<p>no to be insensitive but just wondering if my mom passing away just before freshmen year would allow me to explain my 2.3 gpa throu soph year to top schools not ivys but second tier</p>
<p>This is something that your guidance counselor can address in his/her letter of recommendation. Make an appointment with your GC and talk about it.</p>
<p>I have read that making any excuse (even a serious one like that) is frowned upon on college essays. Have your guidance counselor explain that in his/her letter of recommendation and steer clear of your story for bad performance…think about it like this:
Thousands of high school kids lose their parents each year, and many applying to top colleges still get high grades, so there is no point in exclusively mentioning this on an essay.</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>I think it would help because it shows you are overcoming adversity.</p>
<p>Losing your mom had a major impact on your life - that’s not an ‘excuse.’ By all means, you should mention that this had a negative impact on your ability to focus in school for a while. Yes, it would be good for your guidance counselor to mention it as a mitigating factor for low grades - but you shouldn’t feel that you have to pretend something this important didn’t happen. Just keep it simple and straightforward - lots of admissions people have lost a parent - some while very young - and are likely to sympathize, especially if your grades show a major upward trend and you can make the case that you are back on track academically. Keep in mind that if you are unable to participate in outside ECs to the same degree as friends with two parents at home because you now have more household and/or sibling responsibility, that is worth mentioning as well. Kids in one-parent families are often so used to their greater household responsibilities that they don’t even realize they are carrying an extra workload, for which they deserve credit and recognition.</p>
<p>Take the two moms’ advice.</p>
<p>And I am very sorry for your loss.</p>