University chances after overcoming anxiety/depression?

audreysrocket
Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:09:28 +0000

I’m currently a junior in high school. I always had big dreams, and my entire life I wanted to attend UChicago. I’ve pretty much shot any chance I had, but I was wondering if ANY good university in the Chicago area would accept me with a dismal GPA?

If you’d like to know more, this is my exact situation:
Freshman year I was put (legally forced) into an inpatient program in November, diagnosed with anxiety, manic depression, and EDNOS. I continued in outpatient after and was discharged before I was ready. My depression was so bad that I missed 70 days before being put onto homebound through my district. The homebound was just for the final month and a half and I wasn’t able to pass all my classes–they were all honors courses so they needed particular instruction that my tutor wasn’t capable of. That summer I went back into the outpatient program.

Sophomore year I missed about 75 days and passed everything, but with mostly D’s. I took honors English the first semester, if that matters.

Now I’m in 11th grade. My GPA is unbelievably bad–2.2, after taking 6 classes a semester (5 in spring semester of sophomore year). I transferred schools, got an IEP, and am now back to attending school regularly and getting an A in every class. My classes are all very hard courses, just not honors anymore. I’m planning on getting a part-time job or two, joining student council… something, anything that could beef up my application. I have already, in the past (not so much lately) have volunteered and delivered toys at pediatric cancer wings at hospitals. I will be doing it again just because this has personal importance to me (I’m a cancer survivor myself).

My counselor tells me that colleges “eat up” applications from people that have overcome adversity, and that she’d be happy to write a cover letter explaining that I didn’t have a good start, but that my junior year grades had shown what I was “really capable of”. I’m not even sure if this will help at all, to be honest.

When I took my PLAN test, it estimated my ACT score to be in the range of 28-32. I hope to do even higher, because I had to give educated guesses on things I missed from all my absences. I plan to study to make up for that, though.

Also, I don’t really know if this matters, but I’m ahead grade-wise. I should be in tenth, but I entered school early.

So that’s basically it. I’m okay on credits, I’ll graduate on time, but just barely (I’m enrolled in 2 math semesters and 1 semester of English through American school). I’m too proud to try community college. I know that I want to major in International Studies, so I’d prefer a school that’s got an excellent IS program, but at this point I know can’t be that picky. Ideas? Tips? Success stories? Please, I just need some kind of hope that I didn’t screw up my future completely. Thanks! :)

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