Some background: first semester of freshman year I was doing good, taking AP physics and doing well in other advanced subjects.
Then a family member passed and I had to go to my home country, not only was I in depression but this made me get behind in most of my classes. Eventually, I had to drop AP Physics and a Psychology class. My doctor approved the drop and gave a letter to my school explaining my medical condition, and I was removed from those two classes. Also, in Precalculus Honors I received a 78. This broke my good math record, a 94 and 100 in Algebra and Geometry Honors in 8th grade, and a 96 in Algebra 2 Honors first semester.
My depression continued onto first semester of sophomore year, and I got high 80s in challenging courses. Keep in mind that I did not have health insurance until about second semester, and when I got on antidepressants my grades returned back to normal and I’ve been doing well. But as a result of this I’ve been behind in class rank and my GPA is about a 3.55/4, but I could reach 3.7+ by senior year.
My plan to make up for this:
*Have my counselor mention it in my app
*Next year I’m retaking psychology at a higher level, hoping to do well
*Since I did poorly in Precalculus I’m aiming for a high score on my Math ACT
*I’m currently in two summer classes, and I take an extra class each semester
If I were to score a 33+ on my ACT (which is realistic), would this balance out my lower GPA? I’m applying for Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies. This is purely from an academic standpoint, and next year I’m going into junior year.
And yes, I’m already looking into more realistic schools but who doesn’t want to apply to Columbia 