<p>Sorry for this-- I'm in a real weird situation and have spent hours and hours trying to find a forum with even a remotely similar topic to help me out, but I haven't found one, so here goes my question....</p>
<p>I'm a student who had exemplary academics, International-calibre extracurriculars, stellar SAT scores, finished up at a feeder school and comes from an interesting personal story + URM background. I was very interested in going to Harvard up until the last year of my high school when I got really sick, totally disengaged from everything, and am basically in a situation where I'm on a gap year and will be retaking my IB exams this November. </p>
<p>Harvard will look at everything-- not just my retake IB exams, but my original ones as well. Would you say that having messed up my final year of high school and having to redo it-- even for a legitimate reason-- is enough to get completely ruled out for Harvard admission? </p>
<p>Essays and other things I haven't started, but I will, and I'm confident that I'll be able to work hard and churn out some good ones. </p>
<p>I'm just terrified that I've really just completely thrown away any chance at a good school (even beyond Harvard or another Ivy) because of this.</p>
<p>Why do you have your heart set on Harvard or other Ivy League schools?
One can get a quality college education at many, many different universities.
That being said…</p>
<p>Get over being “terrified.” Just apply. Your chances are low, but they do exist.</p>
<p>If you have a reasonable explanation for aberrant academic performance in your final year of high school, ensure that that information makes it onto your college application…somewhere.</p>
<p>The admissions committees at top universities tend to evaluate applicants holistically vs. public schools which rely on “number” (GPA, standardized test scores, etc.) screens.</p>
<p>Did you blow your senior year of high school grades as well, or just the IB exams? If it was just the exams I can’t see how taking a gap year after high school would kill your chances of getting into a good school, either Ivy or not. Be advised that even perfect grades and stats will not guarantee a spot in an Ivy. Maybe your inspiring application essay of senior year adversity and how you managed to survive it will put you on the “will consider” pile at a few of what you consider “good” schools.</p>
<p>To start, I know there are other universities. It’s just that, all by my own volition, I’ve worked immensely hard to get myself to where I am today. I’ve had my heart set on it all by myself for so long. I promise, Harvard attracts me for reasons besides a name. I’m interested in being surrounded by the sorts of students top tier universities attract-- I’m not naive enough to think the only thing I’d get out of a college education is a diploma with a nice name on it. It just wounds me a bit to think all the preparation I did is going to be squandered by something that was outside of my control like an illness. </p>
<p>As for my IB vs High School grades… it’s a strange situation. My IB score is independent from my GPA, so in some ways my GPA will remain intact, but for many universities my IB score will replace my GPA; my first three years of high school will just look like ‘academic history’ versus my more recent, cripplingly low IB score.</p>
<p>Maybe this isn’t the right place to ask this, but would stellar SAT scores in addition to a drastically improved IB score and a counsellor’s letter be enough to convince admissions officer’s I’m not a dud? The rest of my application really is very sound, and the program I was enrolled in prior to my IB was very selective and catered to ‘gifted youth’ within my school district.</p>
<p>May I ask why you got such poor scores? You said sick but didn’t say what type. This might be irrelevant but I feel a college would consider if it was something very serious instead of just mono or the flu.</p>
<p>I was sick, but it was something definitely more serious than the mono or the flu. Long-standing acute illness that afflicted me for nearly a year and a half.</p>
<p>Also, I thought I’d mention this just to give a clearer picture of my situation: my extracurriculars would have given me the same regard as an Olympic athlete. I wasn’t quite that, but something of that calibre in a different field altogether. Does this grease the scale in my favor at all, assuming I get myself in gear to preform drastically better on my retake exams?</p>
<p>As long as you mention that you were seriously sick, I don’t think your last year of high school should count against you. It wasn’t your fault you got sick!</p>
<p>I have another problem-- of my 6 IB subjects, I can only retake 5 since one in self-taught and not offered in November. The grade I got in that class is very low… but I anticipate to still do well on my other 5 retakes and will probably still manage a 40/45 IB grade. </p>
<p>Do you think universities will take offence with that one glaringly bad grade, even if it was from before when I was ill? </p>
<p>It’s making me exceptionally anxious-- do universities care more about total IB points than individual grades, especially if they’re just SL? Or do they look at each and every subject?</p>