Low gpa medical consideration?

Answered

Here's the honest truth. Millions of high school-aged students contracted COVID-19 and suffered some degree of learning loss during the pandemic. Whether they are behind 6 months or 1 1/2 years is dependent on their school district and family resources. In addition, whether this was a "cause and effect" of the pandemic, about 1/3rd of students claimed to have suffered from some mild to severe forms or mental illness during this period. For some, it was depression, anxiety, or overall chemical imbalance.

You are not alone nor an outlier across the spectrum of high school students who are all doing their best to get into a good college. Therefore, err with caution about how you are going to present your personal narrative to future colleges. Many college consultants and experts would agree that you do not write too much about Death, Disease, and Divorce because that's a red flag. And I consider Mental Health, Well-being, COVID-19, ADHD all part of the Disease "D".

In my personal journey, most would consider me a highly functioning high achieving model student who won top honors and got into Columbia University ED. But I still felt insecure about my health (COVID-19) and didn't want to start the school term remotely on a computer so I asked and received permission from Columbia to apply to boarding schools to better prepare myself for the transition and safeguard my health. They were very supportive of this.

I'm sharing this because there is no hard rule that you have to start college at a certain age or finish it at a certain age. You are in charge of that. If you feel that you need more runway to successfully accumulate the requisite grades, course rigor, ECs, honors, and awards, and curate a spike narrative, then you should consider extending your high school career. There is no shame in that.

As the Class speaker at graduation, my principal announced that I would not be going to Columbia right away but taking a gap year at Deerfield Academy doing a post-graduate year, and I'm 100% certain that most people were very confused and shaking their heads about this decision but it all worked out. I'm a better Ivy League student because of the extra preparation and have perfect grades.

So good luck, take a step back and talk to your parents and figure out a plan that works for you and for their expectations as well. If your family truly cares about you being the best version of yourself, they will be supportive and help you figure out a path that is practical and works for you.