Hi everyone,
So my college story is a bit complex. I had a pretty bad bout of depression in high school/early college, which caused me to have tons of withdrawals and even ended with me facing a semester of 4 incomplete classes which turned into F’s. I eventually left college after 2 years to figure things out and become healthy, and took a gap for 2 years, in which I started working full-time at a startup in marketing. I also worked a bunch of teaching jobs (test prep SAT/Math).
Fast forward to today, I am enrolled at my local NJ community college with a 4.0 GPA in Business Administration, with goals of pursuing a Finance degree when I transfer. I’m 24 so I would be considered a non-traditional student.
EC’s include: Treasurer & VP of Leadership within Honor Society, Working Full-time with leadership position at startup, teaching test prep/math on the side. I also won 2 scholarships for excellence in business.
I am wondering how to best put together a college list for for transferring. I am low-income so financial aid is important. I also would like to try for some ivy’s like Columbia GS.
Lastly, I am most worried about how to represent my rocky college past on my application. I have often just explained the situation as a “medical issue,” however I feel that’s extremely vague and leads to speculation. Should I just come out and say I battled with depression and have since fully recovered? Unfortunately, I feel there is still a stigma and I don’t want admissions officers thinking it could happen again (which it won’t, since at the time I was just young and dumb).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, whether it is how to address the “rocky past” on my application or how to put together a good college list. Also, if anyone has recommendations for good non-traditional programs, good undergrad finance schools with good financial aid, etc, please share.
Thank you.