Anyone want to chance an ex-substance abuser?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hopefully the title of this thread will be catchy enough to draw people in. Long story short, I entered a substance abuse treatment center over two years ago, at age fifteen. After a four month stay, I returned to my previous school and have had no further problems. Most of you will (rightfully so) think I'm crazy to even consider reveling this on their college apps. However, this experience gave me a new direction in life, driving me to pursue a career in clinical psychology, hopefully dealing with adolescent substance abusers. I also decided that, as I want to be in a supportive environment, if I college were to deny me solely based on my prior experiences, that is most likely a college I would not feel comfortable at anyways.</p>

<p>ACT: 34 (One sitting, not submitting SATs)
SAT II: 770 Lit, 740 MathII
Grades: B+/A- range
APs Taken So Far: AP World, AP US, AP Macro, AP Micro
Senior Year Schedule: AP Euro, AP Lit, AP Bio, Accelerated Pre-Calc (math is my worst subject), Spanish, Bioethics, Multimedia Design and Production
Extracurriculars: Lots of community service, varsity soccer, professional acting, various other in school clubs
--White male, central NY, non financial aid applicant
----I go to a small independent school that doesn't calculate GPA or class rankings.</p>

<p><strong>The grades part is the main detriment of my application. Missing so much school sophomore year brought my grades down to the B range sophomore year, while every other year I have earned mostly A's. Missing so much school made it hard to catch back up in school, particularly in math and Spanish.</strong></p>

<p>The schools I am applying to are:</p>

<p>UVA (OOS Legacy)
Georgetown
Vanderbilt (Peabody, Child Development Major)
Northwestern (SESP, Human Development major)
Cornell (1st choice- CAS Psych; 2nd choice- Hum. Ec. Human Development)
Colgate (Multi-generational legacy)
Haverford
Davidson
Swarthmore
Washington and Lee
Trinity Coll. Conn.
St. Lawrence
Tulane</p>

<p>Let me know, and I'll try to give you my opinion on your thread as well.</p>

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<p>I don’t think your crazy for including that story in your applications, provided you construct it the right way and make sure the point of the entire thing comes across - that you are now a stronger, better, more mature person who has come out of a traumatic situation as a winner and is going to strive for the best. Pretty inspiring, I think. </p>

<p>To be honest, I don’t know all that much about the colleges you’re applying to, I’ve definitely heard about all of them, but haven’t researched them for myself. So I can’t chance you… Anyway, good luck :)</p>

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<p>What’s you gpa? out of 4.0 or numerical.</p>

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<p>My school doesn’t calculate GPA, but percentage-wise it would probably be between 88-92 or so… but without considering sophomore year (the one where I missed four months) it would probably be about a 94-95 average. (All unweighted)</p>

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<p>bump 10char</p>

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<p>You sound very qualified for all of these schools, so I would be surprised if you didn’t get in to at least a few. I honestly think it will come down to whether they are impressed by your recovery (I am) or worried about relapse, etc. I agree with this: “if I college were to deny me solely based on my prior experiences, that is most likely a college I would not feel comfortable at anyways.”</p>

<p>Also, when you say your school doesn’t calculate GPA or rankings, does that mean they don’t see your gpa? If they don’t, that’s even better. Your ACT and SAT II scores alone will stand for your intelligence. I’m also assuming you did decently on your AP exams (mostly 4’s and 5’s)</p>

<p>Why didn’t you apply ED to Cornell?</p>

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<p>I actually didn’t even think I was going to apply to Cornell until a few weeks before the deadline. My first choice is UVA though anyways, so I wouldn’t have wanted to commit myself to somewhere that wasn’t my unequivocal first choice. </p>

<p>Since my school doesn’t calculate the GPA, it will go unreported to colleges. And I got three 4’s and a 3 on my APs, but I think I should hopefully get fours and fives this year.</p>

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<p>Bump 10char</p>