A very different student

<p>I posted this in the Harvard thread as well because thats the university I had in mind, I hope its ok to post the same question here. I would like to attend an Ivy league school. I'm 21. My grades in high school were horrible. I did well on the SAT though, if I remember correctly. Anyways I know my grades aren't up to par, but will the admissions people look at my grades from 5 years ago or will they look at what I;ve done since I've graduated?</p>

<p>I started my own company when I was 18, brokering and funding jumbo real estate loans. I funded millions of dollars in loans until I got into rural land development. A partner and I made the company into a real estate development corporation and did very well for a while. My company generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue in the the year or so before the real estate crash. This was when I was 19-20. I bought and sold houses and built a $700,000 house to sell. The real estate crash took nearly everything and now I'm forced to sell the various investments of the company for 1/5th what I paid.</p>

<p>As of right now I am daytrading trading index futures, mostly on the nasdaq. The story of my last few years in pretty interesting. So my question, once again, is will admissions look at my crappy high school grades, or will they look at what I've been doing for the last couple years?</p>

<p>In thinking about it, it seems strange that they would look at the grades of someone my age. I understand if you JUST graduated because that's all they have to look at it, but to place high school grades over starting 2 companies and actually making my mark in the real world seems strange. Aren't actual accomplishments much more applicable when considering whether or not I will be successful in the future?</p>

<p>Input is appreciated.</p>

<p>i agree with what you said. i think they should look more to what you did rather than your high school grades. it seems like that HS grades only show what potential you have for real world, but you did that already. so, what you have done should take precedence over your crappy grades.</p>

<p>It seems logical, but I really don't know how it works.</p>