Parent here of a low GPA /high ACT son who went through the admissions cycle two years ago. Many people helped me on this site and I want to take the time to try to give back some things I have learned. On the one hand, a 3.1 GPA makes admissions to any selective school a steep uphill climb but one the other hand, the medical context, the excellent junior year grade recovery, the high ACT score and the advanced internship experience paint a portrait of a resilient, smart and motived person who can clearly do the work at a selective school. My advice would be to expand your daughter’s list in both directions adding both more safeties and more reaches (those outside the top 30). It is very hard to get a handle on admissions chances when lopsided stats are present and there are extenuating circumstances affecting the GPA . In a case like this, it might make sense to apply to several schools in a broad range. You don’t want her to get shut out in the spring but you don’t want her to leave opportunities on the table. You might be pleasantly surprised at her results.
My own son who had a 3.3 GPA and 34 ACT applied to 13 schools for a competitive major and went 11 for 13. For context, these were schools like Case Western, Rochester, UMass, WPI, Purdue, Colorado School of Mines. I think being Hispanic helped him, although I don’t know how much or it if was the main driver. Personally, I think it was the overall narrative of a smart kid overcoming some major adversity and pulling his grades up dramatically in the second half of high school that allowed him to get into some schools where it looked like he had no chance based on his GPA. In the end, he ended up getting waitlisted at his first choice, RPI, but he received several acceptances from other well regarded peer schools on his list. He is at one them now where he is thriving with a 3.9 GPA as a STEM major! A rough start in high school can be overcome!
Some additional thoughts/ advice in no order :
(1) Even though the councilor will mention the medical issues in her recommendation, consider having you daughter write a short letter of explanation about her early high school grades /medical challenges in the additional comments section on the common application.
(2) At some of expensive private colleges, being full pay can help if the applicant is qualified but on the academic margins.
(3) For some schools and majors sub scores for the ACT, particularly math can matter more than the overall composite.
You might get more or less mileage out your daughter’s 33 ACT depending on how the sub scores break down.
(4)For a prospective STEM major rehabilitating their high school GPA avoid future B’s in math and science at all costs.
If you think it’s necessary and you have the discretionary funds for proactively bringing in a tutor to prevent a B in STEM course, consider doing it.
(5) Submitting high SAT subject test and high junior year AP scores won’t cancel lower earlier grades in math and science but they still can convey to admissions mastery of the material, provide context for rigor of high school and reassure those admissions people on fence that the applicant will be competitive with their higher GPA peers if admitted.
(6) Some very selective schools have a strong preference (that approaches a hard cut off) for only accepting applicants in the top 50% of their class. This goes above and beyond the obvious preference these schools have for applicants in the top 10% and 25% of their high school class. In these cases the small percentage that fall in the bottom half are usually hooked in some way or come from well known rigorous high schools. In my son’s case he was fortunate to be in the top 40% the beginning of his senior year. He did move up to the top 20% by graduation but that was after admissions decisions had been made. Many schools, even if they don’t rank, will ask for a decile estimate. Many high schools will not update decile rank until the close of academic course senior year. If my child was on the wrong side of the top 50% but rapidly improving, I would consider asking the councilor to send a note with the midterm grade update that based on current performance the student looks on track to graduate in the top 50% (or whatever percentage they project.)
(7) A gap year is not for everyone but if a viable option for your family, a full senior year of higher grades would help bring the GPA up that is reported on the common application on the next application cycle.
(8) Your daughter’s internship experience sounds impressive. She will be ahead of the curve in this area compared to most. I suspect with the selective schools that will give her serious consideration it will definitely help.
Good luck!!!