<p>My first semester grades may be pretty dismal this semester, but I have a very legitimate excuse. I've had pretty severe migraines for the last 4 months and have missed over 1/2 my days of school. To make it worse, my family situation is bad to put it nicely and financially we are struggling too. I got one B last semester and I currently have one of the hardest schedules of any senior at a top ranked HS. I will talk to my counselor about adding a note in the mid year but here's the outlook</p>
<p>Projected Grades:
AP Gov/Econ-Defintely an "A" (class is a joke)
AP Calc BC-Definitely a "B" (superhard class. If u get an "A" you almost always get a 5)
AP English-most likely an "A'"
AP Physics C-this is the scary one. I have a decent shot at getting an "A" but I also have a decent shot at getting a "C." He gives an AP final and if I get a 4 on it my grade goes up one letter, so if I get a 4 or 5 then it will be a "B" at worst but thats a big "if"
AP Envi Sci-90% chance of "A"</p>
<p>SAT Score (taking 1 last time in Jan)-predicted is around 2200-2250. </p>
<p>I've worked extremely hard this semester but things haven't fallen into place.
Any advice?</p>
<p>i’m really sorry about yoru difficult situation.
your marks are in no way bad (what is an A? 86+? or maybe that’s canadian… nevemrind, hhaah), but they’ll definitely put you in the lower 25% of all the overly-qualified students applying . that being said, you have a solid chance, provided that you explain your situation well, and you can balance your marks with extra curriculars. </p>
<p>… SAT score = 2200 is in no way bad, that’s probably the average of the kids applying, actually. </p>
<p>schools will definitely take into consideration the rigor of your curriculum, as well. </p>
<p>and honestly… even though you are a little on the lower end of hte spectrum… ivies are a crapshoot. they’ve got soo many qualified applicants that (i don’t know, i personally believe) in the end, it’s just whoever gets lucky.</p>
<p>hi friends, i guess you neglected to see the “MPO” at the bottom of the page…
my personal opinion. :)</p>
<p>if he explained his personal situation, i feel the grades wouldn’t influence him as negatively as they may without an explanation. that is all. no need to be sarcastic; i’m only trying to be supportive.</p>
<p>I’m not sure it’s “supportive” to let students think grades can be explained away. Most kids have an explanation for their bad grades. Having worked in admissions, most explanations short of a serious illness or accident had a negative impact.</p>
<p>chronic migraines=illness.
my dad also has a medical problem that I will not discuss due to privacy reasons.
Also, what college did you work for?</p>
<p>like golfer3 said, there are probably reasons why he he/ she has decided not to disclose his entire problem on college confidential.</p>
<p>and to repeat what i said, that’s just mpo; my only credibility is that i’ve attended various information sessions (including Duke), and have posed similar questions. Since you have had experience in admissions, you’d probably know better, but there’s no need to discredit anyone’s story or POV here.</p>
<p>There is a need to let students know that explaining bad grades successfully is very unusual. Just read this site, Swine flu, divorce, death of someone close, family financial problems…there are many with excuses.</p>
<p>There was a young woman on this board last year with a sibling at Dartmouth and 2 bouts with cancer that she explained. She did not get in.</p>
<p>That’s a good point of view you have, and since you have had experience in admissions, I’m sure you’d know better than myself. </p>
<p>What should students do then, if their situations have compromised their grades? Because I feel their grades would probably leave them at a large disadvantage.</p>
<p>Simply, there’s not much they can do at schools accepting so few applicants. These schools don’t need to parse excuses, they are already turning down thousands of students with near perfect stats.</p>
<p>The admissions will reject you and then call you to curse you out and tell you that you’re the most stupid and worst applicant they’ve ever had. They will also say they regret wasting their time on your application.</p>