I was a B+, A- student before junior year (3.7 GPA unweighted). My plan was to become an A student for junior year, and finish out my senior year with a 3.9 unweighted GPA.

Things went, absolutely, to hell. I ended up getting about 4 C's, which dropped my GPA to about a 3.0.
My parents have always been emotional and physically abusive to me, but last year when my mom lost her job, it got worse. I don't know what came first, my bad grades, or the abuse. Let's just say it coincided.

My plan had been to apply to some pretty prestigious universities, like John Hopkins. That was my goal. But that goal is ruined.

It's still senior year, and I'm trying to keep my grades up. I've got all B's, and a few A's right now. But as I explained above, I really needed like, an A+ average. I failed at that, again.

I'm told that if you have a certain situation that might have affected your grades, you can alert colleges about it. But I didn't know how "emotional and physical abuse, job loss, and near foreclosure" would look. So I didn't put it.

So I put all my effort into my essays. A lot of the schools I applied to required supplemental essays.

At the very least, I can say that my essays are beautiful. Do you think they'll even look twice at my app? I do have some interesting extracurriculars.

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I strongly suggest that you do include that information. It could seriously make the difference, and it shows what you have overcome in your life thus far.

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