So my school bases ranks on 9-11 grades. Here are my stats
GPA
102.5. 99.3 unweighted (Rank 1/300)
Only taken honors and AP classes aside from mandatory electives and orchestra
- SAT Subject Tests:
800 - Chem
800- Math I
800 - Math II
800 - Spanish
- SAT/ACT
36 - ACT
National Merit Semifinalist
- AP Exams
AP World - 3 (My teacher was horrible,I don’t plant to submit it)
AP Psych (self study)5
APUSH - 5
APLANG - 5
APES - (self study)4
AP Chem - Taking now, Q1-88
AP Lit - Taking now Q1-94
AP Gov - Taking now Q1-90
AP Physics C - Taking now Q1-90
AP Calc BC - Taking now Q1-85
- Income: Roughly 150k for a family of 7 in a middle class area
- Race: South Asian
Hooks: Immigrant parents
ECs
Founder/President of Science Olympiad program
Started a chapter of an NGO to provide education for girls in third world countries, Raised 10,000 in a regional effort, worked with many outside female empowerment organizations
Teaches classes, advocates for female education
Writer of female empowerment/global issues blog
Writer for UNICEF blog
Global Education Leader - Only 500 in the world
Winner at various state science fairs for water purification technology
Patented scientific research
Went to worlds for robotics (Treasurer of this)
Founded STEM enrichment program at elementary schools
President of S.A.D.D. club
President of National Honor Society
President of Tri- M Honor Society
President of Orchestra Board
President of String Ensemble
Part of orchestra for school musicals
1st chair in orchestra
Concert master of regional youth orchestra
Composes music that inspires female education
Intended Major(s): Gender Studies, Engineering
As you can see from above, my first quarter grades are absolutely atrocious. This is due to a personal sitatuation where a close family member has been in hospice care for the last couple of weeks. I am determined to return my grades to the high 90s the following marking period. How can I explain this dip in my grades to colleges and how do you think this will impact my overall admission chances at Ivy League schools?
There is a space on the Common App for adding additional information. Write a sentence or two about what is going on in your family. Don’t be melodramatic, just give the basic facts. If the apps are already submitted, or if a school app does not include an “additional information” space, write a note to your admissions counselor at each school.
Calling 3 A’s and 2 B’s “atrocious” is beyond disingenuous. Some better perspective might be in order.
I wouldn’t; it will sound like you’re making excuses. The GC can talk about it if you want.
If you bring your 1st semester grades up, it’s a non-issue, unless you applied to any schools EA/ED. If you don’t manage to get your grades up, it is highly unlikely that a school that rejected you for 2 B’s would have accepted you with all A’s. Good luck.
I agree with @skieurope . 2 B’s won’t be the cause of any rejections. Also, given your test scores and GPA, it is IMO silly to blame a 3 on AP World on a teacher when you self studied other AP’ s and got 5’s and a 4.
@skieurope Thank you for your honesty. I guess I just needed to see my grades in a clearer perspective. It’s just that I’m not quite used to getting these grades and I feel like as an engineering school applicant, it might seem unfavorable that my first year taking a typical engineering course load led grades that are not up to my normal standing. Our school reports all grades numerically, so what might be an A to B drop is actually a 12-15 point drop from my grades of previous years
@CottonTales In my AP World class I had a 98 but received a 3. I’m just worried it might suggest grade inflation at my school
@AroundHere I plan to write a brief statement along the lines of I spent x amount of hours per week taking care of my family member. My GC has agreed to write a comment regarding the situation though, so in that case I won’t put anything in the additional information section
One 3 when you have 4’s and 5’s will suggest grade inflation to nobody. If they were all 3’s, it would be a different story. Anybody can have a bad test day. Plus your standardized tests are stellar. Don’t freak out. You will get into a good college. 