Bad Grades Freshman/Sophomore Year

parentologist
Fri, 13 Aug 2021 20:24:47 +0000

I am wondering whether a really good essay about your experience with ADHD and how much better you did once on treatment would help with your application. The reality is that most people with high SATs and high GPAs still don’t get into T20 schools. But you are an intriguing candidate, with strong ECs. Perhaps a very well-written essay, which shows what academic life was like for you before and after treatment, might draw the attention of the admissions committee officer to take a closer look, so that they realize that you’re not just a really smart, but academically lazy, applicant. Sure, you could tell them in the additional info section that you have ADHD and were only diagnosed and effectively treated after your freshman and sophomore years. But it might be more effective if you had a great essay, one that gave the reader a view of the ADHD mind, before and after treatment. The kind of essay that made the reader sit back and think, “Wow. I never realized this before. This kid must be something special. And he is obviously bright - look at his test scores! He’s seriously motivated to do (insert your goal here). And as he says, smart ADHD people, when they’re highly interested in something, are able to hyperfocus and achieve amazing things in their field of interest. We should think about taking this one.”

But it would have to be a seriously special essay. Based upon the writing in your postings, you’d need help with it. Your ideas. Your way of approaching the material. Proofing and polishing help from a great writer.

I don’t think that this would work for Yale. It might for Vanderbilt. More likely to work for a T50 school, and maybe for a T30 school that strongly favors ED. I’m assuming that you’re not chasing merit aid, and that you’re not reliant upon financial aid.