<p>Hello, guys. I am a senior this year and am applying to a few reach colleges. My GPA is certainly not up to par with these colleges, but my SAT score is in their 50 percentile. My GPA has been affected by arguments between my parents which happened and still happen at least twice a week constantly for the past five years of my life. I have heard that everything will be looked upon in context, but are they really going to do that? I mean, almost everything on my app was affected by everything going on in my home. I don't imagine them looking at a guy with a higher GPA than me and saying, "oh, even though this person has a lower GPA, he has been through a lot more, so let's admit him."</p>
<p>BUMP 10 char</p>
<p>My parents have been fighting every day for the past 50 years. </p>
<p>I think you are right, if you have lower stats than someone else, the someone else is more likely to be selected. You have to focus on the things you can change, such as your scores, your grades from here out, your essays.</p>
<p>I assume that you are a parent and are not making a hyperbole with the fifty years. What college did you go to Twoin? I mean, you have been in a similar situation to me, so I was just wondering. I think my essays were pretty good, so do I have a reasonable chance?</p>
<p>Yes, I’m a parent with two seniors, but I don’t exaggerate, my parents fought and still fight about everything, and they’ve been married almost 60 years. Drives me crazy.</p>
<p>You don’t say what your stats are, but if you are average, you are not going to get into a top college because your essay says your parents argue every night. Many high school students have struggles. My kids are in their third high school because of my job moves, and it wasn’t easy on them and it did affect their gpa’s. Not an excuse, an explanation. I’m not discounting that your home life is hard because of the fighting, but you are not alone. You may be able to explain the low grades in an essay, but it is an uphill battle. If you can see this is a problem (lower grades) what steps have you taken to fix that? Do you go study at the library? Can you show an upward trend in grades because you figured out a way to work around your home problems? That’s what schools want in a student, one who can solve his problems. If your scores put you at 50% of that student body, what else can you offer them? Put that in your essay.</p>
<p>I agree, although its a bummer your parents fight – there are students out there who are living in homeless shelters, or taking buses for 2 hours each morning to get to school, working 40+ hours a week while attending high school full-time, etc. The question is what have you done to overcome this – study at Coffee Bean every day? Stay at school and come home only when necessary? Don’t make excuses for your lower-than-average grades, etc. – explain how it has affected you and what you are doing to overcome this. This goes beyond just high school, these are lessons in life too. It sucks, sorry.</p>