Complicated Situations During Senior Year

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

So, I’m new here, but I’m having quite the crisis (at least in my head it seems this way). Basically, this whole situation goes back to freshman/sophomore year, when my grades sucked (<3.0 GPA) and I was barely staying above water (this was due to a bullying situation that was eventually resolved).

During my junior year, I really flourished. I nearly had a 4.0, I was lead attorney in Mock Trial, I was the Copy Editor for Yearbook, a volunteer at a program for under-resourced middle school students, was the co-founder and co-president of my school’s Pre-Med/Pre-Health Club, was going to be a volunteer at the local teaching hospital during senior year (which is quite well-known), and was going to have an internship at a college lab during senior year.

I then got the news that I would be moving from California to Ohio, and would be attending boarding school at the “#1 school in West Virginia.” All of my extracurriculars this year are gone (I may have the ability to join clubs, but I won’t have a leadership position). The only sport I have participated in was cross country during freshman/sophomore year. I am trying to set up a volunteer position at the local hospital here, but it is not as good, and I am only going to be able to work there for about two months before I have to send in my college apps.

Obviously, I can’t aim high (my reach school is Pitt, and I’m not expecting to get in), but over the last several days I have been having massive breakdowns over this. I have worked so hard over the last two years for a good résumé, and now it is falling apart over something that is completely out of my control. How do you think colleges will view this and take it into consideration when evaluating my application(s)?

By the way, my freshman/sophomore year GPAs sunk by six-semester GPA down to 3.123 (UW) and 3.257 (W) and my SAT is looking like it is going to be around 1350-1400 (new SAT, out of 1600).

If anyone has similar stories to this, feel free to post. It would be nice to know that I’m not the only one in a situation like this.

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Please excuse any typos. I wrote this in a hurry and didn’t have time to thoroughly proofread.

3

Understandable. It must be incredibly tough having the rug yanked out from under you in such a hugely disruptive way right when you feel like you’re getting the hang of things.

However, here’s some good news. Even if the college you get into isn’t as prestigious as you first imagined, it won’t limit you or keep you from getting to where you want to go. You don’t need a fancy college to be successful. It sounds like you have the making of someone who can do really well, you just need the opportunity to do it. I’ve had my carefully laid plans go completely to hell in the past, and sometimes you just have to step back, make the best of it, and get through it. You come out on the other end stronger and smarter.

I know other posters on here will have good advice for what colleges you’d be a good match for, but from my perspective, I think whatever college you go to, you’ll do great at because you’ll be much more in command of your own ship.