<p>I am really concerned and frustrated and would love your opinion. My daughter has been a straight A student throughout her entire school career. She also has great SAT scores and many extracurricular activities, and hopefully very good recommendation letters. The problem is that for the past two years she has been ill, and just recently had to have some more surgery to help with her medical condition. Now, because of her up beat attitude and positive style, you would never know anything was wrong with her. Here is the problem.. Last semester, (second term for us), for the first time ever, she received two C's on her report card, both in AP classes. I know the reason for the drop in grades is that one of the classes was first period, and the other last period. With her illness, these are the worst times of the day for her. The guidance counselor is aware of her condition, but my daughter has refused to let other people know, and therefore, does not get any special treatment. I am sooooo afraid that since the mid year report was sent, the admission committee reviewing her application would think she was a kid with senioritis, and put her in the denial pile. Do you think that if the committee does see this drop on her new transcript she would be automatically denied? I am hoping that her guidance counselor sent a note with the update explaing her situation, but, since I have never seen any of her recommendations or notes, I cannot be sure that happened. I am so scared that everything she worked so hard for can be taken away in a minute! Thank you for your advice.</p>
<p>While I sympathize with your daughter’s desire to maintain her privacy, she really does need to share this information with the schools. Hopefully, the guidance counselor has done so, but hoping isn’t good enough - it will definitely look like senioritis if she and her school say nothing. </p>
<p>Urge her to be an advocate for herself by letting the schools know (with a note from her doctor to verify) that she has been producing her stellar academic results despite an exceptional personal challenge - one that had had an impact on her grades this semester.</p>
<p>Part of becoming an adult is learning to stand up for yourself, and recognizing when it is appropriate to share personal information and how. If she’s taken the position that letting anyone know about her illness is ‘asking for special treatment,’ she is not only setting herself up for failure, but she is also being too hard on herself and others whose illnesses impact their work.</p>