<p>I am a rising senior, and have always thought that I would apply to colleges this coming year. During my Sophomore year, I was diagnosed with Crohns Disease, (A stomach disease that sucks to have) and it wasn't that bad, until it kicked in my junior year. I missed a huge chunk of my junior year, arguably the most important highschool year. I made up the credits through summer school, and worked really hard to stay in my class of 2012. </p>
<p>Now my plan up until now has been to apply to both colleges and Post Grad schools, and choose where I go depending on where I get in. Pretty much everyone has been supportive of this idea, up until recently, some people have been telling me "It will look bad to colleges if you have a weak application and then a stronger one later" and "applying twice doesn't make sense, if they reject you once, you will never get in the second time no matter how good your application." Is there any truth to this?</p>
<p>This is confusing because I have heard others say the complete opposite, that applying a second time shows that you have drive and are determined to go to that school. So PLEASE help me out, should I not apply this year? </p>
<p>Some background:
I'm a Black Male from MA,
My GPA is not really relevant, because it is based off of so few classes,
My SAT score is a 1900
EC's Varsity Debate since Sophmore year
President of the School Band
President of The Jewish Student Union (Yeah, I'm Black and Jewish)
My main essay will be about my struggle with Crohns
My Rec's will probably be average, since I barely know any of my teachers (because I spent so little time in class)</p>
<p>First of all, I can’t think of any circumstance under which it would “look bad” to improve yourself. Maybe improving yourself doesn’t look as good as having been this good all along, but I think the “it looks bad” argument is probably mostly baseless.</p>
<p>Add to this your particular, and most unfortunate, reason for applying twice: you have a documented chronic medical condition that interfered with your academic progress while you were in high school. And you took sensible steps to fill some gaps that you thought this interference caused. Most colleges will understand.</p>
<p>Now, does this mean you will get into Princeton or Stanford? Not necessarily. But people who zip through high school without incident won’t necessarily get into Princeton or Stanford, either. On the other hand, does your story mean you’ll have to settle for a significantly less flashy or stimulating college than you might otherwise have qualified for? I doubt it.</p>
<p>I think a PG year sounds like a great idea, if you can afford it. It is pretty expensive. I don’t know whether this means much, but I have a friend whose daughter just finished a PG year in a prep school after graduating from high school without a chronic illness. I don’t think she was too harmed by it. She’ll be a freshman at Amherst this fall.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, that is definitely reassuring. I know for sure that I would be a better candidate after a PG year. But I am also pretty confident in my current application. My reach schools are NYU and USC, because of their amazing film programs (I plan on majoring in Film Production). Some others are Chapman and LMU. Anyway the point is, I really feel like I should apply this year, because it is a possible missed opportunity. Hopefully it doesn’t work against me. Thanks again!</p>
<p>I see I only sort of answered your question the first time.</p>
<p>I should have said, I don’t see anything wrong with your plan to apply to colleges and PG programs, and then do what seems best for you. I am neither NYU nor USC, of course, but I would think that both of those institutions would see it the way I did if you eventually do apply for a second time.</p>