Rough years in highschool

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>My name's Martin, I am currently a senior and have a 2.6 unweighted GPA and a 3.8 weighted. On the SAT I recieved a 1550 and on the ACT a 20. In no way should I be proud of these grades but I was wondering how can I write an essay to the colleges I want to apply to without having to beg them for admission. I haven't had the glorious and joyous experience of highschool that everyone else has mostly because my dad suffers from Parkinson's disease and has been hospitalized a few times while my grandmother suffers from a mild form of Alzeihmers. I am very attached to the both of them and we all live under the same roof plus I am an emotional mess, which makes it that much harder. I know I have potential, and I believe in myself, I know I can make it somewhere far in life, and getting out of this house might just be the key. You could always say that I could go to the local community college and rent out a place nearby but honestly, getting out of here would do me best and I am sure of it. However I don't want to beg a college and take advantages of their illnesses to let me in but I want to write about how this negative experienced has made room for a lot of positive. I have been able to help my father exercise and become more attached to my grandmother. But because of all the stress and drama I began ignoring school and simple didn't care. I have no extracirricular activities because I spent my time at home assisting my mother and like I said, school simply wasn't what mattered to me. It's funny because my dad did undergrad in Columbia and graduate school at Duke, yet his son is a mess academically and I feel like I failed him. What can I do to save myself?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>There is no point of begging colleges to let you in because it doesn’t work that way. What state are you in, have you looked at your in state publics to see which accept that gpa?</p>

<p>If you apply to colleges that consider extracurricular activities, then you can estimate how many hours you spend helping your mother and list that. Surely you must do some activity or have some interests aside from that?</p>

<p>It is a bit late in the application cycle. At least for CC you can start in the fall.</p>

3

<p>You already know what to do. Stop making excuses, get a place of your own with a roommate who doesn’t do drugs, and go to community college so you can PROVE to the 4-year schools that you have the potential to handle their work. If you need to get a job to finance this, do it, and then take 4-5 years to earn your transfer degree. No college anywhere will hold that against you.</p>

4

<p>Helping out at home is the equivalent of an EC. If you apply anywhere that cares about ECs, you can list your home responsibilities in the EC spaces on the application, and/or write about them in an essay.</p>

<p>How much can your family afford? If you can raise your ACT score, and pull your grades up this last semester, there will be some options for you.</p>

<p>Go sit down with your guidance counselor, and find out where students like you have been admitted in the past few years. </p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>