extenuating circumstances, hurt my chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>hi everybody. I'm going into my senior year and I would like to know my chances at some schools I'm considering. I'd also like to get some opinions about mentioning some personal problems I had, whether it would help me or hurt me.</p>

<p>Carleton
Carnegie Mellon
Davidson
New College of Florida
Vassar</p>

<p>Brown
Cornell
Northwestern</p>

<p>I guess I'll talk about the "problem" first, since it might give you some perspective. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder in october/november of 9th grade. it's been a whirlwind of doctors, medications, and hospitals. in 10th grade, when I was really getting excited about schoolwork (taking my first AP - ap european history, little dani was excited), I got worse. I was institutionalized, and thank god for that. although I kicked and screamed at the time it happened, I truly realize how necessary it was, looking back on it now, and now I love my parents for doing it, instead of hating them for making me miss so much school.</p>

<p>anyway, I was in the treatment facility for 6 months. in addition to being exposed to some rather tramautizing experiences, I also missed the second half of my sophomore year. I didn't get to finish AP euro (it was devastating, really), I didn't get to take french 4 like I was supposed to, and more importantly, i was scheduled to take pre-calculus too, so i could go on to ap calculus my junior year, and that didn't happen either. I begged my parents to talk to my teachers to see if we could work out an arrangement so I could still study while at the facility. my teachers were cooperative, the facility was stupid and didn't want to get involved. grr.</p>

<p>later I learned that my parents had contacted many other institutions about me, including a boarding school-type thing with AP CLASSES :(!! but I had been rejected at all of them because I was too much of a liability. </p>

<p>I know that many, MANY people get depressed sometime in their high school, because I was friends with pretty much all of ones that went to my school. misery does love company. but, considering the magnitude of illness, would this be a circumstance that would be worth mentioning? it really explains things in my academic record.</p>

<p>okay, now on to the grades, test scores, and.. stuff.</p>

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<p>I think that my scores are a reflection of my state at the time, but what I want them to say is, "dani is smart, but not when she's depressed and drugged up with unneeded antipsychotics." those really killed me, I couldn't do anything the summer they put me on them. i want my scores (as well as the rest of my academic record) to say, "now that dani is stable, and relapse-free for over a year, she can think clearly again, and she really will do everything in her power to reach her potential, if you just give her a chance to shine." yeah, something like that..</p>

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<p>(* should I include this? it was only one day, but I remember it because I drew EVERYONE in the trial for 3 or 4 hours straight and it was really exhausting)</p>

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<p>i guess that's it.. oh. this summer I'm going to cornell for their summer program. I'm taking courses for college credit (intro to cognitive science, pre-calculus). I leave this wednesday. I'm excited. :)</p>

<p>by the way, I'm like, 99.9% recovered (don't ask how it happened, it's a miracle). I'm not going to be a liability to any school, i promise. the only thing that remains of my depression is the quality of resilience it left in me.</p>

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<p>lol thats one long post</p>