<p>I'm a high school junior, and before the start of my sophomore year my father was diagnosed with a deadly illness. In addition, my brother suffers from ADHD which causes him to be overly violent, and in the spring of 2010 had to be sent to a specialized boarding school. Furthermore, my parents and I were separated for 6 months of my junior year as my father was receiving medical treatment out of state.</p>
<p>Typically, I am an A student. However, given the circumstances, my grades have drastically fallen in Math and Science (C+ sophomore year, B- Junior year in algebra 2 and pre-calc respectively; C- Chem AP Junior year). I have no natural talent at math or science and have worked extremely hard at both to achieve top marks (A) in normal circumstances. Since my parents' return, I have had an A in Pre-calc, and an A in Chemistry (dropped AP to salvage my GPA).</p>
<p>I am getting increasingly worried about college admissions due to my poor GPA (3.717), and was wondering how adcoms would view my grades given the circumstances.</p>
<p>I got a 29 on the ACT the night after I broke my wrist (in the ER till 3:30, on morphine).</p>
<p>Pull your grades up and make sure you write an essay about the circumstances. And, if possible, get your counselor to discuss these circumstances in his/her recommendation as well.</p>
<p>Just re-read the post and saw that the GPA is a 3.717 and not a 3.171. Weighted or unweighted, that’s still a pretty solid GPA. You’re in pretty good shape, OP, especially if you can write a killer essay about your situation.</p>
<p>Yeah dude, you should be fine. Also, try taking the ACT again if you can (this time without the morphine… or with if you’re that type of person ).</p>
<p>Okay, just one person’s advice. Do NOT write your essay about this. DO ask your college guidance counselor to include this information in recommendation forms, and make sure that the GC gets this information to every college. Write your essay about something else. And… better if the GC talks about your dad’s illness. Sibling drama doesn’t usually carry much weight. If your GC won’t/can’t do it for some reason, I believe there is a space on the common app for “additional information”, put something in there about your dad’s illness.</p>
<p>And retake the ACT (or if you have taken SAT, use those scores if they are better).</p>
<p>Thanks for the input mate, it’s much appreciated.</p>
<p>I will definitely ask my counselor to include that information in her letter of rec. And should I do the “additional info” about the circumstances anyway, or would the counselor’s recommendation be enough?</p>
<p>Hmm. It depends on your counselor’s reliability, and whether you are sure his/her rec goes to every college. It probably won’t hurt to put a brief comment in the other info section (just a few sentences).</p>
).</p>