Hello! I am a Junior and my gpa by the end of the year will be between 86 and 87. Due to the fact that my parents had a nasty divorce during my 8th grade year my grades went down,at this same time i was diagnosed with depression.this mainly came from the fact that my grandfather had died in his sleep that year and my parents nasty divorce just made everything worse. May I add that my sister and I lived with my grandfather during that time since my parents send us to live with them a few month before they came from Florida so we could start school early. In the 9th grade all my averages were 87 averages and then during 10th grade i had a down fall. My depression took the worst of me and was my worst year getting 81 and 82 averages. During my first semester of junior year my grandmother passed away in a tragic way which called for a nasty court battle this impacted my grades in only two classes however my gpa were high, all honor roll. Adding to this since freshman year I have taken AP classes and honors, sophomore year being the only year i took only ap world history (the only ap offered to sophomores) and no honors. Not to mention that my struggles at home have also come from my sisters health since she has depression and anxiety and things have gotten hard for her. This especially affected me since coming from a single father, from a young age I became the mother figure to my sister. From a lot of people I have heard that Barnard takes into consideration you as a person hearing that people with a B+ average (87-89) have gotten in and how their essays seem to be the main deciding factor why they got in. My leadership skills and involvement have been exceptional throughout my 3 years.For recommendation letter all thee teachers i asked were more than pleased to say the least. Despite my circumstances at my school many teachers know about me even when i dont know about them. They know about my passion, leadership and work in class and I guess that why they hold me in a high position ( which really flatters me because with college coming I have just been feeling like I am not good enough). I will list my stats below. My main questions is with my grades circumstances and recommendation letters do I stand a chance to get into Barnard.
Freshman Year:
AP world history
honors algebra
honors english
living environment
beginner band
gym
cisco
Sophomore year:
chemistry
english
AP world history 2
geometry
gym
symphonic band
it essentials
Junior Year:
Ap English
AP US History
AP Biology
Trig/Algebra 2 honors
gym
Symphonic band
Cisco
extracurricular/awards
-Model UN: delegate 9th grade,under secretary general 10th grade, Chief of external relations 11th grade, and Secretary general for 12th grade( elected 11th grade). Not this is for the the WHISMUN conference my schools own conference.
-cultural club: 9th grade was cancelled in the 10th grade
-Womens leadership club: 11th and plan to keep going 12th grade
-Chorus 9th and 10th grade
Clubs Expected for 12th grade:
-National Honor Society
-Senior Council
-Yearbook committee
-MUN
-Womens Leadership Club
Awards earned:
Honor Roll second Honors: 9th grade
NYSSMA Gold Medal: 9th Grade for Concert Band, 10th grade for Symphonic Band, 11th Grade pending
*** That is really all my school does not give many awards except sports related one. All awards are really earned senior year and given on graduation.***
Expected Classes for Senior Year:
-AP Stats
-Government( not sure if they have AP but if they do then AP of course)
-Physics Honors
-Cisco
-AP Literature
-Symphonic band or Wind ensemble
-gym
-ap music theory
( this are expected classes based on my current academic stance and from what I have been told I will possibly get next year since mainly all the AP classes continue to have the same students while AP stats and Physics as well as AP music theory are classes you can choose.)
Recommendation Letter:
I am getting as of now three recommendation letter 2 from teachers that have taught my ap classes and model un (since they are the ones who run the senior staff interviews and choose the positions). They are also teachers who now about my passion and dedication and struggles, they know me as a person. The third is from our MUN advisor who is the CEO of a company named education in motion, he also knows me as a person and has final say for all the senior staff decisions. He has seen my growth since the 9th grade and I think its important that he gave me the under secretary general position (basically the vice president, we are all in charge of running the conference and planning it) while still being a freshman while senior where my competition. I believe he saw something in me. I am planning to get my 4th letter, which they need, from the counselor which also knows me very well. third teacher recommendation since the one is an extra from outside school, im planning to ask my english teacher from the 10th grade whom saw my struggles. He did not want to put me into AP english because he said If i was absent a lot i would just fall behind. However, after not backing down he said that if I got an 80 on the common core regents he will put me in the AP. I ended up getting a 95 on that exam proving him wrong. I was hoping he could emphasize what I can do when I put my mind and heart to something, I will also add he always said my academic ability was not a problem since I was excellent (I write songs so writing comes naturally to me).
Do you have any advice and how are my chances looking.
I thank you all for your kindness and help!