<p>Hi, im a senior and plan to major in computer science and im quite worried about my college admissions.</p>
<p>I have a 3.2 UW GPA and a 1800 sat (waiting for the new SAT scores to be published)
I've taken 12 honors courses and 4 AP courses (basically haven't taken any regular non honors courses)
I was diagnosed with depression in 11th grade causing my academic performance to be subpar to my capabilities. I'm worried that I won't get accepted to most of the places im applying which is probably true.</p>
<p>Anyway I'm applying to
Truly interested:
University of Rochester oos
RIT (also rochester) oos
Syracuse oos
Case western oos (ea)
Binghamton oos (ea)
Stony brook oos
Virginia tech oos (ea)
Purdue oos (ea I believe)
American oos
Miami oh oos
Dayton oos
James Madison oos (ea)</p>
<p>Less interest but still applying
Ohio northern
Shippensburg
Pitt (free) (ea)
Allegheny
Indiana Bloomington (visited and hated)</p>
<p>I totally understand the whold depression thing, i went through it myself. I feel like colleges are gunna look at my sat score vs my grades and think im lazy. Honestly, my advice would be to power through college, where ever you end up, and transfer or get into a good grad program. As for your chances, i can tell you that case and vtech porbably wont happen, but american and jmu could very well accept you. Write a killer essay about how you overcame your illness and developed as a person because of it (what im doing) good luck.</p>
<p>I think you have a good chance at American and JMU like the poster above said but I would strongly advise against writing an essay that involves mental illness. A lot of universities (especially, I would assume, VTech after the 2007 incident) see any kind of mental affliction as a liability. It sucks and it’s unfair and it’s narrow-minded, but you don’t want something like that hurting your chances any more than it already has. Not trying to be mean–just giving my two cents, the topic of your essay is ultimately your choice. Really hope you get some good news this Jan/Feb/March/whatever!!</p>
<p>@nuhsgrad I realize that but I have been advised to report this to show I have overcome things to give an excuse for my poor grades.
I realize mental illness is an issue but my counselor is going to report it regardless and Colleges need to know that I have overcome and am overcoming my issue</p>
<p>How about adding a few more schools for the match/safety part of the list? VCU is more probable than VTech. U Buffalo is more probable than Binghamton or Stony Brook. RIT is a realistic pic. In addition to American you may want to add George Mason if you like the DC area. </p>
<p>If you really like U Rochester, or want a better shot at Binghamton or Stony Brook, you may want to consider starting out at Finger Lakes Community College, which has on-campus housing and some four year degree programs, so not your usual community college. Also, if you like the Syracuse area, you may want to consider LeMoyne College, which has an undergraduate program in computer science linked to a graduate program in that field at Syracuse.</p>
<p>Your list is very long. It is fine to have 2 or 3 reach schools, but you have many more than that on here. It is hard to say which schools are reaches given that you have not given a break out of your SAT score or your grades by each year. Look up the common data set information for each school in which you are interested and make sure that your scores fall into the mid-range for any school you are considering as a match. For those in which you are in the lower 50th percentile by grades or scores, then move those over to the reach column. I would include as reaches any school that admits fewer than 40% of their applicants as well. Another tool to use is <a href=“http://www.parchment.com”>www.parchment.com</a> or college search on college.board.org. Remember, though, these are tools, not crystal balls regarding your admission chances.</p>
<p>Your mid-year score report will be very important to most schools considering you for admission. Hopefully you are doing very well this semester and are taking a challenging course load.</p>
<p>I will weigh in on the essay question as well. The purpose of the essay is to enable a school to better understand what makes you tick. Depression does not define you as a person; it is an illness. It is not character-building to have lived through it, no more than getting over a broken leg would be character-building… To think otherwise would imply that people who do not recover as quickly or at all have some sort of character flaw. That is why it would not be a good idea to focus your essay on your illness and road to recovery. It would be better if you wrote about something important to you both before and after your illness, such as your relationship with music. It is fine for your school counselor to mention your depression as he is a professional who was aware of your treatment, but that does not mean you should focus your essay on it.</p>
<p>@albclemom I truly appreciate your thought out and personal message.
I plan to write about my depression and however I plan to focus on the fact that I’m overcoming my illness, not that I have it.
