<p>I (white boy from projects, now in suburbs) graduated in 08, first semester at Hofstra, now I'm in my third (and hopefully last) semester at CCM (really good county college in NJ). I'm applying to two reach schools (NYU, BU) and two reasonable schools (Fordham, AU). </p>
<p>HS: 3.5, AP classes, drum major of championship marching band (and composed/arranged music for two other high school bands as a "volunteer"), student body treasurer, amazing recs and and a few more significant EC's.</p>
<p>Hofstra: 2.35
Chem: F (never went)
Lab: W
Phil: B- (from A- because of tardiness)
Religion: B- (same deal, I know it doesn't matter...just making myself feel better)
Composition: A (TA-DA!)</p>
<p>I have a serious back problem (was a gymnast my entire life, training for Junior Olympics stopped because of back) that often prevented from getting out of bed/walking in HS and it's only recently been getting better. It was really bad when I went to Hofstra because I also contracted scabies (if you don't know, it spreads throughout your entire body and makes it impossible to function normally) and I was in such bad shape (financially, too) I needed to withdraw and go back home. It lasted several months, occasionally I couldn't sleep 4-5 days at a time, and I've got a long list of doctors to vouche for me. It was difficult to maintain grades with both issues eating away at me but I'm sure some went through worse and prevailed.</p>
<p>I have a 3.5 (yeah I know...) at my current institution, 1800 SAT, I'm in the honors program, taking 18 credits, and I've got really good EC's (volunteer at pet shelter, good standing at job, PAYING to go to do community service in Peru come Spring, in a very eminent/competitive music performance group that tours throughout the coast, blahblahblah). Also, I have amazing recs from my current Latin teacher and Comp teacher from Hofstra (who went to NYU, my #1, I'm applying for sociology but want to double or minor in writing). Oh, and I've spent 10x as much effort (as in stab-me-in-my-eyes-and-cut-my-fingers-off effort) on my essays than ANYTHING I've ever done in my entire life (I say that because I obviously think they're as close to perfection as possible...even though I keep reading them and fixing little things)</p>
<p>Am I wasting my time/money applying to NYU/BU? Does anything think that I'm better off not using my medical problems as an excuse? It feels SO awkward to put so much effort into my application (to make up for my less-than-perfect GPA) and then finish it off with a sob story. Is my medical excuse legitimate? </p>
<p>Thanks for any input : ]</p>