Extenuating Circumstances

Hello,

I am currently a junior in high school and have been struggling with bipolar disorder. Throughout high school, my grades have been nearly perfect and I’ve been a top student blah blah blah.

But junior year my grades have been slipping because of my bipolar, including a full-blown manic/ psychotic episode with hallucinations etc. that almost landed me in the hospital. It wasn’t pretty. As you can tell, my mood episodes and hallucinations have greatly impacted my ability to perform.

My question is, should I mention this as an extenuating circumstance on my application? This is the explanation for the dip in my grades, but I’ve heard that colleges are reluctant to admit people with mental disorders, especially serious ones like mine.

I don’t intend to write my college admission essay on this btw, just as an extenuating circumstance.

Thank you

In the autumn, you could have your GC mention in the LoR that you had some serious health issues during the year, which affected your grades during Junior year, that it was impressive what you managed to achieve in spite of the health issues, and that your 1st Qtr Senior grades are more reflective of your abilities.

BUT: I would seriously, seriously, seriously get advice from several sources- starting with your health care professionals- on what they expect for you over the next few years. How is medication doing for you? do they anticipate that it will need re-calibrating regularly over the next couple of years? etc. What are the likely challenges?

Because, there are a lot of factors at play here. You are at an age and a stage where there can be a lot of movement in how it expresses itself. Once you are 18 some kinds of support become problematic. The transition to university is challenging even for somebody w/o a diagnosed illness. You will need to put safety and support mechanisms in place, so you need a college where that is not just possible but practical.