I'm in a tough situation, but do I have a chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

<p>i'm coming from a pretty competitive (non-magnet) public high school in the south.</p>

<p>I have a crazy situation though. I was in the IB program at a diff school and missed a lottt of school from being ill and it was reflected in my grades part of 9th/10th grade. However, I did get better/recover and make a turn around when I moved, and attended a new school 11th/12th grade. My guidance counselor will write about this. I re-took several classes junior yr though, and although all grades will show up on my transcript, the better grade replaces the lower one in my gpa. Unfortunately, because of my situation I received several C's/D's. It is a lot to overlook, but I am hoping Smith will be kinder than schools that are known to focus less on the person and more on numbers.</p>

<p>I don't know how Smith may look at this. I <em>may</em> apply early decision, but not 100% sure yet. If they decide to calculate my gpa using every grade I have received, then unfortunately my gpa may be around a 3.0 uw. I know diff. schools look at gpa differently so I don't know.</p>

<p>but based on my school transcript it is:</p>

<p>gpa: a 3.4 unweighted/ DEFINITE upward trend & major turn around. I got a 3.95 gpa my junior year, unweighted.
rank: 87/715
sat/act: i will choose not to send scores.</p>

<p>here is schedule/grades throughout high school. many classes taken 9th/10th grade were repeated in 11th grade due to my situation (i took an overload of classes 11th grade for this reason):</p>

<p>12 Grade Schedule (Smith unfortunately will not see any 12 yr grades though, only my schedule)
I am currently taking:</p>

<p>CREATIVE WRITING
ADV PL GOVERNMENT POLITICS
FRENCH IV HONORS
ADV PL CALCULUS AB
ADV PL ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
ADV PL ENGLISH LIT
CHORUS II</p>

<p>11th grade Schedule & Grades
DRAW/PAINT II A<br>
MARINE SCIENCE HON A
ENG HON III A<br>
ALGEBRA II HON A<br>
PRE-CALCULUS A<br>
GEOMETRY HON A<br>
CHORUS I A<br>
PERSONAL FIT A<br>
ADV PL HUMAN GEOG A<br>
ADV PL PSYCHOLOGY A<br>
AFRICAN HISTORY A<br>
DRAW/PAINT II A<br>
MARINE SCIENCE HON A
ENG HON III B+<br>
ALGEBRA II HON A<br>
PRE-CALCULUS HON A<br>
CHORUS I A<br>
FIT ISSUES FOR ADOL PE A<br>
CHEMISTRY I HON A<br>
AFRICAN AMER HISTORY A<br>
ADV PL ART HISTORY A
ADV PL HUMAN GEOG A<br>
ADV PL ENGLISH LANG A
ADV PL PSYCHOLOGY A<br>
SPANISH I A<br>
ADV PL ENGLISH LANG A<br>
CPT FOR COLG & CAR A<br>
SPANISH I A </p>

<p>now heres where it was really bad.</p>

<p>10th grade
WORLD HISTORY A<br>
WORLD HISTORY A<br>
FRENCH III PRE-IB C<br>
ALGEBRA II HON F<br>
CHEMISTRY I-PRE IB C<br>
AMER HISTORY HONORS C<br>
FRENCH III PRE-IB C<br>
ALGEBRA II HON F<br>
CHEMISTRY I-PRE IB D+<br>
AMER HISTORY HONORS B<br>
ART I-PRE IB D<br>
ENG II PRE-IB C<br>
PRE-CALCULUS D<br>
PHYSICS I HON B<br>
ART I-PRE IB F<br>
ENG II PRE-IB B<br>
PRE-CALCULUS D<br>
PHYSICS I HON C </p>

<p>9th grade
FRENCH II PRE-IB C+<br>
ENG HON I B<br>
GEOMETRY HON D<br>
BIOLOGY I - PRE IB A<br>
FRENCH II PRE-IB C<br>
ENG HON I B<br>
GEOMETRY HON C<br>
BIOLOGY I - PRE IB C </p>

<p>extracurriculars:
i have a passionate/focused extracurricular list, but no national awards or anything.<br>
carnegie hall, vice president of the national english honor society, on chair-committee for french club, musicals/singing/chorus/show-choir is my main focus (I am aware of Smith's lovely acapella groups!), english/writing is another focus of mine - published writer, senior editor for my schools online newsletter, etc.
Around a 100 volunteering hours (did a big community-based project)</p>

<hr>

<p>anyways, I know my earlier grades are a reflection of me getting sick and being away from school rather than my abilities, but unfortunately the grades are there. I will focus a ton on my essays, and I know my recommendations will (hopefully) be great. </p>

<p>Do any of you all have any advice for me, or can assess my chances?</p>

<p>Thanks so much.</p>

2

<p>I would think about doing an interview. If you can't come to Smith to do one, you can probably arrange to have an alum in your area interview you by phone or in person. The interviews are optional, but part of their purpose is to give you a chance to clear up anything in your application that might send up red-flags and to really emphasize how much you want to attend Smith.</p>

3

<p>also, if your SAT/ACT scores are even in the ballpark for Smith, it might be worth sending them, to give the admissions committee one more data point in support of the fact that your 10th grade record is not a good reflection on your capability as a student.</p>

4

<p>thanks everyone! the advice is really helpful.
i will try really hard on my essays and do an interview.
also, does anyone happen to know the acceptance rate for early decision (1 & 2)?
thanks :)</p>

5

<p>You should definitely interview, preferably on campus (it never hurts to have someone who actually met you in the room when you file comes up for disucssion). If you can't make it to campus, find out when an admissions officer will be visiting your school and make a point to meet with her.</p>

<p>Applying ED will certainly boost your chances, but the college might defer you to EDII or RD so that it can see your first semester grades (to see whether your are maintaining your jr level performance with all new material or whether the strong jr grades were strong b/c you were repeating classes).</p>

6

<p>One more thing - - you report earning grades of "A" in six AP classes, so I assume you have strong AP scores. If you don't think your SAT scores are strong enough to be helpful, you should forward the AP scores.</p>