<p>I am a senior in high school trying to figure out what colleges would take a chance on me. I go to an excellent very small alternative public high school in NYC. I have always loved school, but suffered from severe anxiety and depression at the beginning of high school that heavily restricted my ability to attend and thrive in school. I was also very overmedicated by a crackpot psychiatrist which caused me to suffer from extreme exhaustion at all times. I am now doing very well in school, as well as emotionally but when faced with applying to college, it seems the bad place I was in at 14 and 15 years old might have blown my chances at most even somewhat selective colleges. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about </p>
<p>1) how honest to be explaining these early grades </p>
<p>2) colleges that are known to take chances on students with similar situations to myself. I have a definite preference towards small, alternative colleges, which will probably work in my favor. My ideal would be Reed, but I believe it's probably too much of a baby Ivy these days to admit a student with 5 Fs on her transcript. I was the only high school student in a class at Sarah Lawrence, where I got an A-. I enjoyed that class and will be applying there. I also am interested in Bard (I'm thinking of trying to complete the application where you write 4 full length essays and the rest of your application is not considered), Evergreen State, St. Johns, and Hampshire. I'm also applying to a few CUNY schools. </p>
<p>3) if i should consider applying to colleges next year with good senior year grades, and an additional 2 college classes taken as a high school student</p>
<p>SAT- 2250</p>
<p>Writing- 760
Reading- 780
Math- 710</p>
<p>Freshman year</p>
<p>first semester- no grades, medical absence </p>
<p>second semester- 2 Fs, a C, a B-, 2 B+, and an A- </p>
<p>Photography- F
Human Behavior- F
History of American Slavery- B-
Creative Writing- A-
Speech writing- C
Geometry- B+
Art history- B+</p>
<p>Sophmore year</p>
<p>first semester- 3 Fs, 2 C-, 2 B-, and a B</p>
<p>Gender Studies- C-
Filmmaking- C-
Jazz Age Literature- B </p>
<p>Art History- F
Advanced Algebra- F
World War II History- F</p>
<p>second semester- a B-, 2 B+, 3 A-, an A</p>
<p>Trig- B+
Physics- B-
Theatre- B-
Political Science- B+
Queer Studies- A-
Deconstructing Literature- A
Debate- A- </p>
<p>Junior Year</p>
<p>first semester- 1 B+ 3 A-, 3 As</p>
<p>Ethics- A
Poetry Analysis- A
ASL- A
Robotics- A-
Advanced Algebra- A-
Advanced Logical reasoning- A-
Chemistry- B+</p>
<p>second semester- 4 A-, 3 As </p>
<p>Biology- A-
pre calc- A-
Native American History- A-
ASL- A
Debate- A
Dystopian Literature- A-
Creative Writing- A</p>
<p>plus a russian lit class at Sarah Lawrence in which i got an A- </p>
<p>Senior Year </p>
<p>first semester- </p>
<p>taking an Economics course at Hunter College (i expect to get a high grade)</p>
<p>Probability and Statistics
Forensics
Animal Behavioral Science
Russian History
World Literature
Creative Writing
Sketchbook Art </p>
<p>Note: My school is very non traditional, and though public, it has a waiver for standardized testing and language classes (although i took ASL classes that were offered my junior year)</p>
<p>ALSO- classes are very non traditional but the titles get changed to more traditional titles when applying to colleges i.e. Native American History just appears at U.S. History etc. </p>
<p>Extracurriculars</p>
<ul>
<li><p>4 years and hundreds of hours working with a high school for students with autism. The higher functioning students take 1 or 2 classes at my school each semester. I have taught a poetry class on Friday afternoons for these kids, as well as worked with many of them individually and in a group on social skills and school work. This fledged into a full internship my junior year where I worked about 10 hours a week. </p></li>
<li><p>helped organize two walk- a- thons that each raised over $10,000 for an organization that helps Afghan girls get an education and Afghan women escape extremely abusive situations. </p></li>
<li><p>2 years of Spanish classes taken outside of school because my school does not offer languages</p></li>
<li><p>continuing ASL classes as none are offered at my school this semester</p></li>
<li><p>part of a student collective that interviewed candidates for the 2013 NYC Mayoral election on education policies as well as registering young voters. </p></li>
<li><p>I lead a poetry club at my school for 2 semesters. </p></li>
<li><p>I have worked full time as a camp counselor teaching kids creative writing and acting </p></li>
</ul>
<p>-I have been on my schools Admissions committee for 2 years, interviewing prospective students. </p>
<p>College Recs- I know will be incredible. I attend a school with only 130 kids (all classes are multi age and grade level), and 13 teachers. I am getting recs from the teacher I've taken gender and queer history with, as well as my creative writing classes, one of my lit classes, and debate. I am very close with her and she will be explaining a lot of my past issues in school and my dedication to social justice and writing. I'm also getting a rec from my supervisor at the high school for autistic students. I am also very close with her, and I have been very dedicated to my responsibilities there, even when I was doing poorly in school. </p>
<p>Essays- I am a strong writer and have been told my essays are very good (although i am not done yet). </p>
<p>Sorry for the super long post!</p>