<p>Props to Greatone1 for posting this on the colelge admission forum</p>
<p>On the long list of worries that Mom and Dad have when a child goes to collegegrades, homesickness, partyingthere's a new issue gaining prominence: the apparent rise in mental illness on campus. More than 1,100 college students commit suicide each year, according to estimates by mental-health groups. And even when students aren't in acute distress, they're suffering in surprisingly large numbers. In a 2003 survey by the American College Health Association, more than 40 percent of students reported feeling "so depressed it was difficult to function" at least once during the year. Thirty percent identified themselves as suffering from an anxiety disorder or depression.</p>
<p>MIT Admissions Dean Marilee Jones says she's looking to enroll "emotionally resilient" students. "If we think someone will crumble the first time they do poorly on a test, we're not going to admit them," she says. "So many kids are coming in, feeling the need to be perfect, and so many kids are medicated now. If you need a lot of phar-maceutical support to get through the day, you're not a good match for a place like MIT."</p>
<p>The lack of compassion is astounding. Does MIT feel the same way about kids that are medicated for ADHD and similar conditions? Perhaps they prefer the traditional methods of coping, like binge drinking. </p>
<p>It practically makes me choke to read that an admissions director of a super-competitive institution laments kids "feeling the need to be perfect." I guess that has nothing to do with what's going on in the admissions offices, though. </p>
<p>
[quote]
It practically makes me choke to read that an admissions director of a super-competitive institution laments kids "feeling the need to be perfect."
[/quote]
Ummmmmmm, YEAH. To gain entrance into some of these places, you need not JUST be perfect, you'd better be perfect and THEN SOME: driven, exceedingly passionate, and highly, highly motivated (not to mention lucky ;)). So, BIG surprise to Ms. Jones that they may not all be emotionally resilient? How can their "resilience" have been tested prior to college if they were expected to have been <em>perfect</em> to have gained acceptance in the first place!?</p>
<p>What's next for applicants--a personality test issued by a psychologist???</p>
<p>I had a LOOOOOOOOOONG talk about this with my son before he left for college. There was a devastating suicide of a beautiful, talented 19-year-old girl in our community this summer, a girl with whom my daughters had been in musical theatre productions. And then, there was the tragic suicide of the gifted debater and Stanford freshman who seemed to be just an all-around "perfect" boy. </p>
<p>I basically told my son that I am proud of him for WHO HE IS, not for what he has accomplished and that if it ever came to pass that life at college was becoming too much for him, that we were here and would support him FULLY. I then told him that I didn't care what he chose to do with his future as long as he was happy and that we would always be proud of him, no matter what.</p>
<p>Depression in college students scares the heck out of me. I suffered it, and I very much hope to prevent it in my son. ~berurah</p>
<p>I have seen posts from students on CC discussing their battles with depression or other mental illness and asking if it would be a suitable topic for a college admission essay. Some are justifiably proud of their successful battles with mental illness. It has always seemed like a poor topic of discussion to me; Now even more so. :(</p>
<p>I agree. I have read about this attitude from Marilee Jones before now, and I think MIT is opening itself up for claims of discrimination on the basis of disability in admissions. How does MIT make the determination an applicant is "emotionally resilient"? </p>
<p>I completely agree that it is the nature of competitive admissions that fuels a student's anxiety about getting the "A."</p>
<p>Yup, it scares the hell out of me too. I am constantly telling my son the same thing that Berurah said to her son. Also trying to tell him the college experience being happy for him is more important to me, although I am impressed by his accomplishments so far.</p>
<p>Amazing that MIT Admissions Dean is unaware that proper medication for depression (ADD, panic disorders, too) is actually a GOOD thing. It shows you've got a handle on your problem...only common sense if you're properly medicated you'll less likely have a meltdown. </p>
<p>RA's can help. They can be the first or only confidant the kid feels he can trust...hopefully they're trained and mature enough to get help.</p>
<p>I am not sure that there is a rise. Statistics on SMI[significant mental illness] show that SMI shows up in the age group of college students. I am not aware of greater numbers of mental illness in this age group. Were these incidents always reported? Probably not. Is this a parental worry? Yes. One in a hundred is schizophrenic......it is diagnosed btwn. 17 and 23. That does not include the major depressive, bipolar and other psychotic illnesses. Also.....drink/drug can produce psychotic episodes in consumers who are predisposed but not yet identified. Stress enhances incidence also. So.....proper age cohort, stress, drink/drugs and poor support in living environment. It is a worry. I have lost two friends to suicide....</p>
