<p>I'm currently a junior from Kansas. In my freshman year, I got a 3.7 GPA, then a 3.92 as a sophomore, and a 4.0 as a junior. My grandma (who raised me, and I still live with her) was diagnosed with lung cancer in my Freshman year. I know that this affected my schoolwork alot, as you can see from my GPA. I also did alot fewer EC's that year. Will the colleges look over my low GPA (3.86 borderline for top 10%) because of this reason?</p>
<p>Is it unweighted or weighted? The upward trend will look very good, but a 3.86 UW is not very low for even the top schools-yes, it's a little on the low end, but not too bad. 3.86 W, however, is entering that bottom 25%. Being from Kansas will help significantly though.</p>
<p>3.86 unweighted, my school doesn't weight GPA. I always thought that most people in the top schools have 3.95ish GPAs (the legacies and famous kids bring down the average right?)</p>
<p>I mean, it's on the low end, but won't cripple you. For Harvard, maybe, but for top 20-30 schools, you're just fine.</p>
<p>But is my grandma getting cancer a legitamite justification?</p>
<p>Yes. Write about that in your essay and they will eat it up. You have a great chance anywhere!</p>
<p>But isn't this sympathy thing kind of a generic topic?</p>
<p>No not really, the idea of generic topics came up in my English class once and basically it doesn't necessarily matter what you write about moreso than how you convey and articulate your thoughts in your essay. You have to make your essay stand out from others and if it's on similar topics than the way you write it will make the difference. Then again there is only a handful of stuff a normal HS senior can write about in their short lives.</p>
<p>You still got a 3.86 UW GPA which is still excellent for people whose Grandmothers aren't diagnosed with lung cancer.</p>
<p>yea, but i would really like to get into a top 5 or top 10 college, so it is a bit low comparatively...</p>
<p>Not necessarily. For example, Penn's average HS GPA is a 3.8. Get good test scores and you should be fine. By the way, you don't HAVE to go to a top 5 or top 10 school. Take a look at some of the colleges in the top 20. You never know...Emory, Wash U, Hopkins, and other fine schools may stand out to you.</p>
<p>don't write about your grandma's illness, many college writing essay how to books claim for a student not to write about, deaths, sickness (unless u actually overcame it), divorce, etc, it looks like you may have unresolved issues.</p>