<p>I am going into 10th grade this year and going to be applying to a few private schools ( Taft, Choate , Cheshire Academy). I would be repeating my sophomore year and want some of your advice.</p>
<p>My Situation:
For about the past year ( freshman year) I got extremely ill but was never sucessfully diagnosed. In addition to absences all of my sports ( football,baseball,basketball) and extra curricular activities were out of the question and I was not able to be involved with anything. My grades also suffered a little but I did manage to get High Honors ( after appealing to get my credits back twice). Now I have finally started treatment but I will be home-tutored up until January, at which I point I will likely be well enough to attend regular school.</p>
<p>My Question:
Are private schools considerate of situations like mine? I feel like I have alot to offer to the school, alot of which will not be reflected in my "empty application". What would I write for extra curricular activites; " Well I was sick the past year and didn't do anything but normally i get involved in alot of things". </p>
<p>Advice:
What advice to you have for a person like me? I have this great determination to fill the dream of mine to get into a great school yet I'm very unsure about how I can make that a reality. Compared to a public school a private school has so much more to offer me, yet will they be able to see what I can offer to them?</p>
<p>Sorry for such a length post but this is really as summarized as it all gets =p. Also I hope its obvious why i would be repeating, THANKS!</p>
<p>Yes, schools of the type that you are looking at will consider your personal situation in evaluating your application. The admissions officers at every good private school realize that some situations are complicated and they will certainly be able to look beyond the limitations of your freshman year performance, if they know to do so.</p>
<p>Which brings me to my first piece of advice for you: be forthcoming about your illness, the impact it had on your freshman year, and how you have arrived at a course of treatment. That way, the AdComs will know why there is this hole in your application, why you want to repeat soph. year, and also will see how committed you are to your education. You could mention it in a cover letter and then again as an asterisked item of information in your list of ECs. (By the way, applications to schools such as the ones you're considering look beyond the past year; usually they want a glimpse of the last 3 years of your life). You might even want to write a separate statement about it to append to your application. </p>
<p>My second piece of advice is to really try to put some shine back on your resume this coming year, both with respect to your academic performance and your ECs. It will add to the AdComs picture of you as someone who is committed to their own advancement and really deserves a space in the incoming soph. class if you can bust out some good grades and interesting activities in the coming year. (I don't mean that you should cultivate some interests just for the sake of the application, but simply re-engage to the extent that you did before your illness and as much as you are able now during your treatment).</p>