I know some people think of it as just a means to get sympathy and a better chance to get in, but I really suffered from some medical problems in my family.
In freshman year, my father left the country several times during the school year due to medical problems with my grandmother, and my mother worked late nights at a doctor’s office, so I had to take care of myself most of that year.
In sophomore year, my father broke his knee. Since my mother worked almost all days of the week, I had to take care of my father during that time too.
In junior year, my father had a heart attack and I spent a vast majority of my first/second MP time in the hospital, and now I often have to accompany him to different appointments the times my mom hasn’t been around.
I truthfully haven’t had that much time to study that much ever since I joined high school, and my GPA is quite low now (Im talking 3.6ish low). I go to a magnet school and am “majoring” in elec./comp sci engineering.
Im wondering if I should include my situation in my common app in senior year? I really will try to get my GPA up as much as possible. I still have half of junior year left and MP1 of senior year. so im hoping for the best. Do you think colleges would reconsider their decision of taking me in? I really want to go to UCLA.
Also, I’m on of those people with low GPAs, high SATs. well i dont think my SAT is that high. But i got a 2200 on my first try. Im giving it again, and aiming for 2300.
Do you guys think you could evaluate me based on the conditions I listed above? And yes, with the time I had, I also took part in some clubs/extracurriculars that Im proud of (School newspaper journalist/editor, girl scouts cadette [gold award/silver award], TSA competition top 10 team nationwide, guitarist since 8th grade). I have achievements, but I guess they arent up to par with other people.
I’m sorry to hear about the health of your family. Hope all is well! If it genuinely did impact your ability in school, than I believe it should be included. Best of luck to you!
Yes but not in the way that you think.
Hope your dad is doing better.
First, your guidance counselor should do the sympathy and excuse part not you. If your guidance counselor cannot or will not then get a third recommendation who knows you and your family. Maybe Clergy or someone who can vouch for how much time you spend helping your family. Leave Grandma out of it unless you personally took care of her. A 14 year old latch key kid is nothing special and was your mom doing the night shift at a hospital? Most doctors even in the suburbs are closed by 8. Most people who work in high level jobs and commute from a large city to their bedroom community are not home much earlier than that.
You can mention it but not as a sob story or why my grades are bad. More in the here is what I learned from the last few years because I had these family challenges to overcome. Put a positive spin on it.
Yes, agree with seekingpam. This is exactly the kind of thing that should be written up by your counselor.
Did want to add, if you were solely responsible for much younger siblings (under 12 at the time) and had to cook and really babysit them while your mom worked, that can be mentioned as a job. Also, if your father was in another country helping grandma, it can be mentioned as a family circumstance but again carefully and without any woe is me aspect.
I had a friend whose kid had major surgery during her junior year and was incapacitated for most of her first semester where she could do no more than 20 minutes of school work a day for months. The first draft of her essay talked about it. She was told to rewrite it because it talked about the experience and not what she learned and there was no positive spin, as this is the obstacle I overcame.
alright. i will definitely ask my guidance counselor about it. and thanks a lot for your help guys!