<p>I have a friend that I've known for several years now, and we happen to be talking about colleges, etc. (high school, yada yada yada..). He was a little peeved about the colleges that his guidance counselor suggested to him, and the conversation got more indepth about which colleges his interested, etc. First off, he's most likely in the top quarter of his class (of a public school), has "average" SAT scores around 1200 to 1250 (on a 1600 scale), and interesting EC's (JV soccer, a few clubs, volunteer work, etc.- nothing out of the ordinary). What his guidance counselor suggested to him was mainly in-state colleges and local universities (in Pennsylvania), but what he really was shooting for was the HYP and the likes. The thing is, he's an excellent worker with a lot of character, and he works very hard at everything he does (especially soccer). He's an important part of our school, but he has not held any significant leadership roles. He cooperates well with others, and he gets along with all his peers and teachers. Though he looks like he has little to no chance essentially, he is in a distinguishing situation: when he was young, he was in a tragic accident where a building collapsed on him, which severed both of his arms- resulting in an above-elbow amputation of both of them. Undoubtedly, this is viewed as a "disability", but really, it has brought out the best of him- he is extremely hard working and is devoted to everything he does- it is quite inspirational if you know him. This "disability", as you can imagine, also presents significant difficulties in the classroom (writing, taking notes, etc.- even with a prosthetic arm). How would colleges like HYP look on this type of situation? Does anyone have any opinions/thoughts/experiences related to this one? Thanks for your time, and my friend will greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>Is that just too much to read or does no one have any opinions?</p>
<p>thats some story, and not to be harsh or insensitive but im not sure hes got a sufficient app for HYP. Im sure his essay would be extremely interesting to read, i would love to read it...but still u have to consider that schools such as HYP isnt for everyone. Why struggle in a big name school if you dont have the grades?</p>
<p>IDK how they would view it...its kind of one of those situations where you dont want to be heartless but u also have to consider the fact that his application just isnt up to par with wut HYP is looking for</p>