<p>I think it is appropriate for MIT to consider how a 'big fish in a small pond' perfectionist will deal with possibly being a struggling C student in that college. Not every "winner valedictorian" arriving at MIT will be a winner valedictorian AT MIT. Some will not handle the re-calibration successfully, and some will. </p>
<p>Colleges have always looked for emotional maturity, perspective, resilience. This is why kids with glaring behavior problems are nixed despite brilliance. All kids are evaluated in light of how likely they will be to contribute and succeed in the college's environment.</p>
<p>Does anyone doubt that there are kids whose liklihood of melting down puts them at risk in a pressure cooker school far from home? I am not surprised that colleges consider these factors.</p>
<p>This is taking Marilee Jones waaay out of context. She is a national leader in college admissions officers who advocate easing the stress that the whole admissions process is having on today's high school students. Very outspoken about it. This quote and your interpretation of it are not fair and representative of who she is at all.</p>
<p>I tend to agree that the MIT admissions officer is right in her approach. Some kids do not have the mental steel it takes to go into a super-competitive environment. They may have the talent, but not the emotional fortitude. I see that in one of my children and not the other two, so I have been thinking about this a LOT lately. I am already researching to open up her options into strong--but not ultra-competitive-- schools that also have that nurturing component. I don't see Stanford or the Ivies, or Cal Tech or MIT if you are of a scientific bent, fitting into that mold.</p>
<p>It is probably important to consider temperamental fit, as well as academic fit, when looking at colleges.</p>
<p>At a school with less of a pressure-cooker environment (for example, Brown or Vassar) the admission officers would still need to consider other emotional qualities.... For example, with an open curriculum, does this kid have the requisite drive and independence to thrive or does he/she need more structure than our school provides?</p>
<p>Depression, Substance Abuse and
College Student Engagement:
A Review of the Literature</p>
<p>The objectives of this report are to present the
findings from:
A comprehensive review of available
literature on college student substance
abuse, depression and engaged learning--and
the links among them.
Analyses of several national data sets
examining the prevalence of and patterns in
college student substance abuse, depression
and engaged learning--and the links among
them.
A review of current programs and initiatives
that address issues of engaged learning to
assess the current evidentiary basis for the
hypothesis that such programs are effective
in preventing or reducing student substance
abuse and depression.</p>
<p>I think it is the parent's job, or the student's job, to seek colleges that are a good "fit" academically, socially, and "emotionally." But I am still uncomfortable about how a higher pressure school would assess "emotional stability" through the application process. Should such a school reject an otherwise academically talented and capable student who could contribute to the school because that student receives medication or psychological counseling? How much medication would be an exclusionary factor? How much counseling? How does a school asesss this? Teacher recommendations, I suspect. Are the teachers the best judges of this factor? What if the parents (or student) believe that the student can handle stress?</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong at all in including resilience in the list of characteristics a high-pressure school like MIT looks for in applicants. I also don't see any irony in the fact that it is these very same high-pressure schools that exacerbate the pressure toward perfection. There are plenty of other colleges and universities that offer a top-notch education in more nurturing or less pressure environments. Whining and hand-wringing over the fact that some schools not only require top grades, test scores, awards and accomplishments but also mental stability sounds like a Kurt Vonnegut plot -- where is the Handicapper General when you need him? </p>
<p>However, having said all that, there really is too much pressure on all our high school kids. The colleges themselves have been saying for years that many of them reject as many students who would succeed just fine at their schools as they admit. It's not an evil plot to drive our kids crazy. It's too many kids chasing after too few spots. Since the top schools are not going to double their capacity, the only logical next step is to stop the madness and look beyond the designer labels. Kids feel pressure to get into MIT because they have somehow gotten the idea that anything less is failure. The more we can turn this barge around and get kids to <strong>really believe</strong> that what they do once they are at college is far more important than the name on the back window of the family car, the better. </p>
<p>I don't speak from inexperience in these matters, btw. One of my kids has gone the whole pressure-cooker, antidepressant, suicidal ideation route in the footsteps of an older sibling who sailed through an "Ivy-type" university like it was nothing. The third one, a senior and fully capable of being part of the rush to Ivy madness, is looking for the right fit, not the right status symbol. She believes she has found it and is now just hoping that the school agrees. If not, she'll apply elsewhere and life <strong>will</strong> go on.</p>