Usually you do not need to spotlight one weak semester if the overall record is strong and the application does not ask for an explanation.

If the drop is large, recent, or likely to raise an obvious question, prepare a concise explanation that gives context without making excuses.

Focus on what happened, what changed afterward, and the evidence that the semester is not representative of your current performance.

Avoid long personal narratives unless the firm explicitly provides space for extenuating circumstances. The strongest response is brief, factual, and supported by a clear recovery in later coursework or other academic indicators.

yeah, this feels awkward in practice. Once I treated it as a normal course correction instead of a mistake, it got easier.