Full potential not seen in High School due to untreated ADHD: will colleges take a chance on me?Answered
I have a 3.5 weighted which jumped to a 3.9 weighted during the semester that I started ADHD treatment during (semester 2 junior year). I expect it to get better during my senior year. I also didn't have many extracurriculars until recently for the same reason (and COVID played a huge role too because my family was extra conscious about it). Will colleges take a chance on me? What can I do to prove that I am a better candidate than I look like on paper?
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4 answers
First of all congratulations on getting a 3.9 WGPA. I'm glad you found a solution to your ADHD. I think that is a huge win for your life and you should be proud to know that having the ability to focus and retain course material and test well is a serious accomplishment. Bravo.
On this positive note, I would definitely use the Main Essay or the Add'l Info essay to write about this. I think people want to root for and advocate for underdogs that have overcome some major obstacles in their life. You have certainly had to live with this for a long time.
Because you have only lived with this treatment for a little while, you really don't know what your true potential is but at the same time I caution you not to push yourself to the brink of exhaustion or mental/emotional stress. There are many natural gifted super intelligent students who burn out due to over-exertion and the high expectations they set for themselves is sometimes not sustainable. So please keep in mind that you can't be operating on 120% for very long. You have to find your groove and if that is 90% or 95%, keep it there.
I do think colleges will take a chance on you. Nevertheless, I would work with your parents, counselors, friends on find a school that is not too rigid with core curriculum requirements. If you want to shoot your shot at an Ivy, pick Brown over Columbia for example because Brown lets you pick your own curricula and Columbia has a rigid core which eats up about 25% of your time.
If you truly believe like me that success is not measured by where you get into undergraduate work but being a life long learner and making incremental positive changes in your life to better serve your community and greater good, then you will not be too worried about where you attend college.
Use this time this summer to explore colleges and visit them and talk to students and people who live in town. Find a place that you dig versus picking a school based on its clout or prestige factor. You are going to date this college for 4 years, make sure you are attracted to it.
Good luck.
As others have said, colleges will certainly take a chance on you and will review your application holistically. The best thing you can do to show your improvement is to continue the upward trend in your GPA and extracurricular involvement. This upward trend can make up for your past performance and will prove to colleges that it was not a lack of effort that held you back. Additionally, explain the context behind how both ADHD and COVID made school more difficult. Hope this helps!
I think most colleges will give you a chance. For T100 schools however, they want to see a bit more. Take the toughest courses you can in senior year including, AP´s, Honors, IB´s, Dual Enrollment. Also, do you have any extra curriculars. T100 schools might take a chance on you but junior year was the most important year for colleges.
Here´s a peace of advice. Take the toughest classes you can, take the highest extracurriculars you can. Show you have passion in the major. Show interest, be as competitive as you can. Also you shouldn´t apply early application in this case. Wait until Semester 1 of Senior year for you is done. This is because, it will show how you have improved and persevered when you found out of ADHD
You could take the GED test and that could show them how far you've come - a lot of colleges will take a GED test score over a high school transcript/diploma
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I do have extracurriculars (I'm a Team USA figure skater) but I am worried about it not showing my passion for more school related stuff (such as internships).