First off, I am not looking to gain pity by any means. What happened, happened. The past is the past.
Nonetheless, how much do colleges look at events that may have affected grades throughout high school? Freshman year was pretty good with seven A’s and one B. During sophomore year however, I lost a close family member and my grades suffered, and ended up getting one A, four B’s, and three C’s. Aimed to do better junior year, but then lost another close family member. Grades still improved though with 4 A’s and 4 B’s.
Also, I want to add that the three classes I received C’s in were AP, and my cumulative GPA comes out to be 3.42 out of 4.
I know this will hurt me in the admissions process, but I believe that I have grown through these experiences, and truly value them because they taught me loads and made me into a more mature person who is ready for what the world has to throw at him.
Can anyone let me know how much this will hurt my chances at UNC-CH, NC State, Northeastern, Georgia Tech, and possibly UPenn?
And also, many scholarships require GPA’s of about 3.5 or higher, is there anything I can do based upon these circumstances to possibly qualify?
No one can tell you how much colleges will take your circumstances into account. It will just depend. Make sure you have a good safety you can afford and would be happy to attend. Then you can keep some of your lottery shots on the list.
Do as well as you can during your current (or about to start) year of high school, and make sure that you apply to some good match and safety schools. Due to your circumstances you might want to have more than one school in each of the “match” and “safety” categories. Be aware that “safety” has to mean “affordable” in addition to “you will get in”, and that merit scholarships might not happen. More than one in-state public school should probably be included on your list.
Also, in several years if you get so far as looking at graduate school, then your high school grades won’t matter at all. When I was a graduate student at a highly ranked university there were many students there who had done their undergrad at “pretty good” in-state public universities. None of them had been held back by failing to go to a “big name” undergrad school.
The schools on your list are longshots for pretty much everyone – and even more so for you with your GPA. I’m very sorry for your loss but I know if your circumstances are all that unusual (ex. I lost my dad when I was in HS and did not consider asking for any special accommodations from admissions departments) or dire (ex. some applicants are homeless, have parents with drug issues etc.). And as an aside you only mentioned GPA so consider if your standardized testing high enough, your essay and LORs strong enough, and your ECs good enough to help qualify you for these top tier schools?
I’d recommend you continue to move forward and do your best in school. As things stand you should qualify for many fine colleges. Expand your horizons and seek out other schools that are good fits and are more likely admission targets. Some ways you can do this are by talking to your guidance counselor, reading up on schools with good guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review etc.), and using Naviance if your school has it etc. When the time comes apply to a group of reach (including schools on your list), match, and safety schools for your academic stats that appear affordable and that you would be happy to attend.
You should have your school counselor discuss the loss of your loved ones in the letter of rec. It’s more credible coming from the cousnelor. Use your essay to show them who you are, other than a person who lost family members. You have done well, despite the challenges. So sorry for your losses. Good luck.
I believe that I am qualified for UNC-CH and NC State other than my GPA. Here are my other stats:
Major: Engineering at NCSU & Undecided at Chapel Hill
SAT: 1370 (Will hopefully improve, retaking later this month)
Honors: Junior Marshal, AP Scholar
ECs: Exclusive Summer Engineering Program, National Technical Honors Society, NHS, National Society of Black Engineers, Academy of Engineering, Job (20-25 hours per week)
Essays: I believe that I did pretty well showing what kind of person I am, and what I can offer to campus
LORs: Should be about 7-8/10
Hooks: African American & In State
*Also school ranks based on weighted GPA so I’m top 6%
With this alongside my GPA, would you please give me an idea as to my chances for these in state schools?
Someone else will know more about NCSU.
But, as ever, for highly competitive colleges, it matters what classes suffered and how they relate to the major. Eg, C grades in math and sci won’t get you far for engineering, at Penn. Poor grades can indicate some issue with the level of learning you achieved.
Even if you say undecided, they’ll look for strengths and directions.
So we don’t know enough. Sorry about the challenges.
Any math or sci ECs at the hs? Societies aren’t the same.