<p>My junior year, my girlfriend and I broke up after three years, partly because I took her for granted and started to only care about school. I stopped caring for a while and my grades dropped significantly junior year (i got all b's, two c's, and a d in an unweighted class). My ranking dropped from 13 to 39 (6th percentile now).<br>
For the record, I am now completely focused and completely happy. I've been with someone amazing for the past few months and I've learned some really valuable lessons on love. I got a 2200 on the SATs and I expect that i did well on the october one. So, I'm applying to colleges and im wondering if and how i should express my dip in grades? Any advice would be so greatly appreciated.
I'd also like to know if i realistically have a shot at getting into a really good school like dartmouth or cornell. My activities: co-president of the martial arts club, president of the islamic culture society, student government, yearbook editor, model un crisis director, top 10% in state for bio and chem league, cum laude, part-time paid tutor, DECA business (1st place regionals). My essay writing skills are decent. I am Indonesian (Asian), muslim, male, interested in majoring in nursing/premed or international relations/premed (where nursing is not offered). I live in New Jersey, my parents together make 100,000 a year (anyone know anything about financial aid?). Any advice on this stuff too would be amazing. Thanks, -Audi</p>
<p>hmmmm....college adcoms at dartmouth/cornell are not going to care about your love life at all, so unless you lie I can't see a reasonable way to express to those colleges your dip in grades...</p>
<p>by 6th percentile do you mean 94th? because 6th would mean you are ranked above only 6% of the rest of your entire grade...</p>
<p>jr yr grades are EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, and especially since you got a D in an unweighted class, and the hs transcript is the #1 thing for all applicants, unless i'm missing something, you're out of luck...sorry, but school is more important than love if you're aiming for ivies...</p>
<p>disregarding your transcript, you seem to have a decent shot at getting into dartmouth or cornell, especially since those are two of the easier ivies to get into, i believe. just remember that when listing accomplishments, keep in mind that you have to prove to the admissions officer that you bring something new to the table...nearly all applicants have leadership in clubs and whatnot, but what is it about you as a person that the adcom would find so irresistable that you can't be rejected?</p>
<p>Notice how many posts are written by kids asking how to explain a drop in grades or bad scores. The reasons are wide ranging, though a breakup seems very popular. Part of life is dealing with adversity. Put yourself in the adcom's seat. When you have way more applicants with no major weaknesses than you can accept, how do you pick through all the excuses and decide which ones you buy?</p>
<p>I originally intended to just apply to Rutgers and TCNJ because i would be happy going to either one with a decent merit scholarship. I think I'll try applying to three or four elite schools. Haha, i meant 94th percentile there-- thanks for pointing that out. Should i focus on my essays or is there something else on my application that I could improve on to impress the admissions officer?</p>
<p>Sorry, but to be blunt, you have no chance at an ivy calibre school.</p>
<p>Well, the relationship thing is a bad reason. It shows you in bad light.. not being able to cope with circumstance.. I think you should just apply and hope for the best</p>
<p>A single C keeps many out of elite schools. 2 Cs and a D, not to mention the Bs, will knock you out of the running.</p>