<p>Just ahead of time, I’m not doing this because I need some sort of comfort, but rather because I’d like the opinions of other educated people in what my future might look like. Every perspective I’ve considered is almost always bias, including my own. I’m very open to readjusting my goals at this early stage.</p>
<p>College Choices:
West Virginia University
Boston College
Boston University
NOVA (Northern Virginia Community College)
University of Amherst/Massachusetts
University of Urbana Champaign/Illinois
Iowa State University
Clemson University
Elon University</p>
<p>WVU and NOVA seem to be the only two realistic choices, with Iowa and BU being my top two choices (Albeit far fetched ones)</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA: 2.750
-Freshman: 2.971
-Sophomore: 2.871
-Junior: 2.471</p>
<p>Weighted GPA: 2.857
-Freshman: 3.142
-Sophomore: 2.951
-Junior: 2.481</p>
<p>Honors/AP Courses:
-Freshman: HN English 9, HN World History 1
-Sophomore: HN English 10, AP World History
-Junior: AP US History, AP Psychology </p>
<p>School Ranking/Size:
-Langley High School: #84 Nation, #2 State (Virginia)
-2000 Students</p>
<p>SAT Score (Taken once, hope to take again in September):
Total: 2000
Critical Reading: 680
Mathematics: 620
Writing: 700 (Essay: 9/12)</p>
<p>AP Scores:
Sophomore: AP World History (5)
Junior: AP Psychology (4), AP US History (4)
Senior (Planned): AP Government</p>
<p>Extracurricular:
Freshman: N/A
Sophomore: N/A
Junior: Kaleidoscope, Model UN, Libertarian (No officer ranks in any)</p>
<p>Employment:
Intern at American Federal Contractors, secretarial and information input, no pay
Employee at Sweet Stuff Deli, day to day maintenance, minimum wage</p>
<p>Honors/Awards:
N/A</p>
<p>Essay:
Assume any college essay written will be of above average quality.</p>
<p>Additional Information:
Obviously not the best track record for a high school student, in fact, its abysmal. My grades are not in the range for almost any selective school to even consider and my complete lack of extracurricular activities negates any possibility to counter that fact. However, I was informed by my counselor that given certain circumstances that occurred to me during the school years, I may be able to possibly explain my horrid academic performance to any admissions board. He suggested that I include the following in my college essay to try and give myself a better chance (Not to condone the use of personal events as an excuse for a lack of effort or self help).</p>
<p>Halfway through ninth grade my father was arrested and extradited to a different country on charges of fraud and bribery. He left behind a massive slew of legal cases that made it almost impossible for my mother to try and make sense of our families economic situation as Dad’s income was no longer a factor. (I’m all for keeping anonymity but to give a general idea of the scale the business lawsuit that followed awarded the other side with the largest reimbursement in Virginia state history) </p>
<p>This resulted in an almost immediate sink in my grades from what could have been an excellent beginning to High School to a sub par one. I shrugged it off with the notion that Sophomore and Junior year were still ahead and much more important.</p>
<p>Sophomore year was a time of particular emotional turmoil for me, being diagnosed with Major Depression, and a variety of Anxiety Disorders. Medication was crossed out as a solution in favor of counseling, which did little to nothing to help. Dad was still in custody and going through the process of a very publicized trial. </p>
<p>It was in Junior year that I realized that time was running out to apply myself. Unfortunately relatively early in the year Dad was sentenced to 7 years in prison in aforementioned foreign country despite having been in pre-trial limbo for almost three years. One month later my mother developed a very aggressive form of breast cancer that required almost constant care and attention at home. The year (and my grades) quickly spiraled out of control. Depression and Anxiety are still something I struggle with to this day and we hope to get treatment by the time senior year rolls around.</p>
<p>My counselor pointed out to me that all these distractions and events would have an obviously negative performance on my potential as a student, to which I somewhat agree. </p>
<p>This is not a sob story, a cry for help, or an attempt to garner sympathy. It’s just what happened and I thought it would be necessary to include in order for me to be “Chanced” as accurately as possible given my terrible grades. In no way am I suggesting that my grades are to be completely blamed on my situation, nor will I make it seem so in my college essay. </p>
<p>My main desire is to enter the field of Civil Engineering or Business, and my schools have been picked with that in mind.</p>
<p>Thank you for your time any and all input would be most appreciated.</p>