I’m currently taking a gap year because my family couldn’t afford to send both me and my brother to college. He recently decided he’s going to transfer to community college, so I’m trying to put together my options.
high school courses taken in 8th grade gpa: 73.88
9th grade gpa: 80.81
10th grade: 83.41
11th grade: 94.47
12th grade: 97.69
My extenuating circumstance is that in the beginning of 8th grade I filed a custody battle against one of my parents (they are divorced) to try and get away from him. This court battle lasted 3 years (up until the end of 10th grade). As you can see, my grades improve drastically after the custody battle ends.
I’ve also been playing Varsity Tennis for 5 years, and have won my section and placed in the top 8 in States. My highest ACT is a 32C but a 33C with superscore. I’m also part of a low income family that qualifies for fee wavers. For diversity, I’m gay (really dont know if that counts as being diverse).
So, my question is… when applying to really competitive schools (top 30) - will I be given leniency with my GPA based on my upward trend and special circumstances?
Colleges don’t care about 8th grade classes. They may be on your high school transcript, but colleges will recalculate GPA based on their own systems anyway. So that works in your favor. The upward trend in grades is good, but you are still up against students who were consistently good from the start. Being gay is not a diversity hook, nor is being low income.
Are you recruitable for tennis? Or from CA? Their state schools primarily consider test scores and 10th & 11th grades.
Colleges should hear about your custody battle. If you can writing a compelling essay without a “poor me” vibe, go for it. Otherwise ask your GC to talk about it in their LOR.
I’m from NY and my essay is a recreation of a meeting I had with my lawyer where she cursed at me because she thought the emails I were sending her were written by my mom (because of the “adult” language I was using). I quoted some curse words my lawyer used, which I hope is ok.
Do you think this interaction with a lawyer shows attributes relevant to the folks reviewing your app?
err, would u mind if I pm’d you my essay? it’s fine if you’re not
I think it touches upon both my interactions said parent and the custody battle in a discreet and decent way.
Not yet. But do you understand what the colleges want to learn about you, for an admit review?
Sorry, but why is this exact tale of the custody, the gap, the brother sounding so familiar? Did you post it before?
They want to get a glimpse of who you are and also your writing ability? looking at past essays from other students I’ve seen many recall childhood memories.
And yes, I did post something similar before (probably around 2 months ago), but some of the info has changed and I wasn’t quite sure about what my exact GPA was back then, I was just estimating it based on my gut feeling.
They’re looking for the attributes they want in the class. Not just who you are, but relevant to what they want. Wrapped in some nice tale. Not so much writing ability, though it needs to be properly coherent.
In general, for top 30 colleges, when there’s some challenge, they want to see how one triumphd over that situation. Not an explanaton. You’ve got two lower years, not just a semester blip. You did raise the grades, but we don’t know the rigor. Nor what else you achieved in ECs, at school and in the community. (And related to your possible major.) It could raise questions that you managed to retain the focus on tennis, but not academics, at that time.
So just take some time in the next two weeks to ensure you show what they need to see.
Edited after fist posting of this.
You have two challenges. Your GPA is low and you need financial aid. Getting accepted to a school in the US News top 30 doesn’t mean you’ll get scholarships.
I see from your other thread that your mom earns $60k/year and your dad doesn’t earn much because he doesn’t work regularly. Which parent do you live with? If your EFC is $0 you’ll be eligible for a ~$5900 Pell Grant and a ~$5k NYS tuition grant. You can also take the ~$5500/year federal student loan. If you work summers and your mom can contribute something you may be able to afford a SUNY. Are there any 4 year SUNYs near you?
I live with my Dad for most of the time and then visit my mom on certain weekends. Binghamton is the only SUNY I’m really interested in going to.
I’m confused. I thought the drama in your life involved court proceedings to get away from your dad. Yet you live with him now? I assumed he was abusive and that’s why you wanted to get away. What changed? I’m just a parent, not an admissions consultant. But putting myself in Admissions shoes, if someone has a tough situation I don’t want an essay that uses that situation to explain bad grades. That explanation should come from your guidance counselor. But, if an essay talks about your personal growth and uses the tough situation as a backdrop for showing growth in your character or your level of maturity, that would be interesting to me.
Correct. I did involve myself in court proceedings with my mother to TRY and get away from him. However, things don’t always end up as they should and life isn’t always fair. So after a tiring three years of fighting, I was deemed to remain under his “care”… and so that’s how it’s remained
Be sure all these “circumstances” aren’t a distraction in your app. They’ll admit or not based on how you match, what you show that reflects that, academically and on other points. Drives matter- the drive to do your best and do with others, for others. Not the back story. I think the essay on dealing with a lawyer, them thinking your mother wrote, and the cursing, is not necessarily the right way to show the positives top college adcoms want. Maybe it shows determination? But not related to college.
This isn’t just about personal growth. Eg, dealing with an attorney. It’s about you for their college community.
I was going to end my essay with a relevation.
My mom had me when she was 50 - so by the time I was in junior high, she was significantly older than other parents. Finding a significant job had always been harder for her, I suspected, was because of her white/grey receding hair and her older facial characteristics - and as I write this, she’s been out of work for over a year despite searching each day.
After we’d lost the custody battle, my mom wanted to continue to fight the decision and file again. She wanted to keep fighting for me. And that’s when I realized that despite her lack of finances, she was happy to sacrifice anything she had for me.
I promised myself that from that day on, I’d start focusing on school and bettering myself as a person; that I’d go and get the best college education I could. It was beyond doing it for myself, I owed it to her. On the few days I’d be with her, I would catch her up late stressing over whether or not she’d be able to pay her bills - and although I never let her see, it devastated me. She’d sacrificed everything for me, and I vowed that I would do the same for her. One day I would support her the way she did for me.
Didn’t realize how long I’d drawn that out until just now. But that’s how I was going to end the essay.
I thought you applied to Binghamton and Stony Brook last year and didn’t get accepted to either. If your dad doesn’t work much and your mom can’t find work your options are limited. The SUNYs are great schools. Are any within commuting distance?
When I read an essay, I want to be left with a thought of “That is someone I would like to meet in person”. After reading the above I am more interested in meeting your mother than you.
I applied to them last year with a crappy essay that I hadn’t put much thought into and a low SAT score. I also brushed aside the supplements.
Now my ACT is a 32C not super scored and a 33C superscore and I’m working hard to write a good essay and strong supplements.
Have you talked to any tennis coaches? Are you still playing tennis? A tennis scholarship might be a possibility, you should investigate.
Not sure what I’m eligible for and my brother got I think around $30k in aid - although he attended a school out of state.
The profanity is one curse word, which is a direct quote that my lawyer used to describe something I had sent to her.
My mom was NOT 50 when I was 16. She birthed me at 50 and was 66 when I was 16.