A personal question about my Dental school application?

One school asks to discuss any extenuating circumstances which I feel are pertinent to my application. This past year has been difficult for me, and I believe that the stress did have some effect on my DAT scores. 3 very close people to me died, including my aunt, great-grandmother (gg), and uncle. My gg nearly died the day before I took the DAT my first time. My mother did not tell me my gg was in the hospital because she did not want to stress me, but had to call me at 2:00 because the doctors said she was going to pass at any moment. My whole large extended family was there saying goodbye. She did not pass, so my family encouraged me to take the test. She ended up passing 2 later. I planned on taking the test again, but a month before, my uncle suddenly died. That was a greater shock to my family. I still took the test because I wanted to apply this year, but did horrible again. I do not want to seem whiny, or look for an excuse, but do you believe this is a circumstance?

A personal question about my Dental school application?
Yes. I was admitted to a Ph.D, program (actually, 12) by explaining the extenuating circumstances of being homeless while doing my BA (thus my grades were quite abysmal). However, I am now thriving with a 3.94 GPA in one of the best Ph.D. programs in my field...and faculty are happy to say they gave me a chance. In other words, if you don't explain yourself, they'll assume the worst!