<p>I suffered a severe concussion my freshman year while playing football, and as a result my grades were hurt significantly dropping my 4.0 uw to a 3.65 uw. Sophmore year though i was able to do well in school and i recieved a 3.85 uw. My concussion was severe enough to where the lasting effects will "plague" me in math/science for a long time. I was wondering how colleges would review my grades freshman and sophmore year due to the fact i would like to attend an elite school. Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>Yeah no. No one will buy it.</p>
<p>Maybe having your counselor writing about this in his/her letter would be the best way to bring the matter upon consideration. If there is an official medical diagnosis about your health status that prove the concussion you had can cast harm to your academic performance, your school might address it as an addendum in their letters.</p>
<p>A concussion with lasting effects would now be termed a “traumatic brain injury”. Did a neurologist diagnose you with permanent brain damage? Which lobe? A medical diagnosis would explain that it will affect your long term memory, or short term, speech, etc. Without that, it just sounds like a reach for an excuse. Not saying it isn’t real, but you need to back that up with medical documentation. And why just math and science?</p>
<p>yep i have a few notes from the two different doctors i saw for it. as for the math and science, the numbers were harder to deal with for some reason (the doctor gave me a technical answer about the part of my brain which was damaged) and science was also number intensive and heavy memorization which i just couldn’t focus on</p>
<p>Wait, really? A concussion will cause you to permanently be bad at math and science?</p>
<p>Oh, crud… That explains a lot. I think I might have the same problem…</p>
<p>ok when i said lasting effects for a long time i meant for like 2 years not forever my bad on poor word choice</p>
<p>^
How did the effects last for two years?</p>
<p>IF you have proof from a doctor, ask your GC to address it in her letter and write a brief, to-the-point blurb in the Additional Information section of the Common App.</p>
<p>Reporting damage of this sort will probably hurt your application more than anything unfortunately. Damage on a two year timer sounds a little fishy, but colleges will probably assume your difficulty with numbers and memorization will continue into college, which is bad thing. Keep that in mind when you describe the injury to colleges.</p>
<p>yeah the adcoms will probably roll their eyes unless you have credible proof. Credible being from a specialist, not just your family doc…</p>
<p>You would have had to be on an IEP with specialized instruction, preferably a TBI (traumatic brain injury) eligibility or at least a 504 with accommodations and modifications to have it truly affect your education. I am not saying that your difficulties aren’t real, but you are still doing better than most students who have not suffered brain injuries. If it hasn’t affected you enough to warrant an IEP or 504 I doubt it will help for college admission. You may want to address it in your college essays, though, or have someone write a letter of recommendation who may be familiar with your medical and academic history. I truly hope you did not play football again.</p>
<p>I cant see how it would be helpful to say a long term brain injury negatively effects your ability to learn. Better if it was short term with good evidence of recovery and/or return to baseline. In the working world, that often takes neuropsych testing to prove or disprove ( as in the case of I can’t work because of TBI).</p>