<p>So I know I've made a similar thread like this in the past but I'm making this one more in depth to see if anyone would be able to provide some reassurance. </p>
<p>Freshman year:
Pretty bad for me; got a 1.7 my first semester, then a 1.57 second semester. This was not because I was a lazy student however (I was not). I went through tough times and it was known even as far bad as middle school (it was dealing with a divorce and I was clinically depressed, suicidal, etc). Because of the divorce I had to be with my dad every other week, and it was 100% communication blackout the second I stepped into the door; he took my phone, I wasn't allowed to see friends, I wasn't allowed onto the computer -- my life was pretty much home > school > home > sleep, repeat x7 -- because of this, I could not partake in any ECs nor was I motivated in school because all he did was put me down and it made the depression worse (this sounds like a weak reason for poor grades as it is; the drawn out explanation would surely sate that idea).</p>
<p>Sophomore year:
Definitely a strong improvement this year; things in court had developed in a way that I was allowed to choose if I did or didn't want to see a parent (my father), and I chose that. Almost immediately my confidence increased, my depression began getting better, and as I saw that things might be looking good, my suicidal thoughts became more sparse. First semester I got a 3.14, then second I earned a 3.6. Of course I was ecstatic, but now I had this feeling of reality setting in; would I even be able to get into a school that I felt was the right fit for me with these mediocre grades (of course personally it wasn't mediocre compared to freshman, but colleges will think otherwise)? I didn't get discouraged, instead I educated myself, started finding out what others had done and how it worked for them.
My mother doesn't drive and neither do I (yet) so I have to take public transportation to/from school and it is rather slow some days...I was never told by her that I couldn't participate in an EC, she just expressed her opinion that she prefers I focus and do as well on school as I can, and unfortunately I listened to her (not that I shouldn't listen to my mom, but I feel like in this case I should have argued, for my futures sake).</p>
<p>Junior year:
Currently this is where I sit. Because of a couple F's from freshman grades, I have to make up classes (not in the case that I'm a junior taking English 9, I just have to take English 11 as a "make up" class). I currently have A's and B's in all my classes, and even though 4.0 is everyone's goal, I'm a little confused in AP Econ and Lang so I may just have to stick with a B for this semester in those two. I am planning to take the SAT January of 2013. This year at "Club Rush", I signed up for Key Club (a volunteer orientated club) and have been a member of that since (even if its far between that I can participate). This does bring up a good point I'd like to ask about; the student keeping track of hours for everybody (personally it seems a little unprofessional of the school to allow a student to keep track of that) has something against me for some reason (which is odd because I'm a pretty nice person to everybody) and whenever I go to check my hours he says I haven't participated in the club yet. This is where it gets tricky; if I ask a counselor or teacher to step in and talk to him, he could lie and just say I actually haven't participated (the more likely option, in my opinion). When I put this EC on my app next year, will they follow up to see how many hours I have? If not, no sweat off my back, but if so...how do I go about telling the college about this situation? </p>
<p>Senior year:
Obviously I'm not here yet but I plan on taking a more strenuous course load than my junior year, just to finish high school strong. I'll hopefully have a car and a job by this time.</p>
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<p>All that being said: </p>
<p>-Will the negative aspects of my life be taken into account heavily when looking at my transcript? Obviously my grades have been on a very quick incline ever since freshman year so that's a plus. </p>
<p>-Will two years of EC's be enough to satisfy them (I'm also volunteering at a dermatology lab at OHSU over the summer, and looking for another medical position to shadow during senior year)? </p>
<p>-Is separate year GPA (Freshman year x.x, sophomore x.x, etc.) looked at on the same level of importance as entire cumulative GPA? My cumulative will still only sit at a 3.1 IF I get 4.0's these next two years (unlikely).</p>
<p>-How is class rank viewed? I doubt I will be in the top 50% of my class by the time I graduate (currently sitting at the top 75% of my class).</p>
<p>Thank you for your time and your help.</p>