Apparently Unique Circumstances...

Blindwheel
Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:29:13 +0000

To start, I know there are other universities. It’s just that, all by my own volition, I’ve worked immensely hard to get myself to where I am today. I’ve had my heart set on it all by myself for so long. I promise, Harvard attracts me for reasons besides a name. I’m interested in being surrounded by the sorts of students top tier universities attract-- I’m not naive enough to think the only thing I’d get out of a college education is a diploma with a nice name on it. It just wounds me a bit to think all the preparation I did is going to be squandered by something that was outside of my control like an illness.

As for my IB vs High School grades… it’s a strange situation. My IB score is independent from my GPA, so in some ways my GPA will remain intact, but for many universities my IB score will replace my GPA; my first three years of high school will just look like ‘academic history’ versus my more recent, cripplingly low IB score.

Maybe this isn’t the right place to ask this, but would stellar SAT scores in addition to a drastically improved IB score and a counsellor’s letter be enough to convince admissions officer’s I’m not a dud? The rest of my application really is very sound, and the program I was enrolled in prior to my IB was very selective and catered to ‘gifted youth’ within my school district.