Also my sat is 540 cr 630 math and 620 writing
I can tell you about my year by year grades but badically low bs to low a’s no trends
I had a lot of issues last year
But I’m starting my senior year strong ejth b+/a</p>
<p>Especially in my stem fields Java physics and calc</p>
<p>I think the schools you listed seem to match your stats very well! You could even add another reach school if you wanted, your gpa is low but your weighted gpa would probably even that out. As for the essay if it is different and not negative I think it could be a good idea. Goodluck!</p>
<p>DO NOT write about depression, unless it was directly caused by something specific.
If it was chemical (you suddenly got stuck in this universe of nothing working out, no energy, everything hurts) DO NOT write about it as the colleges will write you off as too much of a risk since they can’t be sure it won’t come back.
Your counselor however should include in his/her recommendation that you “had to deal with severe personal/family issues” junior year, which are “now resolved or in the process of being taken care of”.</p>
<p>What’s your parents’ budget? Can they pay for public universities OOS?
While private universities OOS (400+miles for optimum results) will be interested in the geographical diversity you bring and provide you with the appropriately enticing financial aid package to make you enroll , public universities exist for their in-state residents’ children and will not give you any financial aid.
As a freshman, you’re only allowed to borrow 5.5K.</p>
<p>Since you hated Indiana when you visited, try to apply to other universities that fit you better. What did you dislike about Indiana though, so that we can suggest other universities NOT like it? :p?
Since you’re active in music, check out Luther College and Lawrence university. What about Butler? Marquette? UWI Superior (they do have scholarships for OOS students and you could apply for Honors)? Creighton? Bradley? Lindenwood? Maryville? If you’re willing to look further away, I’d suggest Hendrix, Centre, and Hobart&William Smith.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634
First of all thank you for your very detailed and personal post, I truly appreciate it.
My counselor and some friends who used to work in college admissions did suggest we write about overcoming depression, and I plan to. I was actually diagnosed with dysthymia a form of depression which is somewhat different, and that my diagnosis is also temporary. I know this seems weird, but my psychologist and a few others who have done tests on me seem to think that a few years of medicine and therapy will take care of my issue.
My parents money is not an issue
We are upper middle class and my parents have extensively saved for my college needs.
The primary concern is admittance.
I have considered the colleges you mentioned and I appreciate the list, but I have narrowed down my college list to these schools extensively.
Indiana i disliked because its quality of students seemed terrible, classes were in session and the ignorance and complete stupidity of some of the students and tour guides was rather and truly shocking.</p>
<p>Now I am still applying there because it’s free after I visited but it’s currently the college im least interested in.</p>
<p>I really need help with the college list I already have.</p>
<p>OOS doesn’t apply to private schools - in fact, applying 400+miles from home means you bring geographical diversity and would get a little boost for admission and/or financial aid. If you’re fine with RIT, Miami OH, Dayton, and JMU, plus Pitt and Allegheny, then you could cull your list a little.</p>
<p>University of Rochester = big reach
RIT (also rochester) = match
Syracuse = reach (also, big party/sports school, not sure it’s a plus for you based on what you said)
Case western (ea) = big reach
Binghamton oos (ea) = high match, probably not a good fit if you didn’t like IU
Stony brook oos = very commuter/suitcase so very lonely on weekends, not recommended
Virginia tech oos (ea)= big reach
Purdue oos (ea I believe) = Purdue is weird since it’ll depend on the major you applied to; if you didn’t like Indiana, you’d like Purdue even less.
American oos = reach
Miami oh oos = high match (big party/drinking school, preppy)
Dayton = match
James Madison oos (ea) = match</p>
<p>Less interest but still applying
Ohio northern= safety
Shippensburg= safety => is there no other PASSHE school or schools at that level you’d like better, like Washington&Jefferson, Hiram, or Elizabethtown?
Pitt (free) (ea) = match
Allegheny = match
Indiana Bloomington (visited and hated) = match</p>
<p>Write about Dysthymia then, not “depression”. Seriously. </p>
<p>@MYOS1634
I will write about dysthymia, I just wasn’t trying to go into much detail about my psychological situation.
Anyways I truly appreciate your input
If I didn’t mention before im interested in computer science, another reason I’m worried because it is a much tougher major. Also I visited purdue on the trip to indiana and I loved purdue. Also binghamton is rather high on my list As well
I also realize some of those schools are super reaches for me and some of them like stony brook and syracuse are not perfect.</p>