I’m a senior in high school with a 2.3 GPA. I’ve gotten pretty mediocre grades through high school, everything from straight A’s in certain classes to D’s and F’s in others. I don’t know if in my essay I should acknowledge (or make the whole thing about) my terrible grades. My brother developed schizophrenia during freshman year and I stopped caring about doing work. I know I would be dedicated in college because I would be studying something that I’m actually interested in for once but I don’t know how to convince the college that. I’m not dumb, I read and study things and do projects in my free time but not things based on school assignments. Also the college I’m hoping to get into has had people get in with worse GPAS and worse SAT scores (I scored 1800) based on a scatter plot I saw on collegeboard. So is it a good idea at all to mention my grades?
You should write your college essay about how your brother’s schizophrenia took a toll on you (the reason for your bad grades) and how this whole situation has impacted you, ending on a positive note with the positive things you took out of the situation. Don’t focus solely on your bad grades, rather focus on the whole situation. In the end, it will depend on how you shape the essay, if you truly want it to work in your favor.
That being said, don’t write the essay if you don’t think this situation should define you or if it had minimal impact on you. If anything, you can write your college essay on something else and include the reason for your bad grades in the additional information section of the common app. Also, if your counselor knows about the reason for your bad grades or your situation at home, she/he will likely include it in her report.
Hope this helps!