<p>Well, my question is rather complex and involves a lot more, but I will make is simple: If a person had family troubles at home, like their siblings were in jail or a parent had issues, do you think colleges might give this person a break on their grades? Lets say they have a few B's but for the most part have kept straight A's, do you think top colleges would excuse this? If so, what would that person have to do?
Okay, thanks for the input...</p>
<p>i've never gotten a clear answer on this, like my stepmom has some problems (think loritab)</p>
<p>i think it can be an excuse up to an extent, but DONT use it as a sob story</p>
<p>What I've heard is this: If you have a good semester at some point, show a good trend, or have good test scores to prove you're a capable student, then you get more slack. Many colleges also have means to explain such circumstances.</p>
<p>Of course I have no idea how much any of this can help at any college, but slight things with actual circumstances do make a difference, I've heard.</p>
<p>There are many, many people who come from dysfunctional homes, have illness in the family, have a disability or illness themselves and so on. If your story is truly unusual and a counselor tells the stoty, you may get a little slack. If your family lives in poverty and you have done well despite that, schools might take notice. However for the vast majority of people they simply need the stats to get into top school.</p>
<p>If you had straight A's most of the time and have only gotten a few B's I don't think it would really matter. But if you are going to write about your family issues. Make sure you tell them how you became a stronger individual and what you have gained from this. And avoid making the tone depressing</p>
<p>The extent to which personal factors will considered will depend on the college, what the circumstance was, how it was presented ... and likely the mood of the person reading your application.</p>
<p>As Suze mentioned, you would want your GC to include this information in his or her rec - and if the application has a place for mentioning other factors - you can allude to it briefly there. This is what my son did (we had elder care issues at home, and he was just outside of the top 10%). Based on my son's result, the best advice I can give you is to have a solid base of good schools that are not insanely competitive. Some of the top schools will cut you some slack, but you can't be sure of it. Apply where you like - just make sure you have a solid foundation of match and likely admit schools.</p>
<p>Can you tell us your son's results?</p>
<p>Sure. UW Rank about 13% at a good public hs that sends very few students out of state; UW GPA 3.57. SAT's and II's - M670 V790 Wr780 chem 790 Math IIC 750 World History 710. Good EC's, good writer. </p>
<p>First off, he is a practical person and did not apply to stratospheric reaches. </p>
<p>Case - accepted EA, tuition waiver because of parental employement.
Allegheny - accepted, 15,000 merit per year
Brandeis - accepted 'blue ribbon app' - $20,000 / yr scholarship
U Chicago - accepted RD, good finaid packet
Bowdoin - WL RD
Carleton - WL RD</p>
<p>He was WL'd at the two schools that accept the fewest students. I believe that any student with any grade issues has to be very careful to look at the % of students admitted. Those that admit a small fraction of those who apply are going to have the least leaway in who to admit. The other schools to be careful of are schools such as UVA or UNC - these are very competitive for out of state students - and will want extremely good grades of those they admit.</p>