<p>I had a 3.92 in Freshmen year (B+ in PE ...) but during the summer before my sophomore year, my mom got really ill. I am an only child and I am from an asian immigrant family that my dad had to work from 1 PM to 2 AM to provide for us. I was the only person that had to take care of my mom. I did the laundry, cleaning, cooking, and I had to study or do homework right next to my mom in case of danger. I was chaotic. Ultimately I got a B- in AP World first semester, and like 3 B+ here and there, ending up with a 3.63 and cumulative of 3.83. I also got a 2 on the AP world exam.
During the winter of Junior year, she got a transplant which brought her back to life. She was able to do things on her own so I can focus on school work. In Junior year I got 2 A- through out the semesters, ending up with a 3.96 and cumulative of 3.87.</p>
<p>Soooooooo.. yes. i went from 3.92 -> 3.63 -> 3.96 and ended up with cumul of 3.87.
Would my story be a good story to back up my decrease in GPA? I dont know if college will prefer a 4.0 student over me. </p>
<p>No, no, no. This is an actual case of excusable GPA. Don’t listen to this poster. It is something you must mention.</p>
<p>Ideally, this should be the central point of your HS counselor’s letter of recommendation. You can also make this a central theme of your college application essay, which I do not recommend over the previous method. If your counselor is not aware of your situation, make sure you set up a meeting with him/her asap.</p>
<p>Regardless, this MUST BE EXPLICITLY STATED somewhere in your application.</p>
<p>ITA with Zonlicht: it would be best if your guidance counselor explained these circumstances in his or her letter, but if your counselor doesn’t, you really should.</p>
<p>Agree with the above posters - not just because of your grades but also because your ECs are likely to be less impressive than what others, with less familial responsibility have been able to do. Kids with major household responsibilities should not short-change themselves by failing to explain their situation at home. If the guidance counselor does this for you, it saves valuable ‘real estate’ in your application to talk about other things - but there is a place at the end of the application to put in ‘other information’ that admissions should know about.</p>
<p>Not to mention, your GPA isn’t bad AT ALL. In my opinion, you still did really well. I think you’ll definitely have your choice of colleges. But I agree with the other posters. Explain the situation to your counselor, make sure she writes about it in your recommendation letter, and then write a killer essay.</p>