<p>Hi, I'm currently a freshman at Grinnell College applying for transfer application to a few large schools in the greater NYC area. In a lot of the essays it asks you to explain why some grades may not be as good as your average. Many of the essays also ask you to say why you want to transfer. The main answer to both questions is that my fiancee goes to Barnard College in NYC, and I go to college in Iowa. I've been recently diagnosed with clinical depression, although I wasn't depressed when we went to the same high school together. I've just been so lethargic recently and I just can't really motivate myself to do very much scholastically, even when I think about how I need to get good grades so I can get into a school nearer to her next year. Should I mention this situation in either essay, and if so, how should I go about doing it?</p>
<p>hmmm…w/ the schoolshootingpanic going on right now, i’d advise against it?
but then again it could explain ur grades & stuff</p>
<p>I don’t see how revealing your medical condition would make you more desirable to your transfer schools. I would get a handle on your meds, work like heck to get your grades up, and transfer.</p>
<p>You need to leave Grinnell and either go home or to NYC (assuming they’re not the same). YOu clearly do not have the support system at Grinnell to help you overcome your depression.</p>
<p>I wish you the best working through this.</p>
<p>Or you could say you have problem adjusting to the surroundings since you are a more city guy. I dunno. Good luck!</p>
<p>baumnath</p>
<p>I am going to make another suggestion here. Get a copy of “The Art of Crossing Cultures” by Craig Storti and read it ALL. If it isn’t in the library, ask at the international students office. Part of your depression is, yes, clinical. But I believe that part of it is culture shock. You went from HS to college. You went from your hometown/city to Grinnell. You don’t say, but I’m guessing that you went from somewhere else to Iowa. You left your friends and family and now have to create new ones. These things together can be as difficult as moving to a different country.</p>
<p>Back in the day, I went from the mid-west to the east coast for college, and ended up spending half of my freshman year sleeping. It was the only way I could cope with the adjustment between my old life at home and new life at college. I had no idea what that meant until I moved abroad twenty years later and did the homework on culture shock. I had absolutely classic symptoms!</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should mention your depression unless asked. I know that you believe being closer to your financee will help your depression, but that really won’t motivate the schools to give you a spot. </p>
<p>And, I say this with the deepest respect and concern, you don’t know for sure if it actually will help. Depression is a tricky business, and can be related to situational events, like the transition to college, the loss of family member, missing your financee, and can also have a physical basis that has little to do with external events. Make sure you are seeing a doctor or counselor who can help you get a handle on what factors are involved for you.</p>
<p>Glad to see you are doing well enough to try to take actions like transferring.</p>
<p>When applying to transfer, it seems to me that you should always concentrate on the fantastic course offerings at the potential transfer school as your reason to want to transfer there. I.e., "While Grinnell is an excellent school, I’m attracted to [transfer school] because it has such an excellent [subject] department, as well as internship opportunities in New York, etc. No school is going to want to accept transfers to solve problems with the old school; they will want you because you persuade them that you will take advantage of what they have to offer. And really, even if you have other motives as well, you should only be looking to transfer to a school that really will meet your needs academically.</p>
<p>^ great suggestion. keep in mind that schools admit transfers not because they want to solve their problems. don’t focus about things you dislike about your current school or your personal reasons that has nothing to do with the strengths of the school you’re applying for admission.</p>