Hi there, I’ll try to keep this short. I was a human trafficking victim (long story) since childhood and just recently in the past few years was able to gain legal safety and be free of all that mess. The plus side is I do have a good GPA, the downside is that I graduated High School a few years ago. I’m thinking about applying to Brown and/or other top universities, but I’m not sure if there would be a point given how long it’s been since I graduated HS, and also due to the fact that I didn’t have any extracurricular activities etc due to my situation.
I’m mainly wondering if my situation could/would grant me any leeway in terms of the issue with the gap between HS and Uni? Not looking for sympathy from these schools, just wondering if this is something they typically accommodate, or not so much?
Look up programs for non-traditional students. In addition to the one described above I know Columbia has the School of General Studies and I’m sure there are others.
Unique stories do sometimes get admissions. However, you have to have a balanced list of reach, match, and safety schools.
How long was the gap and how old are you now? Think about whether you would be happy at a school filled with competitive, high-achieving, eighteen year olds (because that’s mostly who gets into elite schools). A program like the one above for those with a gap in their educational background may be a better fit. If you are female, most women’s colleges offer similar programs as well.
If you can’t get into a program for older students, a larger state flagship university will have a wider variety of ages, which may make it easier to find friends. Or, a community college would be very easy to attend part-time if you want to ease into academics slowly. (But, highly competitive schools take very few community college transfers, so consider that carefully. Community colleges mostly feed into their state university systems and into nearby schools of average or maybe a little above average selectivity.)
Mount Holyoke has the Francis Perkins program which is designed for women of any age who have not completed a bachelor’s degree. They have special housing options as well as generous financial support.
What were your high school stats? If they were not Ivy League caliber back then what have you done since graduation that would make you competitive for admission to Brown?
Thank you so much for all the info and advice everyone. I’m definitely going to take a lot of this into consideration and see what road I want to go down moving forward.