<p>I know this might a littler depressing story but for the past 6 years, starting grade 5, I've had faced many family issues. It would have been better if they actually divorced but they are still not fighting and not divorcing. As a result, I was literally had depression for the past 5 year. I went to the hospital 2 month ago and I was diagnosed with major depression. Indeed I have heard about worse case in college admission such as a guy being raped. I know it depends on how I write the personal statement or essay about it. Currently I am trying overcome my depression by self motivation and meditation. Would college even care about this?</p>
<p>I’m sorry you’ve had such a hard time. </p>
<p>Do not write about this. Write about something that shows how resilient, dynamic and awesome you are. The application essay is not therapy, and you don’t want pity. </p>
<p>Let your GC talk about this in his/her recommendation. Focus on something else in your essay.</p>
<p>Many colleges do not consider background and solely evaluate based on GPA and test scores. What sorts of schools are you targeting?</p>
<p>@T26E4 I’m thinking to apply to brown, georgetown and UNC. My current gpa is 3.7 uw and sat score is 2260. </p>
<p>I wanted to explain some dips in grade. </p>
<p>Like @sakacar3 said, your essays should focus on displaying your character. Leave any explanations for the “Additional Info” section -that’s where you can talk about the grades.</p>
<p>Hope you can find the strength you need to pull through this.</p>
<p>Oh Im sorry if I did not explain enough on the thread. What I wanted to know was whether college such as the one I mentioned take into account of my background story. I know that there are short and long essay. For short essay I am going to write about one of my hobby and for long I am going to write about how I am a “connector” in my school. </p>
<p>I wanted to to know whether Private school like brown will understand my background story. </p>
<p>Are you trying to ask if you should include this in the “additional information” box, or use it for your personal statement, or the supplemental? You might be able to get away with explaining the grade dips due to health circumstances. However, be very careful not to come off as trying to excuse yourself.</p>
<p>Unpopular opinion: if depression is an important topic for you, and you can find a way to frame yourself in a mature way through the lens of your experiences, it could make for a fine essay. Keep in mind this is very, very different than throwing a pity party. My personal statement was probably the exact opposite of happy, upbeat and self-congratulatory, but I wanted to show an honest side of myself I was hoping to develop further in college. I also wrote it with Brown in mind, the ideals and mission I thought the school stood for. It was risky, and got me rejections/WLs at schools I didn’t expect, but I was told it resonated with whom I wanted it to (basically, it worked). In the end it’s your call. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.</p>
<p>@retrorocket thank you for the reply, but what I meant was to what extent does college(brown) look into this “addition Information” regarding background story because I am not trying to make excuse for the low grade but rather show that despite the depression I tried and did not bad on it and with more freedom I can do way much better. </p>
<p>@monssss They will certainly take it into account. How will they look at it? That depends on how you present it.</p>
<p>Selective schools care about your socio-economic background. They will cut u some slack if your low income background precluded u from academic & EC opportunities a rich prep school kid had access to.</p>
<p>They probably won’t cut u slack for having an unhappy childhood. If the school construes that u are prone to depression, they will be skeptical about your ability to succeed at their school.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I do not recommend this. It just is so easy for it to sound like an excuse… the best bet is to talk to your Guidance Counselor, and ask them if they can mention that you have had some family issues and health issues that affected your grades for a period of time. Don’t mention it in your essay, and don’t go into more detail. </p>
<p>And I have to say, colleges are NOT very excited to take on students with known mental health issues, including depression. It doesn’t just “depend on how you present it”. What a college doesn’t want is the mental health issue and/or dysfunctional family dynamics spilling onto campus, and they have no way of knowing whether that will happen in most situations, especially if the issues were recent. </p>
<p>I know that my background is kind of dark, but right now what I am trying to do is to overcome and become more positive. Of course no college want blackhole student who succumb other student into darkness. That is why I am trying to show that even though my past is like this, I overcome the hardship and become positive. Will this work? @intparent and @GMTplus7 </p>
<p>If u must mention it, then put a positive spin on it about how u grew as a person. And be clear that u are:
- well past it
- triumphant
- highly functioning now
- no chance of depresion relapse</p>
<p>I also recommend discussing it w your college counselor. </p>
<p>Here’s a recent NYT article about about the dangers of oversharing in essay:</p>
<p><a href=“Opinion | Oversharing in Admissions Essays - The New York Times”>Opinion | Oversharing in Admissions Essays - The New York Times;
<p>thank you so much @GMTplus7 </p>
<p>I think a common thing (mistake, in my mind) that many students make when writing their essays is that they want to write about whatever looms largest in their minds. For you, it may be this depression and family issues. Someone a few days ago wanted to write about how awful his father is and how it has made him a stronger person. And that article has the kid who feels a need to, um, compensate. But you really need to think about what you are trying to accomplish in your essay. You aren’t JUST trying to show something about yourself, you are trying to show how you bring something varied and interesting to the campus, ideally in a way that adds to campus life in some way. Think of your application as a sort of marketing campaign. You absolutely need to be truthful in it, but you also need to present yourself in a consistent way across the application that makes a college want to add you to their pool of students. Writing about family or depression issues is not a very good way to accomplish this. If you need the catharsis of writing about it, keep a diary. It isn’t the best fodder for a college essay or statement. If you truly have a story that is worth having the college cut you some slack for it, your GC is the best route to get that communicated (that is part of their job).</p>
<p>And those students in that NYT article sure should have an adult with some common sense read their essays prior to submission!</p>
<p>I would not highlight active and recent depression. You can browse around in the essay forum and read the tips pinned to the top. You can use ‘search’ and see many similar previous question and answer.
<a href=“College Essays - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/</a></p>
<p>Short answer: Yes.</p>
<p>Long answer: Yes, if you can write powerfully. If your essay would come off as an over-share; or, worse yet, not genuine. But, hey, you’re applying to college: put the best you out there, depression is rough – it killed my sophomore year almost entirely – but you are not your depression; you’re a person with something to add to the colleges you apply to, show that in your essay.</p>