<p>I'm planning to write my essay about how I had depression/ED and learning to deal with the stress that triggers it. The essay would have little mention of the actual depression but more about how I've learned to manage stress and how excited I am about my future that I couldn't imagine while being depressed. It would be an excellent way to explain some of my transcript and why I want to go into psychology, I'm completely stable at this time but I've heard that essays about mental disorders are a fast track to rejection. Suggestions?</p>
<p>Who told you that? Essays talking about depression do not lead you to being rejected...as long as you handle the topic tasefully. You have to understand that these people weill have to read THOUSANDS of essays, after a while, there's only so much depression, morbid stuff a person can take! lol. You, my advice is don't write an essay about how you hate the world and want to kill yourself, etc. You can say that you had some personal problems, and show a trend of how overcoming your obstacles had made you a stronger person. Hope that helps at all</p>
<p>My advice is to choose a different subject. College adcoms are wary of essays about mental health problems because they are concerned that the student might run into major problems in college, not be able to get treatment, and then do something that causes the student to die or the college to get sued.</p>
<p>If health issues have affected your grades, have your GC address that in their recommendation.</p>
<p>Colleges look for stable students who won't crumble under pressure...this is a risky topic..:-</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm hoping that focusing on how my depression drives me to help people like me will make it less risky. Any other input?</p>
<p>your essay should be...YOU. Because there is no other way to say it, I'll just be blunt. I'm pretty sure that the admissions people can smell BS a mile away. I mean if all the 20,000 people applying to the school wrote about happy childhoohs, perfect lives, how boring would that be?! Just write about what makes you YOU. Don't try to impress them and don't try to be too dramatic. If you had problems, tell them. But don't be like...yeah...I cry myseld to sleep everynight and poke my eyes out with a fork. If it's tasteful, use it.</p>
<p>Haha, thanks! I'll focus on making it real yet upbeat.</p>
<p>I agree with sunflower. People say don't do it because it becomes the same old same old. But if done right it can be effective!</p>
<p>my suggestion is just write a great essay on the topic you chose..</p>
<p>as long as your essay tells about you in a way that shows your good side (which i believe is true based on your experience) , it would be fine ...</p>
<p>but if you're a terrible write (which i dont think), choose another topic</p>
<p>I agree with sunflower.</p>
<p>I was going to write my essay dealing with either my depression and/or my mom's alcoholism and it's effect on my life. That is my life, for as long as I can remember, so there isn't too much I can write about for my app's and it still be me. I can write about "happy" topics, but they'll be over exaggerated and not very truthful. Focus on your recovery and forward movement.</p>
<p>If depression has been a major part of your life, then go for it. I think it is a risky topic. I've met a lot of people who say depression is a cop out and unreal. I've also met people who sympathize. You can't control you gets your essay to read, just cross your fingers that they'll look at it from an unbiased point of view. That, I don't think, should hold you back. As much as I want to get into my choice college, if "they" can't accept the fact that not every student can be "perfect", and good people can suffer from mental illness, then I won't be happy there to begin with. </p>
<p>Go for it and let me know the outcomes of the colleges you apply to. :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
...and then do something that causes the student to die or the college to get sued...
[/quote]
sorry i can't help but giggle at this statement. it's true though. they'll want to know that if they were to admit you, will you be able to swim through? so in your essay, in addition to making ourself shine, be sure to include evidences that you won't "die" in that school, but will excel.</p>
<p>All of you need to read the thread on the parent's forum which quotes an adcom saying they avoid depressed kids. I can't think of a worse possible topic for an essay. Why on earth would you choose to accept the depressed over those who present as mentally healthy? No school wants to have the occassional suicide to take place on their campus.</p>
<p>Suze,
Just because you're depressed does not automatically mean you're going to commit suicide. I know a few people who never even considered suicide, even in their worst state of depression.
