<p>I'm currently a senior applying to several highly-selective schools knowing that I more than likely have no chance. I say this because my GPA is not competitive for those schools (3.0) but the rest of my application sounds feasible. I go to a top 100 high school that happens to be an inner-city school and have taken the most rigorous curriculum I was allowed to take (counselors prevented me from enrolling in the IB program because of my low GPA sophomore year). </p>
<p>I am also a Hispanic student who has been recognized as gifted, and I was recently diagnosed with A.D.H.D. After being diagnosed and beginning treatment, I experienced a massive upward grade trend -- my 1st semester GPA of my junior year was 2.1 weighted (3 IB-HL classes) but my 2nd semester GPA was a 4.3. This trend continued into the first quarter of senior year, but then I noticed my medication dosage became less effective, so my psychiatrist raised it. The medication worked well for the first two days, but after that, I slept only 30 minutes a night. I was sleep deprived for about 2 weeks before stopping the medication (I have struggled with sleeping patterns before, but 30 minutes of sleep a night was a new experience that I thought would have quickly subsided). The sleep deprivation practically turned me into a zombie: most of my attention went towards staying awake, and my grades suffered, killing my upward grade trend. </p>
<p>Now, my psychiatrist says that gifted students often live with untreated A.D.H.D. for long periods of time because their ability to complete most tasks quickly can compensate for the short attention span, but when the workload or tasks takes longer than a few minutes, then A.D.H.D. becomes apparent. He also said that this circumstance was beyond my control and most schools, even selective ones, would be relatively forgiving if I maintained an upward trend and if the other parts of my application -- more specifically the essay and recommendations -- were excellent. Things were going well until the insomnia killed my grade trend: I ended first semester with a 4.13 gpa with 5 weighted (IB) classes. </p>
<p>Do any of you feel that this situation would be considered the type of strenuous circumstance that would warrant clemency from the admissions committees? Or if it would at least boost my opportunities, considering being Hispanic (URM) and having a learning disability AND being gifted is kind of a triple-whammy, if you will. </p>
<p>Oh, I didn't make my essays or recommendations sob stories. I've never really liked the idea of emotional manipulation. </p>
<p>Anyway, I'm posting this here because, from what I've read, most posters in this sub-forum tend to be more helpful than a lot of other posters. And because being Hispanic could be something that magnifies my A.D.H.D. struggles -- my father is extremely traditional, so much so he believes psychiatry and psychology are fields where people complain because they are lazy and want excuses to avoid improving themselves....</p>