<p>So, I'm a hopeful transfer student for the fall of 2014. I'm a current college freshman now. I am a sophomore credit-wise though. Anyway that's not the point.</p>
<p>I am applying to two schools, and in one of the apps I talked about my clinical depression in high school in the extra information and extenuating circumstances section to try to explain poor high school grades, and in my other app I wrote about it as an answer to the question: Talk about something that you think goes unnoticed but is very important to you. (This is paraphrased)</p>
<p>Anyway, in both applications I talked about how I overcame depression and how I'm fully recovered and I'm now a stronger person. I made sure they knew I'm no longer depressed, and that I'm 100% fine and better than ever. How getting out of my depression made me better. My grades and ecs show massive improvement etc.</p>
<p>So I read that mental health issues can be "red flags" for colleges and that really disappoints me. I was wondering if anyone has any experience or information on this?</p>
<p>I hear the same too. I’m a HS senior and I didn’t write my common app on depression, but I did write it on overcoming a compulsive disorder I had that is usually attributed to anxiety/stress. When I asked people if I should write about it, I was told that you don’t want to make colleges worry that you won’t be able to handle your work load in the future. In the end I got accepted at one of my top choices and deferred at another, so clearly I don’t think it really had a negative effect on my application. </p>
<p>However, I do think you need to handle it delicately. Don’t make it a pity-me thing and just try not to put yourself in a bad light in general. Hopefully your essays do neither of those.</p>
<p>Depression is extremely common. As long as you aren’t talking about suicidal tendencies, I don’t think it will raise any red flags. That said, it doesn’t necessarily make the best topic for an essay.</p>
<p>I think problems most arise when people blame poor grades/performance on depression. True or not, it indicates to colleges that poor performance may return. </p>
<p>It’s a tough topic. It’s obviously not a point of weakness, but you never know how the reader is going to interpret your story.</p>