Junior Year: Bad first semester, great second semester

Applying to College
1

I just finished my Junior year and I’m looking back on my grades. My first semester was the worst semester of all of highschool, which I attribute to having a concussion (I’m an athlete), and being unable to do much work for about three to four weeks. My grades include three B+ in three different AP classes, an A in Econ, and a C+ in high honors pre-calculus.

This last semester, I finished with straight A’s (well, including an A- in AP english & Pre-calc), pulling my best semester yet, and I also took both the ACT and the SAT, scoring a 36 and a 1540 (math 790, english 750) respectively. I’ve talked to my college counselor about my situation, and he states that will write about my concussion in his recommendation, and I plan on also writing about it in the additional information section of any college essays.

The dream is MIT, but I’m afraid that I may have lost that opportunity due to my low grades first semester (especially with the math grade). Is there anything else I can do to prove that I am academically prepared for the rigor of a highly selective school?

2

Will your transcript show both semesters or only the final grade for each class?

3

It’ll show both semesters.

4

See if you can get copies of your medical record/diagnosis/paper trail proof of a concussion for your counselor- he can then cite these things in his recommendation. However, just your counselor writing about it (without paper proof) should be enough for colleges to understand the situation.