<p>A beautiful 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania track star from New Jersey killed herself Friday by jumping from a Philly parking garage because of the stress of her grades at her Ivy League school, her father told The Post.</p>
<p>“At the end of high school and going to Penn she was the happiest girl on the planet. It was easy for her in high school,” said Madison Holleran’s father, James, 52, at the family’s Allendale home.</p>
<p>“There was a lot more pressure in the classroom at Penn. She wasn’t normal happy Madison. Now she had worries and stress,” the heartbroken father said through tears.</p>
<p>Since we live in the same state as Madison, I read the articles written. Per the article there were other things going on outside of academics/athletics. The help wasn’t enough unfortunately.</p>
<p>There is no proof that she was not academically ready. As someone who had a lot of stresses including physical abuse as a teenager, and managed to get pretty good grades (good enough to get into two Ivies not HYPM though) even while daily abuse was occurring, you can’t get what people go through. The worst part of the abuse was the verbal aspect, being told that you are garbage (and worse) on a daily basis.</p>
<p>Point being, academics is not the only issue. IMHO, there can be a few things that surprise students about college, and I try to warn applicants about aspects of college life they haven’t thought of, like huge classes as a freshman when you are used to 15 or 16 in a class, and being proactive to talk to professors.</p>
<p>The local article also said that she was on anti-depressants - the sooner they are off the market for people under 25 years old, the better. Too many links to suicide, a black box is not enough.</p>
<p>RIP, the Penn community lost 3 students in the recent past.</p>
<p>Intelligence is not separate from other human frailties; it is just another trait. Unfortunately, the other traits win out sometimes. Too many students fail out, handle the stress, take time out and still go on to live good lives to blame this on academics. It is a coping issue of some sort and would have reared its head at an Ivy or not. Just a matter of time. Still rather sad though. </p>
<p>Well, my heart goes out to families and friends of Madison’s and other Penn students committed suicide last few weeks. RIP!</p>
<p>Penn and other Ivys have such a bright student body. Most students are ranked top 10 in their high schools and academically so competitive. Ivs’ academic rigor makes regular admitted students, who don’t have 20+ athletic training per week, work so hard to just get survive. Unless he/she is super smart, an athlete is most likely to be the bottom of his/her class. The simple reasons: 1. athletes are admitted not up to par academically with others; 2. athletes need to spend extra 20+ athletic training hours per week than others.</p>
<p>Like what rhandco said, athletes might experience “being told that you are garbage (and worse) on a daily basis” in classrooms, labs and other academic environment.</p>
<p>Life is a long journey. It is not about how you start, it is about how you finish. Should Madison have taken a state university, she might have ended up much happier and academically more competitive and might have a really great career and life. What a sad story!</p>
<p>As parents, we want our kids to get best education. But that does not mean our kids have to go to “so-called” elite colleges taking fluffy majors and still struggling. I would rather my kids are happy and majoring what they love best and do great both academically and on sports!</p>
<p>As has been pointed out throughout this thread - depression and suicide are complex issues. To imply that it was a result of being ‘not up to par academically’ is simplistic and inaccurate.</p>