Mitigating circumstances and personal statement

[YamLube]

I hope this is the right place to post this! Sorry, it's a bit long.

I am hoping to start my Master's degree in September 2020, and I'm now looking into completing a personal statement.

I didn't do as well as I could have at undergraduate level: I got a 2:2 in the end. This was largely due to the fact that I was in a violent relationship for the first 3 years of my degree, and in 3rd year he destroyed my laptop (and several assignments with it). I managed to pull it back in my 4th year (once he was no longer on the scene), due to my performance in exams and on my coursework. My personal tutor was predicting I'd come out with a 3rd or even just a pass, so I see this as a huge victory.

The entry requirements for the course I want to enrol on are 2:2 or above, so this isn't technically a problem. But the 2:2, in my opinion, doesn't reflect my abilities or potential so I wanted to inform the university of my mitigating circumstances. My old university have stated they would vouch for me.

I was just wondering if anyone had any idea of how to frame this experience in a positive way in my personal statement? I'm not sure whether I should cite the DV as a reason or whether I should be a bit more vague? I'm very worried it might come across as a bit of a sob story, and I'd really like to avoid that.

If you meet entry requirements, then I'm not sure there's a lot to gain by doing this (unless it's competitive and not everyone with a 2.2 is accepted? That might change things). Admittedly I don't recruit to Masters programmes so I may not be the best person to answer - it might be worth a phone call to the university to see what they say.

In my role I hear a lot of students say that "But for circumstance x, I would have achieved result y". I'm sure they have a point, but it's neither here nor there. Go in as a dark horse, and blow them away by your brilliance once you're there.

First of all congratulations for achieving a 2:2 with all you had to go through. I also had a similar experience which affected my final grade at undergraduate level. I am now doing my masters. I incorporated my story/ personal life experience into my personal statement because it was relevant to my course. Highlighting life experience can be seen as just as credible if not more credible than academic achievement depending on the subject, so it may serve more than one purpose if you do decide to share it. If it’s not relevant to your chosen course as bibliomania mentioned then it might be worthwhile leaving it out but mentioning in to your programme tutor to get his/her opinion before you submit your application.
As a side note my course entry requirements were a 2:2 and above and generally competitive so given the relevance of my life experience in relation to the course- I felt it would have an impact and I was able to convey this through using it as career motivation for wanting to help others who have also gone through similar experiences . If it isn’t relevant to your course at all it might be worthwhile also letting the disability team at the university know your previous circumstances ,I did this and found they have been really supportive with mitigating circumstances. ( Just something to note for the future)

Good Luck!!!

Good luck, I've just submitted my application for a 2020 masters too. I am ancient and it's 25 years since I graduated.

Partly excited, partly terrified.