<p>I've had some medical problems since the second half of freshman year that have caused me to miss school and have decreased my GPA, but I've kept my UW GPA at a 2.96. I want an academically challenging enviroment and don't want to have to settle for a school because of my low GPA. </p>
<p>Would explaining my medical condition help with my low GPA at all when applying to colleges?</p>
<p>Test Scores
ACT Composite: 29 (retaking it this summer to get it into the 30's)
Math: 21 Reading:36 English:31 Science:29
SAT: 1970
Critical Reading: 720 Math: 570 Writing: 680 (retaking this summer as well to improve math and writing sections) </p>
<p>EC's-
Speech Team-Discussion, Varsity, President of Speech Team
English Team
Girl Scouting for 10 years, Bronze Service Award
Mother Teresa Service Award</p>
<p>Colleges:
Purdue U.
Ball State U.
Valparaiso U.
University of Chicago (a far reach)
Depauw U. (a far reach)
Colleges/Universities with good english or pre-law programs.</p>
<p>The GPA will hurt you. It depends on the illness- if you were in the hospital for an extended period of time they will understand, otherwise it might be difficult. If you can get your testing scores up a bit (100-200 points SAT/ 1-2 points ACT) I think you’ll have much better chances though. Also see if you can get more EC’s, it seems like you only have 2?</p>
<p>Because of my family’s situation (my father has MS) I’m required to stay home and care for the family during the majority of my free time. I try to be as dedicated as possible to the three EC’s I carry right now (I’ve gone to state for speech two years in a row), but I’m working on trying to add more on.
I spent the majority of sophomore year trying to diagnose my illness (i.e. being shuffled around from specialist to specialist, trying out different meds and doctors, various hospital stays when the treatment didn’t work), so I don’t have the explanation of a hospital stay.</p>
<p>In your essays you should explain your own medical condition, and also your obligations to your family. If your illness was in your freshman year and your grades have improved since, that is a big point in your favor; some colleges don’t even count freshman year, and most look for a positive trend. </p>
<p>If you can write insightfully about caring for your father, that could certainly be a big plus–it’s a more significant life experience than yet another routine high school EC. The point is not to elicit a pity party, but to show that you might bring a unique perspective to the school, and attributes that might not show up in your “numbers.”</p>
<p>getting ready to apply, but wondered if anyone else had an opinion. (aka, bump)
Also, I’ve neglected to mention that I attend a very competitive private high school (ranked in top 50 catholic high schools among the nation and a blue ribbon award winner). not sure if that makes any difference.</p>