<p>I don't exactly want a "chance me" thread, but I did not know where to put this. </p>
<p>Basically, this fall has been insane for me. I'm a junior, so you all know that it is one of the most important years. I started out really really trying - I was elected President of SADD, volunteered every saturday, all day, at the historical society, etc. My grades were amazing, and I was close to being number 1. Then, in September, my grandfather's liver started shutting down. We're not sure, but we think he had cancer. Every day after school starting mid september, I would go and visit him in the hospital. Then, my mom was hospitalized for what they thought was an aneurysm five times. It ended up being a virus, but she's okay now. So... my life is just getting back to normal now. I had a really, really hard fall. In addition to the two family emergencies, I struggled with my own illness, which was just recently diagnosed. I have hyperthyroidism, and all fall, I kept almost passing out. I also had surgery to remove a tumor, which was this summer.</p>
<p>Because of this situation, I have been unable to be the leader that I usually am. How will this affect college applications? Is there someway I can alert admissions officers to what happened? I still have all A's, but... it did affect my EC transcript. I want to go to Bowdoin or Williams.</p>
<p>As everyone already suggested, do let the colleges know. Present your situation positively without making it look as though you’re seeking sympathy. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Hey, don’t worry! Write an essay about it or explain it during an interview. Interviews are great for showing these sorts of things. Talk about having to grow up faster, being afraid, and what your own illness meant to you. Go for your EC’s full throttle now, but sacrifice ones you care about less for grades if you must. Better to seem like you had to give up an EC for health reasons than slip in school. You’ll be fine, though, leadership is leadership, and colleges like it. Williams and Bowdoin are schools where individual attention is said to be the norm, so get personal about it with an essay, interview, or extra letter. They want to learn about your character. Be intimate. This has shaped you. Make it work for you.</p>
<p>Sorry for the turbulence in your family life. I hope everybody is all right now, yourself included.</p>
<p>Best of luck. I hope this helps. Can you chance mine? It’s called Crossing My Fingers. Thanks.</p>