<p>Hello. I am a high school junior in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. It's been my dream for years to recieve a quality education at a good school - and I sincerely hope that that dream isn't beyond my reach.</p>
<p>I have usually excelled at English and Social Studies classes - until this year, when I signed up for AP English and AP US History. My school system experimented a bit with the AP class schedules - so that students in these classes had to take one more class per semester than the rest of the student body. The result was academic burnout, and the schedule plan was scrapped for next year. </p>
<p>Now, I have a 3.5. unweighted GPA. (3.7 weighted.) I have high grades in Art and Spanish, but below average grades in math. I have never had any aptitude for the subject, and I also have ADHD. (I switched medications during this school year, and that has affected my performance as well.) I have been disorganized this year and am working to remedy that problem.</p>
<p>I would love to participate in extracurricular activities; however, I live in a largely rural area with a bad economy and little to offer for young people. My school has new literature and debate clubs, and I intend to join both effective next year. There are team sports at my school, but I am ill-coordinated and a touch asthmatic, and therefore I do not participate.</p>
<p>If demographics and politics is of any importance, I am of mixed Scots-Irish and Italian heritage, but without significant ties to either culture. I am also a Christian, but I do not attend church. I am a Democrat and would like to be more politically active, but I do not have transportation to party headquarters in the county seat, and my congressional district is so heavily Republican that sometimes the local DP can't even find candidates to run.</p>
<p>I am an aspiring journalism major, and I have a job writing editorial columns for my local newspaper. At one time, I attempted to get an internship with said paper, but I was turned down on the grounds that internships are usually reserved for college students. I had entertained the notion of getting a part time job this summer; however, my grandfather was diagnosed with a terminal illness in January, and I want to spend as much time with him as I can.</p>
<p>My family is not impoverished; however, we are not prospering, and I will require significant financial aid wherever I go.</p>
<p>With my lackluster GPA, empty resume, and financial need, do I have a chance of getting into a good school? If so, does anyone have any suggestions as to where I should apply? (I have been shooting for American University but am not entirely sure of my chances.)</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>