<p>I recently overcame a 2-year-long bout of serious clinical depression as result of exterior circumstances, like my mother's choice to leave the family, the abrupt non-natural deaths of my grandmothers, physical assualt at school, and my dog's death. </p>
<p>My Yale application asks me what I am most proud of. I have no doubt in my mind that overcoming depression is what I am most proud of, but is it dangerous to put that on apps? Should I just say the national award I won?</p>
<p>If what you are most proud of is overcoming your depression, then I would advise you to write about just that. I’m no admissions officer, but to me, passion comes through your writing. When you are most passionate about something, it should come across to the reader. Likewise, if you are not passionate, the absence of it will be apparent in your application. Write about what you feel most strongly about; this can only help you in the admissions process. Good luck.</p>
<p>depends – what are you <em>really</em> most proud of? you really shouldn’t have to lie… you say it’s overcoming depression.</p>
<p>how about – did you mention depression in other aspects of your application? if not, all the more reason to tuck it in.</p>
<p>maybe you could even put both? e.g. “despite my ongoing battle with clinical depression, I had pulled through and even managed to secure a national award” ?</p>
<p>I like static75’s idea of putting both of them in. I suggest that you focus on your depression and then throw in the national award somewhere.</p>
<p>i don’t mean to sound insensitive but colleges don’t like depression. It’s kind of a red flag of sorts what with the recent trend of campus shootings. So i might be careful of how i present this. just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Not a good subject, death or depression.</p>
<p>Hm. I’m definitely in the same position as you. It affected my test scores dramatically and so I don’t know how I should put it into my Yale app…People keep telling me it’s depressing, yes, but it did severely impact how I view things and such… </p>
<p>I like static75’s idea; i think that it makes you sound human, but at the same time, it ends on a positive note.</p>