<p>My daughter is a junior but is having to withdraw from boarding school due to a disrupted year suffering from major depressive disorder and anxiety. She is trying to do the work the school is insisting on to complete junior year but they have given her very little time and she is still not able to do full days' work as she is coming off several weeks in hospital.
My question is regarding her senior year. We already plan for her to take a gap year before college so she can show she is college ready, but we feel the best option for next year would be to stay home and take online classes as she is not ready to return to school.
Will this look terrible on a transcript for college (2 years local school, one year boarding, one year homeschool)?
How do colleges respond to depression? Is it best to explain the change to homeschool non specifically on health or to be upfront but show a anemic success and interesting gap year plans to show she is going treated and is functioning successfully again?</p>
<p>Dear Alyanj, </p>
<p>I think you should repost this question in another forum on College Confidential, either the Parents Forum or the Learning Differences and Challenges forum. A number of the frequent posters on the Parents Forum have children who have dealt with similar issues. </p>
<p>I’m just a parent, but major depressive disorder doesn’t disappear. Whether or not she chooses to reveal it to colleges, she will need to set herself up for success. I recommend following the advice of her doctors about the best approach to her health and education. </p>
<p>I wish you and your daughter the best as she recovers.</p>
<p>Online classes can be pretty isolating and require a lot of motivation to keep up with. How about returning to your local school for senior year (or junior year if must repeat)?</p>
<p>My older D tried boarding school for her sophomore year, had trouble adjusting, and it was recommended she return to her local public for junior and senior years. She did well back home, incorporating the challenges she had faced and later overcome in her essays, and did fine with college acceptance. </p>
<p>The teachers and counselors at your Ds old school know her, and may be able to help a lot.</p>
<p>I think finishing high school being home and taking a gap year sound like good ideas, but I echo the previous response that suggested your daughter try to take classes at her local high school. I think colleges might have concern that she would have difficulty transitioning to from an isolating home school environment. My daughter is dealing with a very similar situation after her first year of college and is taking some time away from school but the college wants to know what she has done that will help her find success at their school. I think if your daughter can show that she can function in high school, colleges will not count her mental health issues against her. I think it shows a tremendous amount of courage to tackle these issues and to take the steps necessary to be successful in spite of the difficulties.</p>