<p>My reason for writing this post is because after talking to guidance counselors, students in college, and other adults, I still have no idea of how colleges perceive me. When I say this, I do not mean merely in terms of SAT, GPA and so forth. I have an interesting situation that held me back in high school and was one of the reasons I attained a low GPA ( 2.65 out of 4.00). Now that I am a freshman at a small liberal arts college, I have a 4.00 for both semesters.</p>
<p>My situation goes something like this: ( I apologize if I sound a bit acerbic or emotional. I am not trying to garner sympathy; I just want you to know most of the situation so you can accurately assess my situation)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>My parents are immigrants from India, and unlike most South Asian parents, they do not want me to go to college. This I feel is because they themselves have never attended college. My father also has had severe depression since he was 21,and his relations with my mom have been quite harsh.</p></li>
<li><p>My family makes around 45,000 annually, so I had to work ( do under the table jobs) frequently to help pay certain bills and activities my sister and I partook in at school. The area we have lived in for the past 3 years has a median income of 120,000.</p></li>
<li><p>I was sexually assaulted my freshman year in high school by 3 students, who were then suspended for 3 days. Upon finding this out, my parents believed it was my fault they attacked me; this provoked them to move to the city we currently reside in.</p></li>
<li><p>The school I attended my sophomore year was a bit difficult to adjust to, as it was one of the top schools in the country and my previous one was ranked very low by the state. Despite this I managed to do okay and maintain a B+ average. </p></li>
<li><p>I was sexually assaulted by a student from another high school this year. This eventually triggered depression for me. Later on, I was diagnosed with moderate to severe depression by a free clinic run by pre-psychiatry students at a local university.</p></li>
<li><p>I got an illness my junior year and missed almost 2 months of school. This also brought my GPA down because many teachers were unwilling to accommodate because they feared that the integrity of their class would be shattered if they gave me extensions on assignments. </p></li>
<li><p>Throughout this time I was both verbally and physically abused by my parents, who have said things like " you are not blood related to us" and " our family would be better off if you died."</p></li>
<li><p>I attempted to obtain the help of counselors at school. They expressed their condolences after I told them what I have listed above; but, they never took any action. They in fact told me to not come to them; one counselor told me " I was not blessed." A few of them laughed at me when I said I have depression/ feel very depressed. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Good faction of application:
- 2200/2400 SAT
- low to mid 700s on SAT IIs
- College GPA ( 4.00)
- President of 2 clubs ( founder of one)
- Founder of county-wide political action group
- Debate coach/ high marks in high school tournaments
- High school chair of Young Democrats
- State coordinator for Clinton's campaign
- Other activities</p>
<p>Please tell me if I would have a chance of transferring into a school such as Columbia, Duke, Berkeley ( I am not residing within California).</p>
<p>Thank you very much. Sorry for the long post.</p>