Drop in Grades due to move/lifestyle! Help?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi.
So I am currently a rising senior and I moved to a pretty well-recognized IB school in the DC area after living in Romania for five years doing the full IB program - I am talking MYP, PYP and then IB. My parents do foreign service so I have lived in 7 countries and 2 states in 16 years.</p>

<p>I have always gotten pretty good grades - above a 3.5 doing an international school curriculum (which I have heard is seen as more challenging? It seems to be the groupthink opinion...) I am not sure how it calculates because I have been on a 1-7 pretty much my entire life.</p>

<p>So then I moved in the middle of 11th grade to this new school and all this accumulated stress/anxiety build-up and I ended up being in the hospital for most of the last semester of 11th grade - 42% attendance for fourth quarter. Yes, it was that bad. :(</p>

<p>My grades are abysmal by my standards: they were Cs to Bs before exams and the majority raised to Bs to As after exams. This increase/change is without weighting. Nevertheless, concerning how long I was gone I would say I did okay.</p>

<p>My real point is that now I am totally freaked out about my chances for admittance because of this drop in grades and I am wondering whether I should apply Early Action to my all-time dream schools: University of Richmond, Wake Forest, Carnegie Mellon, and Elon. My ACT was a 30 btw. </p>

<p>My favorite is UoR because of its atmosphere, opportunities offered and proximity so if I had to choose one to apply ED for one, it would be UoR.</p>

<p>Before I was thinking that I would apply Early Action to the Honors programs at my safety schools: James Madison U., George Mason U., and Virginia Commonwealth U. </p>

<p>Advice? Should I apply Early Action to my safeties? Or should I apply Early Action to my dream school(s)? Or should I do neither wait until I get back into the all As range to apply to show that I have recovered etc??</p>

<p>I have pretty solid extracurricular: international recognition for tennis, Speech and Debate, great Student Council work, part of the emergence and formation of the Romanian chapter of Amnesty International - very successful campaigns etc, MUN. My life - and the stories that comes with it - are definitely unique and I have ample material for life-changing/stand-out essays, in my opinion.</p>

<p>Thanks! Really, I would appreciate this so much. :)))</p>

2

<p>Help?!
Please, anyone?
<em>frantic!</em></p>

3

<p>George Mason has an honors program?</p>

4

<p>Don’t panic…that’s the first thing. An extended illness is certainly a reasonable explanation for lower grades. However, it does not appear that your grades fell that significantly.</p>

<p>I am not an advocate for EA or ED, especially when you have so many different schools you are interested in.</p>

<p>I would focus on preparing your applications, essays etc. and spend less time worrying about something that you could not prevent and can not change now. </p>

<p>Much luck to you in your future.</p>

5

<p>Because of your grade drop, I don’t think EA or ED would help you. Colleges will want to see your fall grades before making a decision. That will let colleges know you’re back on track after your illness (which is an understandable reason for a grade drop).</p>

6

<p>I would try to get EA in Safeties</p>