Hi everyone! I'm a recent graduate currently going through the LLM application process... There's one thing that I'm not sure of and I'd like to see what others think. Thanks in advance for reading my post.

I started pretty well at my law school, getting very good grades during my first year and the first half of my second year. During the second half of my second year, however, my performance dropped (Due to some serious family problems I was going through at the time, I barely had time -or a mind- to study). I got bad grades, as a result. Realizing my performance was being affected, I decided to take my third year off. I returned to school in my fourth year (the problems having been resolved then), where I gradually improved my grades (ie not so good ones during the first semester, very good ones during the second and the third one). During my fifth and my sixth year, I got excellent grades and I came first in my class. (Law school here lasts 4-5 years).

So...

...my first choice is Oxford. My overall GPA is pretty good. However, should I explain, in my statement, the drop in my performance and the subsequent "blank" year? Or should I not mention it at all? (They'll see it from my transcripts, in either case). A friend who's currently studying there says that I should, because -in his words- "my honesty will be valued" and also because it supposedly shows that I was focused and strong enough not to let my problems affect me for long. Others, however, who are studying there as well, have advised me not to mention anything, maintaining that my GPA should be sufficient for Oxford to bother with my application and also that any explanation I offer might even arouse suspicion.

What do you think?