<p>I am applying to Bryn Mawr regular and I will have an interview soon, and my admissions counselor came to my school and there was only one other girl there, so I had the chance to really make an impression and ask lots of questions. I wrote a special circumstances portion to submit suplementally to this college through the common app. Basically I had a lot to deal with last year. My father has been terminally ill for the past eight years with Kidney Failure and he survives by dialysis home treatments every day for four hours after work. I have a genetic disease of Polycystic Kidney Disease. My mother is sick as well, and she has suffered from severe clinical depression and anxiety issues almost her entire life. She has been institiutionalized three times since I was born. A few years ago she was institutionalized for two months. Last year, my father was in the hospital from time to time, and nearly passed away. My stepmother also was hospitalized last year as well with pnemoneia ( i know i spelt that wrong), and she nearly passed away as well. So it has definitely been a tough experience for me, with trying to focus on my school work and not have to worry about the situations outside of school. It was also hard last year, because my mother had constant death threats that she was going to kill my father and stepmother (I know this sounds exaggerated or unrealistic, however I am completley telling the truth). Last year my grades suffered dramatically. I went from getting A’s and B’s in honors classes, to getting a C in AP World History Last year, and also a “D” in honors chemistry and “D” in British Literature (I had that course for a half a year). So clearly I need to explain myself from last year. Basically everything came to a boil and I was so stressed out that I nearly gave up. Now, however, although my parents are still sick, and I still have things to deal with, I have grown so much from last year. I am taking all honors (No AP’s this year do to scheduling conflicts which I am explaining to the college), and another problem is that I have an A in Honors British Literature, a C+ in Honors Physics, C in Precalcculus, C in Spanish 5 honors, and a C+ or B- in Honors Sociology. This is only the first term, and I plan on getting nothing less than solid A’s for the rest of the year. Will this be overlooked from this term, if I perform stellar next term? I am trying to prove that I am capable of suceeding and that I have grown so much from last year. I also want to point out that although my grades have not been stellar, this is not an indicator of my academic potential. I know I am capapble of succeeding, which is why I am applying to this school. My GPA from 9th to 11th grade is 3.5 out of 5.0 and my class rank is 190 out of 349. (This is an AWFUL rank, however I go to the 25th best public high school in my state, and 117 kids have over a 4.0, so my grade is full of overachievers). I am also one of the only african american students at my high school. My extra-curricular list throughout high school is very very involved (especially more in 9th and 10th grade, and this year). Do you think that my grades will be looked down upon from last year if I explain my situation to college? My guidance counselor is also explaining my situation, and so is my teacher who is writing my rec. BTW, my essays are fantastic.</p>
<p>Wow - you have so much to deal with! My experience is that admissions counselors want to get to know you, not just the numbers that “reflect” you – how you think, what you’ve learned from your various academic and other experiences. They won’t “overlook” grades or test scores, but they’ll want to hear what you have to say about them. Not taking any AP classes isn’t a failing especially if you have chosen to take Honors classes and/or can explain why you’ve made that decision.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>