I'll give this one a shot. The story starts with this young woman facing the academic council at Harvard. She has been accused of plagiarizing the research of another female student with a longer history on the campus and who comes from privilege, money, and is a legacy. Her character is in question and boy does she have character. We as the audience then see her troubled childhood with her drug abusing parents all the way to her inevitable homeless status. We see the struggles she undergoes to be accepted into the university but her struggles won't stop there. We see her isolation from others on campus as she is seen as more and more of a leper by the student body. Yet, despite everything, she still manages to academically succeed, with pitfalls here and there. The last act is the establishment of the pertinent information involving the current plagiarism claim, all of which can hopefully dispel the stigma of being the lower class "different" student and prove her innocence.

I would start with the parents deserting her and her fight to stay in school and prove that she can make it, leading to her acceptance into one of the big colleges - a big, midpoint up, marred by the return of her parents who demand she comes back to live with them as her mum is ill and they need help. She is then torn between family and her future and we get to see if she makes the right decision. Perhaps the mum is faking it for some perverse reason. The daughter has to opportunity to go onto great things, but will she look out for herself, or be pulled by the ties of family?

this seems like it would best be told in a way... something akin to Jennifer Lawrence's character and situation in A Winter's Bone. will ponder and come back. I like the possibilities presented, though.

wait, wasn't it a made-for-TV movie with Kirsten Dunst?

A cognitive scientist discovers a 3 year old child who can read and count, a feat made more startling by the fact that her immigrant parents are illiterate. Convincing the parents to allow him to research the girl, he uncovers her extraordinary, once in a lifetime intelligence and proceeds to prepare the way for her to truly fulfill her potential. Superstitious and fearful, her parents pull back and refuse any more contact, but not before he realizes he grossly underestimated her abilities. However, when word of this child reaches a mysterious cult, who claim her as the object of prophecy, they beseech the scientist to help save her.

This premise actually was a Lifetime movie from 2003: "Homeless to Harvard," starring Thora Birch. Still, if we can have two White House takeover movies or two asteroids heading for Earth movies in a single summer, I don't think a rags to riches story involving Harvard every 10 years should be a problem.