<ul>
<li>Question for a Close Friend - </li>
</ul>
<p>If someone scores a 1700 on the SAT exam (with a good essay score however), but the low performance was due to a significant issue in the family (mother close to dying), how would the Ivy’s consider her score in this respect? She has an otherwise excellent academic record (one of the best at her school) and fantastic EC’s. </p>
<p>Is it a case of the colleges going “whilst we’re sorry for your circumstances, your SAT score is too low, and we have tons of other applicants with 2000+ scores to choose from and we don’t want to lower our SAT score range statistics”, or would they actually be more holistic and understand that her performance on the exam was severely affected? </p>
<p>Her guidance counselor has already said she shall definitely be letting the colleges know of the circumstances and shall explain it to them via phone when the holidays are over. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for the help; I’m sure she’ll appreciate it :)</p>
<p>PS. She can’t take the SAT again in January, so that won’t be an option.</p>
<p>Try for Brown University. From their admissions page here: [Brown</a> Admission: Facts & Figures](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University), you should atleast have a ~6% chance of being admitted with a 1700 (or around 25 ACT) score. Around ~5% this year, assumably as competition is steeper. So a 1/20 in persons chance.</p>
<p>But are the likes of HYP out of likely contention for her, as it is hardly her fault that she found herself in such a situation - it just seems unfair/unjust, but then I suppose one could say the same thing about the admissions process as a whole…</p>
<p>Her GC has gathered up all the hospital forms and shall be using them to explain the situation the mother was facing etc.</p>
<p>It’s a standard affair in college essay writing to avoid the 4 'd’s as in:</p>
<p>death, divorce, etc, etc…</p>
<p>Anything tragic as a reason is rarely going to help you in most circumstances at a college. Add it as as an additional note, but don’t focus on it too heavily because you will probably get rejected for trying to build a crutch for yourself (even if it’s true).</p>