<p>I had a 94 unweighted GPA my freshman year, and when sophomore year hit, in November of 2008, my dad was supposed to be on a business trip to Belgium, and I literally came home that day from school assuming he'd be gone, and my mom called me saying that my dad was in hospital emergency and about to die....he had a surgery that removed his perforated colon and he was on bed rest for a good three months afterwards. My mom works fulltime, so during this time period I was expected to take care of him, cook, clean, do the laundry, all the stuff my mom would've done because she started working extra and really needed my help around the house and in taking care of my dad. He went back to work and then had surgery again in February, and after that he was on bed rest against for a good two, three months and did not make full recovery till November of 2009, which is the beginning on my Junior year.</p>
<p>I was wondering if I should include this in my college application? Because I don't know if it counts as extenuating circumstances...I had to take care of my dad basically al of sophomore year and into Junior year and my grades suffered heavily (from an A student to a B student..and I had moved here my freshman year so I didn't have very many friends, and school was obviously getting harder). I also ended up dropping one of my classes beginning of junior year because taking care of everything, and having been used to being the "woman of the house" so to speak, it took me a while to get back into the groove of things.</p>
<p>avenlea: This is the type of story that college admission people want to hear. A well written explanation can incorporate why your grades suffered as well as your role in being part of a family and that school was not the priority for a while…your father was. Going from an A student to a B student is not a huge drop considering your were probably spending a lot of time caring for your dad as well as doing other chores in your home. I would assume that having your dad still in your life means that your efforts in helping him and your mom during a difficult time make it all worth it. Share that…people are more important than grades.</p>
<p>thank you guys!! do you think this would increase my chance at any top tier schools (ivies)? i was initially not applying to them because my grades were too low, but idk…</p>
<p>I would add that it would be extremely helpful if your guidance counselor could mention this in her/his report as well…sorry you had to go through that…</p>
<p>try to do very well on your SATs, get good recommendations, write an AMAZING essay…all this will help you a lot. Sorry about your situation, it must have been very difficult. But I agree with the others, admissions officers will want to hear this and be impressed with your responsibility and care for your family Best of luck!</p>
<p>well, i’ve never mentioned this to my guidance counselor so i don’t know if she’s going to have time to include this in her report. this was kind of an inside deal, my parents didn’t want anyone knowing about this because it was kind of embarassing for them. they wanted me to have a normal school experience…which unfortunately is not how it turned out…</p>
<p>i got a 32 on my ACT. is that high enough?
which ivy would you guys suggest?</p>
<p>32 is a good ACT score, though I believe it’s slightly on the lower side for Ivies - though definitely still competitive. Check out collegeboard for a consolidated way to find score ranges. Try whichever Ivies you want to attend! You may be able to get fee waivers if you have a low family income, so check that out. When you meet with your GC, tell him/her about your situation - just because you’ve yet to mention it doesn’t mean that you can’t tell him/her… any other ?s</p>
<p>@physicsnut1,
my transcript is really weird because i went from late eighties and nineties freshman year to eighties sophomore year, and one seventy five in ap calc jr year (i was one of the first kids at my school to take it as a junior…plus all the home stuff), and second semester junior year all my grades were in the eighties and nineties. my overall weighted GPA is a 98.7, unweighted 89.7, class rank top 25%.</p>
<p>So that typically isn’t “Ivy” standard, but as you have an extenuating circumstance, it may be okay if you have great test scores (as bzva says). I really don’t know if the 32 would be this, but take a look at the score ranges. </p>
<p>Cornell, for example, has a middle 50% of 29-33, so your ACT is high and may help schools overlook your GPA (especially if you write about your circumstance, have outstanding recs and a powerful essay)</p>
<p>But if you’re thinking Harvard, standards are higher… check out the collegeboard school profiles.</p>
<p>@physicsnut1: i really like penn, yale, brown, and princeton. specially penn and princeton because their FA is really strong - my parents are in the higher income bracket, so it’s necessary to get a lot of financial aid for me to get into these schools. that basically rules out yale and brown. princeton and penn i really like, i guess i’m just wondering what i can do to strengthen my application, and if penn ED would be a smart choice.</p>
<p>my recommendation is going to be from my calculus teacher, who hopefully will be talking about my effort in his class as one of the only juniors to take it. i struggled through that class alone, came in almost regularly after school for help…and raised my grades 7 percent second semester. :]</p>
<p>If you really like Penn (have you visited?) do ED! But only if you are ready, feel like your scores are strong enough, and think that your essays can’t get much better. </p>
<p>And that sounds like it’ll be a great recommendation :)</p>
<p>Do you plan on retaking any tests? (Not that you have/need to, just asking)</p>
<p>@physicsnut1, i haven’t visited! but really i’m not picky about schools. i’ve lived so many places during the course of my life (five states…) i can basically fit in anywhere, so that’s not the problem. the ivy league atmosphere appeals to me because i need an extensively rigorous environment to succeed - i just want to know if i have a good shot at penn, or if they care about grades & my class rank more than my circumstances and efforts.</p>
<p>i’m retaking the ACT next saturday (hopefully going up to 33-34), and i’m taking the SAT IIs in november (i dunno how i’ll do on those). my sat score is 1910, i’m getting my retake back in two weeks, but i doubt i’ll be submitting those scores.</p>
<p>They will always look at your grades with your circumstances in mind. I say go for it (especially if you can manage to bring up your ACT to a 34 - that would be really great. Take a couple more practice tests before Sat. - though don’t overload on cramming). Try to study for your SAT 2s as well! Best of luck whatever you decide!</p>
<p>Well I think Penn could be great ED for you, but again don’t do ED just for the chances - you’ll have to spend at least a year there if accepted. But if you like the aid and think you could fit, go for it!</p>
<p>I do know that if you’re looking for strong financial aid, HYPSM is much better for that then Penn. We’re a middle class family, and when my sister got in, the reason she chose Yale over Penn was for financial aid reasons (aka we got 0 aid from Penn) so ED might limit you if you’re not sure you can afford it/your mother would be able to pay for it.</p>
<p>I expect you will certainly get some, however, given your single-parent status.</p>
<p>I may be mistaken, but isn’t a lack of financial aid the only way to escape from an ED agreement? AT any rate, check out an EFC calculator to see what your aid situation might look like</p>
)</p>
Best of luck!</p>