I’m a high school senior diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis my freshmen year of high school, I’m now applying to college and overall my disease has heavily affected me and my schoolwork. I also had a series of moves (to and from California), that hurt my schoolwork when I entered school late and was at a disadvantage. I fought hard to try make some good out of my situation and now want to find out how much of a chance I have at different types of universities (Ivy Leagues, State Schools, Top Tier University
Heres where I stand as I am applying to College.
GPA:
2.9 Unweighted
3.5 Weighted
I have in my opinion, pretty strong extracurriculars.
I am a
Deputy Field Organizer on a Congressional Campaign.
Director of Fundraising of the Southeast State of Junior State of America
Director of Debate of my school’s Junior State America club
Webmaster of my school’s Key Club
President of my class, Freshmen year.
I worked hard at school and spent endless nights trying to catch up and succeed at something in which the odds are against me, can anyone tell me what colleges you have gotten into with similar activities and GPA?
Top tier schools are pretty much out of reach for your now. The unweighted GPA is far too low. However you have a chance. Keep working hard and show steady upward improvement. You might consider going to a state school or community college for a year, and then try to transfer.
Another option - is to consider post-grad year at a boarding school. This will give you extra time to show ability to master college level work.
As long as you explain your reason for low grades, and then show improvement, the colleges will understand.
MrRobot, my heart goes out to you – I’m the parent of a young man who had to deal with your exact situation (right down to the year of diagnosis). I’d love to correspond with you one-on-one to talk to you about strategies and helpful resources. One of the biggest obstacles my son faced was that unless he explained his diagnosis carefully it was clear that admissions officers thought he was talking about a mild stomachache he experienced from time to time. And sometimes even when he DID explain his diagnosis carefully it was clear they didn’t understand why it might have had some effect on his schoolwork! (Note to sgopal2: This is an incurable disease and there is no single medication that works for everybody.) You can reach me at catsmithPA@yahoo.com.
Your GPA pretty much excludes you from ivy leagues, barring divine intervention, I’m sorry to say. I understand what it’s like to have a personal illness/injury/etc. which makes it difficult to succeed in school.
How is your financial status looking? Which state do you live in? Has your GPA been on an upward trend over your high school career? If you still live in California then try some of the state schools.