<p>I received an email from the Berkeley administrations office about filling out a questionnaire online and the first question is:</p>
<p>1.In your application you disclosed a physical or mental impairment, or medical condition. As part of our holistic review, would you like us to consider the physical or mental impairment, or medical condition?
If "NO", please check this box, do not answer the remaining questions, and click the SUBMIT button at the bottom of this form. Do not submit a letter of recommendation. </p>
<p>I had facial palsy twice within two years of my high school career and triggered my anxiety of people at school and family problems in terms of which parent to stay with so I plan to say "yes" to the question but is the letter of recommendation from any teacher? Or is it from my doctor? I'm not very close with my family doctor and we're practically strangers but there is one teacher who I've gotten close with and told my problems to this past year after my issues were cleared and I recovered. Would it be acceptable to ask that teacher to write my letter of recommendation for me?</p>
<p>I don't know the exact date I had facial palsy but I do know how long I've had it both times (a good estimate). What do I put down then? </p>
<p>Should I even put this at all? I feel as if it was pretty impacting in my high school career..</p>
<p>Please offer advice ASAP since I do have a 10 day deadline!
Though I may be able to fill out the questionnaire quickly, my teacher needs at least three to four days to know what to write! (Plus, grades are due this week so my teacher will definitely need this week to finish entering the final scores into the school system.)</p>
<p>Thank you in advance and please be descriptive if possible. c:</p>
<p>maybe its just me, but if I was an adcom I would find a doctor’s note about a diagnosed condition much more believable than a second-hand account the student told a teacher at school. Is there a reason you can’t submit a letter from the doctor documenting the condition and a letter from the teacher?</p>
<p>The link for the questionnaire in the email I received also came with a link that’s for my letter of recommendation writer to fill out. Here’s what the email said if it makes it easier to understand:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>To access and fill out the questionnaire(s), log on to myBerkeleyApplication: [myBerkeleyApplication</a> : Berkeley](<a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/myberkeley/home.asp]myBerkeleyApplication”>http://students.berkeley.edu/myberkeley/home.asp) If you need help accessing myBerkeleyApplication, please check our login FAQ page: [myBerkeleyApplication</a> Login FAQs | UC Berkeley Office of Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.berkeley.edu/loginfaq]myBerkeleyApplication”>http://admissions.berkeley.edu/loginfaq)</p></li>
<li><p>Provide us with your fall semester grades in the questionnaire. If you haven’t received your grades yet, don’t wait for them. It’s more important that the questionnaire is returned on time. Also, confirm or indicate changes to your spring class schedule. </p></li>
<li><p>(Optional) Submit one letter of recommendation from a teacher, counselor, coach or anyone familiar with your academic background and extracurricular skills/talents. Your recommender can fill out an online form at the following link. Note that in providing this link to your recommender, you waive your right to view this letter of recommendation at any future point: (page link here)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’m not completely sure if the letter of recommendation included in the optional #3 refers to the letter of recommendation mentioned in the questionnaire fill-out however… And #3 stated that I can submit one and I’m guessing only one.</p>
<p>Is there a way I can send in proof AND a letter of recommendation? If not and it comes down to one or the other which one should I go with? The recommendation letter is more of a Q&A of what the recommender thinks and knows about my academic performance and community involvement.</p>
<p>And thank you for answering mikemac! I’ll be sure to ask my school counselor about this matter and call the admissions desk at Cal if truly needed as well! </p>
<p>In the meantime, more advice/opinions will be appreciated and taken into consideration!</p>
<p>@whitelights</p>
<p>Definitely ask your teacher that you have talked about your problems too to write you a letter of recommendation. Because you received the physical/mental impairment questionnaire from Berkeley, there is a high chance of acceptance if you explain your illness and how it has impacted your high school career. I am not sure that the admissions officers will need proof of your illness (only they state they require it). Be sure that you explain to your teacher beforehand that this is really important for college, and the background of your illness. I would suggest typing up a little essay or explanation for your teacher of how the illness has affected you, so he/she has some kind of reference. Teacher recommendation is more important because they are a more reliable source when it comes down to impact on grades. If you are not exactly sure about your illness, ask your doctor about it. He may give you more info about it. </p>
<p>Again, work really hard on the supplement as it will greatly augment chances of acceptance. I got in because of the supplement. It would also greatly help if your 1st semester senior grades are improving. Good Luck!!! :)</p>
<p>Get a teacher recommendation! I cannot stress this enough. Most UC applicants to not have the luxury of submitting a letter of recommendation with their applications. The link you share with your teacher will allow him/her to not only write about how your disability affected your work and how you handled the challenge, but also lots of other things about you and your skills, talents, etc. It is yet another opportunity to sell yourself to the institution. Don’t pass it up. </p>
<p>As a teacher, I have completed several of these supplements for my students and they have all been admitted. This is not a guarantee (the students for whom I have written are very gifted, despite their disabilities), but so long as your recommender has positive things to say about you, it can only help to have a recommendation.</p>
<p>Thank you both very much! I’m extremely grateful for how well you answered my questions! I believe I have my answer now. I’ll still double check to see what the letter of recommendation was about in one of the links but I’ll definitely talk to my teacher when I’m at school. :)</p>
<p>This thread is a tad bit more comforting. I’ve been diagnosed with Tuberous Scleroris, so I get seizures often, especially during a certain time within the day - unfortunately it’s during school hours.</p>
<p>anyways… Thank you so much for posting this WhiteLights! The thing is, I don’t go back to school until January 15th! So I’m e-mailing multiple teachers hoping one of them will reply. </p>
<p>Other than that, do you know if there is a minimum or maximum answer to each question? I tested it out, and it seemed as if there was no limit. Either way, I can work with whatever.</p>
<p>No problem megChai! I’m sure someone would’ve posted something along the lines of this threads sooner or later! From all the threads I’ve been reading over and questions I’ve asked my counselor, there isn’t a word limit so you can answer each question as thoroughly as you like!</p>