During my freshman year my parents decided to have a divorce. Not too uncommon, and I was a little upset but nothing too major. However, once my mother got into contact with this man, and later married him, things got difficult. He was an abuser, giving me constant emotional and sometimes violent physical pain. Not only that, but he has sexually harassed my mother in front of me. He tore up my book bag and all its contents one day and threw it on the patio. I was miserable, and to make matters worse, I received a 2.63 uw gpa freshman year :(. I decided that the man will not be the deciding factor of my academic success. Early sophomore year I worked hard, still under the influence of my stepfather. Later I went to court and the judge was very kind to me, she let me live with my dad so I may prosper. At the end of sophomore year I received a 3.62 uw gpa, and thus totaling my overall gpa up to a 3.2. This demonstrates that I have the capability to excel academically because of the upward trend. I am now heading into junior year with my mind clear, and able to shine and get a 4.0. Now here is the important part: If I am able to express increased maturity and motivation through an upward trend, whilst notifying the admissions office about my family issue, will they accept that? Also if you could recommend me some good schools that don’t check freshman year, or excludes it if given an appropriate reason, that would be great!
Some schools that I would like to apply to:
UNC Chapel Hill*
NC State University
John Hopkins University
Duke
University of Michigan*
Wake Forest
Cornell
UNC Charlotte
Any good recommendations you guys have (That have a good premed program)
*= My all time favorites
Note:
I had no transportation to any EC’s until now, so I was not able to get any so far. I am also EXTREMELY interested in the medical field, specifically as an anatomical pathologist.
Please add any recommendations below (Realistic ones), and transferring is an option for me.Thank you!
I truly am sorry for your difficulties. For Duke (perhaps other institutions, too) please do a few things:
a. Be sure your GC’s recommendations clearly indicates what happened and how well you are now preforming.
b. Use your essays to explain how bad things were, the court’s change in custody, and how your recent academic performance reflects your true potential.
c. Work with GREAT DILIGENCE to ensure every grade – and every standardized test score – you receive is excellent, demonstrating your very best capabilities.
d. Most important, don’t “lose heart.” You’ve already overcome what will probably be the toughest days in your long life. Whether you attend Duke, or UNC-CH or NCSU, or some other good school, in the long-term YOU WILL BE JUST FINE.
Even if you had an ideal family life, you may not get into all of those schools. Also choose schools that match your stats (esp. SAT/ACT). Also pick some where you are at 75% or above of the stats so you can maximize chances for financial aid. Your mom and dad now support two households…they may not have that much money for college. Have a talk with both of them about how much they can afford (or what does the divorce decree say) so you know what you have to work with. If your step dad is abusive I can see where he will not support you getting very much college money so keep taht in mind. Your instate Honor college is also a good place to apply.
I also concur with TopTier’s advice. I do think that your grades and test scores will be very important, especially to the more selective schools like Duke and Hopkins, etc. Two things you definitely want to convey: Do you have a passion besides medicine? Because you can’t major in that, even at Hopkins. Even if you weren’t able to get ECs, maybe the classes you’ve taken can show that you’re passionate about a particular subject. Maybe you were able to do things within school hours, or at home (like art or music, for example). Not having any ECs at this point might not hurt you if you can still express that you’ve been productive with your time at home / in your community. And for medicine specifically, if you are able to now, I’d suggest shadowing a pathologist or even volunteering at a hospital to experience the environment. It’s always good to support the interests you say you have with actual life experiences.
Well I worked at a farm, and I do have an interest in computer science. I tried out for the golf team but did not make it unfortunately. Thanks for the responses so far!
Your parents’ divorce can cause some complications with financial aid. You should be aware of them before you make your application list. Talk to your parents about what they are able and willing to contribute to your college costs, and to get basic financial information to use the net price calculators on college web sites. Generally:
Merit scholarships usually do not require parental financial information, but some may because they are merit and need based.
Schools which use only the FAFSA form will only use your father's financial information, since you live with him. Use just his information when running their net price calculators for financial aid estimates.
Schools which use the CSS Profile form as well as the FAFSA form typically require both of your parents' financial information (unless they explicitly say they do not require the non-custodial parent information). This includes your mother's new husband. If your mother and her new husband are uncooperative with the CSS Profile NCP form, then these schools will not give you financial aid, unless you apply for a waiver and it is granted (which seems to be rare).
Of course, if your parents have high income and/or wealth, schools will assume that they will contribute when calculating financial aid. But if what they are actually willing to contribute is less than what the school expects, then you need to try for large-enough merit scholarships for that school, or remove it from the list if there are no such scholarships in realistic reach.
Depending on your parents’ financial resources and cooperation with financial aid forms your application strategy could include some schools where the net price calculator indicates the likelihood of sufficient financial aid, and also schools where there in-reach merit scholarships that are large enough to make them affordable. Remember to start your list with an affordable safety that you like.
This might sound a bit ridiculous, but I owned my own Half Life 2 Roleplay server for Garry’s mod. I funded it with my own money and organized it. Should I add that to my app? I also did 1 year of CAP, but on my sophomore year my dad could not take me since it started much earlier. On top of that I modeled and designed my own RC Airplanes and model rockets. Based on the information, I guess I have two other interests in Aviation, and Computer Science/Programming. Thank you!
Edit: I don’t play video games anymore, but I got into it since my friend said it can be a good escape from the situation.
Did anyone purchase/download that server for Garry’s Mod? If not, then it probably won’t impress that many people. However, you still could say you developed a mod for a game server.
Look into UNC Wilmington, too. Prepare for the act - as a sophomore you’re going to be caught in the sat change so to maximize your roi focus on the act ,which isn’t changing. Your score will be essential. Start prepping over the summer as it’ll serve for your PSAT -which is a giant scholarship competition that can result in free rides. Do you have an idea of your parents income -both mother &stepsad and father+step mom? If not -as is very common- can you estimate or ask if it’s below 65k or above 140k? This would affect where you can apply.
I actually don’t recommend jhu for premed. It’s way too cut throat. For med schools an A is an A regardless of where you got it.
