<p>Last night, my parents sent my Duke, Northwestern, and Wake Forest apps out without my permission. Although I was a little upset initially, I eventually got over it and went to bed.</p>
<p>However, this morning I realized I forgot to add some information. about a depressive stage I experienced while transitioning to a new high school my junior year. I feel like it had an effect on my grades and I remembered going to my counselor to talk about it. I would presume she included it in her rec but I don't know. When I talked to my mom about the extra information this morning it seemed like she got mad at me for even bringing it up. I might have misinterpreted her body language but she made it seem that the depression I was going through wasn't even that big of a deal.</p>
<p>I want to be okay with this, but I'm not especially since Duke is my top choice. Is there anyway I can send extra information to the colleges? Is the additional information section that big of a deal for those colleges I listed? Also I heard something about a guidance counselor mid-year report. Is that the same as their recommendation, or is it something else?</p>
<p>People go back and forth about mentioning depression on applications. Some will tell you that it can help explain unusually low grades, but others say it raises a red flag to admissions about your mental health. Ultimately it’s up to you. I believe you can submit an amended version of your additional information section and they will add it to your profile. You can find how to add to your app by talking to admissions at each school.</p>
<p>You should first talk to your counselor and see if she mentioned it in her recommendation. If she did, you shouldn’t say anything. Reflects better on you if your counselor mentioned it and you didn’t.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that “transitioning to a new highschool” in the minds of admissions will be similar to transitioning into college; saying it led to a depressive stage and poor grades may make them question how you will deal with the transition into college. Personally I would either not mention it or explain it in a different way (maybe spin it into saying that through the experience you learned how to adjust to new environments).</p>
<p>The mid-year report is different than the counselor recommendation. It’s a form the counselor fills out verifying your senior-year course-load and behavior, and updating your GPA/rank with data from the first semester of senior year. It usually has a later deadline than the rest of your application, usually mid February. Some schools don’t even ask for it.</p>
<p>The Mid-Year Report simply reports your academic progress throughout your senior year. It is not the same as a recomendation letter. Talk to your guidance counselor to see if she mentioned it in her evaluation first. If you want to explain, you can email a brief explanation to your regional admissions officers by which state you live in for Duke and West Forest. You can look it up online. For Northwestern, there is only a general email address and you can email it to that address. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you both! I’ll see if I can schedule an appt. with my counselor tomorrow.</p>
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<p>I’m sorry for your troubles. This helps explain your mental health issues. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t discuss mental health issues on a college application because while colleges will provide all kinds of support for mental health issues once you’re student, no college wants to risk a student suicide or a deranged student going on a murderous/suicidal rampage. It’s just so easy to just deny them, no reason needed. </p>
<p>I think you should just let it go, change your common app password, and finish high school strong. When you get to college, keep your password private as required by most college computing user agreements. Then you can work on severing the helicopter tether.</p>
<p>if you feel like you missed something, you can always physically send it to the colleges in an envelope. I asked wake forest about sending something that wasn’t on the online application and as long as you have your name and date of birth on whatever you’re sending, they’ll be able to match it up to your application!</p>