How should I address mental health regarding my college application?

My depression resurfaced badly junior year and my anxiety worsened. This negatively affected my grades for junior year. I went from having a 92-95 uw gpa freshman and sophomore year to an 85-86 uw junior year. I also did makeup work for work in class I missed due to my mental health issues, and my math teacher did not put it in the gradebook so I ended up having a 77 in my math class. How should I address this in my college application without looking as though I am making excuses? I also know the stigma surrounding mental health as I have experienced it. Would this one bad year kill my chances at top and selective schools if it was due to an illness and not just slacking off? Also, would a strong senior year help?

Yes, a strong senior year would absolutely help.

First things first: if you’re just ending Junior year, then this is a very recent development. Have you been getting professional help? Are you now having more good days than bad?

The consensus seems to be that you shouldn’t mention it at all. Speak to your guidance counselor about it, and see whether, it it’s to be mentioned anywhere on your application, she thinks it should be mentioned in her letter of recommendation.

Yes, I am actively doing therapy and about to go on medication. I have been feeling better the past couple weeks. I have a trusted teacher that I have a very close relationship with and she knows the situation in its entirety, so I feel she will be able to well portray who I am as a person.

OH, good, I’m glad.

For what it’s worth, you’re not alone. SSOOOO many people-- including lots and lots of teens-- are right there with you, fighting mental illness.

Your mental and physical health are your first two prioritites, outweighing everything else.

Consider speaking to your therapist about the advisability of those selective schools. My perspective here is as a mom of a teen with anxiety, so I’m certainly not telling you what to do or not to do. But your therapist may want to steer you towards some schools that are less competitive, to reduce those stress levels. It’s certainly worth at least a conversation. We’ve had a LOT of talks this year with our daughter about the idea of “blooming where you’re planted.”

Good luck to you!

I am currently researching a bunch of schools, a mixture between very selective, selective, somewhat selective, and easy to get into. I’m definitely not going to apply to a bunch of selective schools thinking I’m going to get accepted into many of them. That would be silly of me. Is your daughter a senior this coming year?

Nope she graduates in 2 weeks.

But there’s so much to be said for having an acceptance to a safety or two that you love early in the process. Those rejections can hurt your soul…even if you knew the odds were stacked against everyone because of incredibly low acceptance rates. Be careful about setting yourself up for mental health issues by applying to too many schools tha you’re not likely to get into—-that no one is likely to get into,

Again, you’ll bloom where you’re planted. So find some safeties you love and apply to them early. Give yourself the gift of workable options.

Ok, gotta run and proctor. Have a good day

As stated above, I would not advise writing about your struggles in your essay but having either your trusted teacher or your GC do it in their recommendation.

Be sure to look at schools that have good on/near campus supports for students. You want easy access to care if you need to switch meds or get extra help.

One other minor point, but AOs have very little info on you and it’s highly summarized, so they are looking at every piece of info for clues. You do not want them looking at an email address similar to your user name here, “worrymole@gmail.com” and associating that mental image with you. No part of that contains a phrase that conveys the picture of a person a college is looking to admit. Pick something that does not have any negative connotations.

I would also just like to add that the concern about highly selective schools goes beyond merely whether or not you can get in. There are some schools that are known to be pressure cookers and you may want to avoid those as well. Make sure you target schools that are supportive and provide an atmosphere where your issues are not likely to be exacerbated. I’m not saying that all highly selective schools are a bad idea, just be very careful and don’t rule out some excellent schools that may provide the support you need. Many of the schools on the “colleges that change lives” list could be worth a look.

Parent here of a rising senior who has faced some mental health challenges. We are looking at the balance of finding a college that will hit the sweet spot of being a match intellectually but not overly challenging/stressful. I think @bjkmom and @gallentjill made some good points that are worth considering. There is a thread in College Search and Selection that I started on this topic.

But to answer your question, the HS guidance counselor suggested putting something about “health problems” on applications to address why grades/levels of classes changed suddenly. I am not familiar with the particulars of the Common App yet, but she indicated there is a spot to include this. I’m sure someone here will know.
This has the advantage of addressing any potential concerns and providing an explanation (and if senior grades look good 1st quarter, shows that it is not a long-term trend), yet it does not reveal anything you wish to keep private.
Best of luck to you in your search. Remember to take care of yourself.

@worrymole007 Did you talk politely to your math teacher about why you didn’t receive credit for your make-up work? Did your teacher agree to allow you to make up the work (but then changed their mind), or is there a school policy regarding make-up work for an excused absence?

I’m just wondering if perhaps your teacher forgot to give you credit, or if there’s a policy in place that would require the teacher to do so as long as the absences were excused.

You might want to have your parent/s talk to the principal or your counselor. Mental illness is a legitimate health issue and should be given consideration just like any other illness. And grades can be adjusted retroactively.

I would recommend your counselor mentioning that you had difficulties with your health your junior year and that you have since overcome them. Sadly, I think there is still a little bit of a stigma around mental health in this country, and you don’t want someone reading your application to hold this valid health issue against you.

Glad to hear you are getting the help you need! Once you do decide on a school, make sure you line up a counselor there so you can keep getting the help you need. Best of luck to you!

^^ Keep in mind, Junior year is just ending. It may sound a bit too early to assume that the troubles are completely overcome. I know that in my daughter’s case, there’s still the occasional flairup of anxiety issues.

What top schools are known for being extremely competitive where it’s hard to get a good gpa and thrive? I know UC-Berkeley is one of them. I was looking into there for chem. I eliminated it though since I do not want to take the writing section of the SAT or ACT. I certainly will keep in mind all of this advice. Thank you very much.

Is there anything that you could see yourself doing for a gap year before starting college? Something like City Year, or a foreign exchange program like AFS if you could put good supports in place? Even just getting a job or internship that would support your goals?

It feels to me as if you’re on a timeline that may not give you the breathing room you need, both to get the best outcome in the college application process and more importantly to give yourself time to work through your mental health issues before starting college.

It sounds like you are likely okay as far as getting into Pitt, which looks like your best in-state option. And Pitt allows deferred admission for up to a year. So, one option would be to just get the Pitt option nailed down this coming year - commit there and defer for a year. Then take your gap year and put in additional applications next summer/fall, with all of your senior year grades on record, to show recovery from the dip in your junior year. (And of course you could still end up deciding to go to Pitt a year later - it’s a great school and a great financial deal in-state, so don’t let the “familiarity breeds contempt” factor deter you from giving it strong consideration!)

Taking a breather could be very healthy for you emotionally, and waiting on the more elite applications could position you to be more competitive, so it could be a win-win. Just something to think about. It just seems as if there’s a level of pressure built into your application timeline, that, combined with your aspirations to competitive schools, may put a lot of strain on you at a time when that level of strain really wouldn’t be helpful.

I am planning on applying to Pitt main and Virginia Tech as safeties, Rensselaer as a match school, but I’m still not fully decided on my reaches. I know for sure I am going to apply to Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt. Other schools I am undecided about for reaches are: University of Rochester, University of Virginia, Boston College, UNC-Chapel Hill, Bucknell University, Yale, Harvard, Colgate University, and Northeastern University. I am probably going to apply to 8-10 schools overall. I just need to narrow it down a little bit more still.

Until you get your ACT scores in the fall, it will be difficult to determine what are safeties and reasonable reaches for you. Based on your SAT score and practice ACTs, I don’t know if Pitt and VATech can be considered safeties at all. I think you had some better safeties on your list from a previous thread. In regards to mentioning mental illness, I would be cautious and possibly only have your gc write about health issues.