanation (double check with your counselor, but here’s some help deciding), you shouldn’t hesitate to do so. But help the reader focus on the good outcome, the part that you’ll be bringing with you to college. Explain the facts of the challenge or mistake. Then put the focus on the rebound.

And if you’re a younger student who’s not yet applying to college, remember that how well you rebound is often more important than whether or not you had the hurdle in the first place.