If a college won't admit me because I'm depressed, then so be it. That college also wouldn't admit such great people as Einstein, Martin Luther, Jefferson...hm, show me a great thinker/revolutionist that hasn't been at least thought to suffer from a mental illness. What have all these fairly recent theatre hit movies been about? A Beautiful Mind, Aviator...hm...
If a college doesn't want me because of something I can't control, then fine. If they want to disregard the fact that I've struggled the last three years to overcome it, then fine. That school obviously wasn't what I wanted in the first place. At least I have admitted that I have a problem and seeked out help, rather than those who harbor their problem because they're scared of how society would view them. Those people are far more dangerous to themselves and society than I could ever be.
I hate ignorant people.</p>
<p>Those are famous last words. The "if they won't take be just because" comments on this site include low SATs, low GPAs, being white or asian and on and on. The thing is, highly selective schools don't need to take a chance on any of those things and rarely do.</p>
<p>There are a lot of depressed people on every campus, but I'll bet few of those who were successful in getting into top colleges did not let this be known in their app.</p>
<p>Nice generalization. </p>
<p>I know at least one of those "few" who got into a top college - Princeton - and he wrote about being manic depressive. </p>
<p>I think the part that really matters is if you have good stats and a good essay that shows development.</p>
<p>well in general depression isn't sth the adcoms want to see. Seriously they r looking at tons of applications and recommendations addressing depressions. Do u think they r going to put more interest on ur depression essay than any other rec or essay that deals with it? No.
Besides the MIT admissions head explicitly said that they don't want people who had depression. Btw the admission head of MIT is sort of the leading figure in adcom society so do whatever u want. The facts r here. It's for u to decide.</p>
<p>I think that's a terrible topic for an essay and you're only going to destroy your chances if you choose to write about it. No school wants to read about something that personal. The point is to talk about what makes you who you are. Depression should not define who you are and if colleges think it does, they won't accept you. I think you already knew that it would be a bad topic when you posted this - don't write about depression! Don't let depression control your life. Choose a more positive topic to represent yourself. </p>
<p>And you know, it's quite a stretch to say that not admitting someone who's depressed would be like not admitting Einstein. There's a difference between struggling with depression and publicizing your depression. I'm not saying you should be ashamed of it, but you definitely shouldn't advertise it either. It makes people uncomfortable. I doubt Einstein would've written an admissions essay about his depression (and I don't even know if Einstein was depressed).</p>
<p>That type of thinking is erroneous. I refuse to believe that a college would not admit you based on uncontrollable circumstances in your life. The fact that you have dealt with it and made a positive out of your situation attests to your character. I think if you have the stats and positive ladership to back it up it could only help you. A college will say that a black person who exceeds social expectations is desirable but someone who was raised poorly and exceeds expectations is worthless?</p>
<p>"The fact that you have dealt with it and made a positive out of your situation attests to your character."</p>
<p>You are treading on thin ice here. There is no consensus that depression or its management is a character issue. </p>
<p>Statistically, depression has a tendency to recur. I don't say this to upset anyone, but simply to caution that it is possible that some people might worry about whether a recurrence might occur at their college. Particularly if you subscribe to the theory that depression is a biologically-based medical condition (and I don't, but many do), this could be a concern. I would not encourage these thoughts by writing about depression in a college essay. I might, however, tackle the topic of learning to manage stress. This is a good topic, relevant, and honest. This does indeed speak to character.</p>
<p>Now I'm completely confused! I'm not sure why talking about depression would make anyone uncomfortable... at least I have no qualms about talking about it myself. I personally think there's a disgustingly low tolerance of mental disorders and this is a part of the reason I'd like to go into psychology. Anyways, I still really would like to write about why I'd like to major in psych but I'm not sure how I could cut the part out about being depressed myself and still have a comprehensive essay. The colleges I'm applying to are considered liberal and competitive (BU, Penn State, etc.) and I have the median GPA and SAT scores above the 75th percentile at each of my schools if this helps at all.</p>