<p>Hey guys, I was wondering if there was a way to talk to alumni's even if you don't get an interview. I made a thread about a month ago asking about my chances of getting into top schools with a 3.7 gpa and a really bad illness. You guys reassured me, and I felt pretty good... until the school gave us our ranks. Out of 392 kids, Im 39 (at a pretty competitive high school). While this is still a great rank considering how many people are behind me, I cant help but doubt my chances for Penn (my dream school). I have the brains and the study skills but my stupid illness wrecked my freshman year and the beginning of sophomore year. I got help from a new doctor and got the treatment I needed. I got all A's and a B sophomore year, despite the bad start. I even got a 4.0 junior year. All that work, trying to pull myself up from something that's out of my control, and still I'm way below what penn wants. The last thing Penn is going to do is accept a #39 student. Thats why I want SOMEBODY to talk to. Sure I can write about it in my essay, but I only get 500 words. I need 5000. I really want to believe that my hard work these past couple years will get me to where I want to go, but I can't. What can I do?</p>
<p>I would apply E.D. because my chances would be better, but I would hate to get a no and think that I could have done E.D. somewhere else</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch</p>
<p>39 is still in the top 10%, so you are not totally doomed based on your rank alone. If your essay cannot adequately explain your bad grades freshman and sophomore year due to your illness, then ask your guidance counselor to mention it in the rec letter. This type of circumstance will also help make up for your rank.</p>
<p>realistically speaking though, how far will that get me? I don’t know if my guidance counselor’s rec letter will do the trick</p>
<p>I understand your sense of despair, and I hope you don’t take this wrong, but what you’re trying to do is probably not the best path for you. It is much better if someone else talks about your medical problems, not you. Stories are more believable if they come from a 3rd party who has the appearance of being neutral rather than from the applicant directly. </p>
<p>We all know people who talk about a cold as if it was pneumonia; I’m not trying to insinuate this is at all what you’re doing, just to point out that some people exaggerate and it preferable to have a trusted 3rd party such as a counselor bring up issues that affected your academic performance. So rather than meeting with an alum who has no training in admissions and no experience in making allowances for medical issues, and who quite frankly would feel very uncomfortable when an applicant tries to explain their grades (which the alum knows nothing about because at most schools they don’t get a copy of the application, pretty much just your name and contact information ) you’re much better off having your counselor mention the issue in a rec (or supplementary letter) which the adcoms can look over.</p>
<p>But from your response to an earlier poster while I was typing this in, it seems like you’re bound and determined to talk to someone. It is your application, so do what you think is best and I hope it works out for you.</p>
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<p>You should only apply ED to your top choice. If Penn is your top choice, then it shouldn’t matter if you could’ve used it somewhere else.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with the rest of your stats, but if your GC explaining your situation doesn’t get you in, then you probably wouldn’t have gotten in if you had better grades anyway. Many people with 4.0s don’t get in. It is a sad reality.</p>
<p>ok thanks guys, I’ll tell my guidance counselor and I might as well apply E.D.</p>
<p>You can only do your best! What you do have going for you is improvement over time in your academics. According to what I’ve read, the admissions officers see that as a sign of “maturation”. Way better than fading out in 11th grade! So if you have a dream school, by all means go ED.</p>