In November of my sophomore year I got really sick and was out of school for quite a long time. While I was undergoing treatment I took the online classes that my school offered but struggled since I was always feeling poorly and didn’t have a face to face teacher to help me make up what I’d missed the first couple of weeks where I hadn’t been able to do any school work whatsoever. My GPA up until that point had been between a 4.0- 3.6 but I did really poorly second and third quarter of my sophomore year. Will I be able to get into a decent college and will they be understanding of the situation?
Also I’m taking all honors classes if that helps. I was actually taking AP us history first quarter but had to drop it once I got sick because my school only offered honors level classes online.
Yes, especially if your grades are dog junior (and senior ) years. When you get to the point of doing applications, ask your GC to explain the situation. You may fare better at schools with holistic admissions because they ll take your situation into account.
Some schools, like California’s state schools, only look at your numbers, and so some low grades can hurt you. You’ll want to make sure you apply to schools that allow explanations and/or essays where you can explain the situation. Some schools look at trends, and value overcoming adversity, but unfortunately to some schools you’re just a number. My son is in a similar situation, and we’re presently awaiting college decisions. He has great regret that some of our/his early choices (started school in lower/easier classes, and one rough year) are now affecting him. Some schools, sadly, are off-limits, but hopefully some “good schools” - that we can afford - will want him.
All of that said, as I"m telling him, which school you go to is not the biggest determinant of your future. There’s a lot of pressure to go to “a good school,” but I think that’s largely about looking a certain way to present peers, and not as relevant to future aspirations.