<p>During my sophomore and junior years, I experienced a death in the family, depression, and an eating disorder. I wasn't comfortable with telling people this, but by letting a close friend know, I've begun to find closure. I realize that my grades from those two years aren't stellar, and could have been better. </p>
<p>Would it be okay to include this in my additional information section? I'm worried that my colleges will read it and think that I'm just trying to pad my application with a 'lame excuse'. Would they be understanding of my circumstances? Would they think less of me? Would they even believe me? I tried to include the fact that I'm no longer suffering from depression, and that I now understand that it's essential to not always repress my feelings so that they don't fester.</p>
<p>My early decision choice is a college that prides itself of strong, independent women. Would this hurt my chances of acceptance?</p>
<p>Should I include this info, or would it be better to just take it out all together?</p>
<p>Hmmmmm, you should definitely include this since if i were looking at someone’s application and they had less than stellar grades but no explanation, I would just assume the worst and think they might’ve slacked off. I think it can only help you IF you write about it in a hopeful manner and not in a depressive tone since they want to be sure you’ve gotten a handle on your depression. I’m sure they’ll believe you if you sound sincere and i think it would show you’re strong for having to go through that and it would help a lot if your senior grades reflect this through an upward trend.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be worried about them thinking you’re padding the application. What I would worry about is them being concerned about the potential liability of accepting you.
I went through the same thing Freshman, Sophomore and Junior year, save the death. I got horrendous grades.</p>
<p>But I decided to bear the circumstances and earn 21 new credits online. I was diagnosed clinically depressed, put on medication and refused to take it. I got over it after three years. No college is ever going to know what happened to me. </p>
<p>The last thing a school wants is another Vtech. Many, many people suffer with depression and other mental disorders and are never violent, but as far as I’ve heard a lot of colleges will be reluctant to take the risk.</p>
<p>I expressed my mindset honestly, but I didn’t want to sugarcoat how I felt because I didn’t want to seem insincere. I do however recognize that it was an extremely low point in my life, and that I realize how important it is for me to tell people my personal feelings so that I’m never in the same situation again.</p>
<p>The great irony is that I’m a debater, and from my debate and work experiences, I mention a couple of times how I learned to speak louder and be less shy. Would they think something is fishy?</p>
<p>My explanation of my depression is ~250 words long. Is that too much? To me, it doesn’t feel like a light enough subject to limit to as few words as my other additional information entries, but I don’t want to bog the adcom with something that long…</p>
<p>Carmelcoffee- do not focus on depression, but rather how the death in your family led to bereavement and how you struggled with that but ultimately developed appropriate coping strategies that allowed you to move forward.</p>
<p>If you have had an episode of depression, statistically you have a greatly increased likelihood of getting depressed again. It can be a chronic relapsing, remitting condition. Eating disorders are chronic illnesses as well; anorexia has a 10% mortality rate.</p>
<p>I would be very careful before revealing a history of depression/eating disorder. NYU, for example, has been struggling to reduce student suicides (they installed panels in their library to prevent students from jumping to their death, after a few did indeed jump. You might get flagged as someone who might present difficult ethical issues to the schools that you are applying to, if you were to relapse (with eating disorder, almost inevitable). It is unfair that mental health issues are stigmatized, but they are. So you need to exercise utmost caution before over revealing your mental health history.</p>
<p>I agree with LottieM 100% - that it’s probably best not to identify yourself by your struggles (specifically the depression and eating disorder). I understand those struggles (and overcoming them) are an important part of who you are…yet:</p>
<p>It brings up the strange nature of college in which, to the student, choosing a college is an essential personal choice, a decision about who you might become - but to the college it is, in part, a business decision with possible sales/marketing and legal consequences.</p>
<p>So, although you are making that choice for personal reasons, right now you are marketing yourself to colleges. And they want to see a good bet, in terms of your ability to see it through, academically, emotionally, and financially.</p>
<p>I do think the suggestion to focus on the death and coping strategies would be a great way to discuss these challenges you have had. And I think it’s important to show who you are beyond this part of your life, as well.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone-- I cut it shorter and eliminated everything that would come off negatively. I focused more on my grandmother’s passing, and less on my issues with depression. I realize that accepting death is an important lesson in life, and it took me 2 years to learn to cope and understand it. I certainly don’t want them to think that I might be a liability, especially when I’ve worked really hard to overcome my personal issues.</p>