<p>I have been diagnosed as bipolar I since the summer before 10th grade and in 10th grade, my grades suffered for my mental state. I was hospitalized twice and had over 20 days of absence and got less-than-outstanding grades. It affected the last marking period of my ninth grade grades as well and I don't want it to look like I was just lazy or something. My junior year grades are pretty good, with my lowest grade being one 88% in precalc for a marking period. Everything else was 97 or 98 and above. I want to get into Juniata College, a pretty prestigious school, because I can live at home if I go there. So my question is, should I mention my mental illness so as not to appear lazy or like I wasn't living up to my full potential?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Can you mention you were hospitalized and not include the mental illness part? I was in a similar situation, and I wanted to highlight my mental state in my essay for the college, but my teacher told me to try to avoid it. If you have to give reasoning as to why you were hospitalized, then I would for sure let them know though. Also, for Juniata College the average GPA is a 3.72, according to their website. If you have that, I don’t see how your grades will hold you down in any way, shape or form. Remember that your junior year grades are more than amazing! Again, I don’t see how telling them can hurt you. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Don’t particularly mention the illness just because they might not want to deal with issues (or at least thats what it is like for prep schools)</p>
<p>Have your counselor note that you were hospitalized for an illness (don’t mention mental illness unless you want to be completely out on it). Ditto for your elements of the app. Treat it as if it were any illness (like cancer or diabetes). There is very strong discrimination and ignorance in college admissions against applicants with mental illness, imho.</p>
<p>Yes, I think your counselor should mention the hospitalization, but not the specific mental illness. When I applied, my counselor mentioned my ADHD, but not the fact that I have Aspergers (technically diagnosed as autism spectrum- aspergers doesn’t exist anymore from a clinical diagnosis). The Aspergers would have detracted more from my app than it would have explained my circumstances.</p>
<p>For Juniata you have to do an interview. If they asked any questions that pertained to my hospitalization, etc., what would the best thing to do be? I wouldn’t want to lie, but I don’t want to hurt my chances of getting in, either.</p>
<p>You could say it’s a chronic condition for which you are now treated and the symptoms are resolved. Practice this type of answer. You’re likely going to need a wardrobe of various such explanations for all the different audiences in your future (roommates, friends, employers, etc.). You get to decide what to disclose and when, in most cases. </p>
<p>You can also respond with a strong answer at Juniata about what strategy you used to catch up, fill in, and master your academic work. You can describe the challenges and how you ultimately managed the situation. Write it out for yourself, substituting the word “diabetes” for BP and see how your script evolves. </p>
<p>call them personal issues, or medical issues</p>
<p>No matter how it’s explained, when a student writes about family, personal or mental health issues, it tends to come across as excuse laden, potentially bordering on a sob story, which is why student’s should NOT write about those issues, even in the additional info section. It’s far better to let an adult in a supervisory capacity, such as your guidance counselor, be your advocate. Students should focus on other matters in their application – their love of learning, for example – and let a school official who knows the situation deal with the issue from the perspective of a seasoned adult. See: <a href=“How to write good letters of recommendation | MIT Admissions”>http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs</a></p>
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<p>As far as the interview goes, I don’t believe they’ll go there simply because it borders on or is an outright violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. If you open that door, they can go with it, but if you don’t, they won’t, or shouldn’t, so don’t let them if you get an inexperienced interviewer.</p>
<p>Technically, your situation shouldn’t affect your admissions either, but with holistic admissions, it’s too difficult to prove that’s the reason they didn’t pick you, so just don’t go there and give them the ammo.</p>
<p>Hmm. I don’t know about that, when it comes to a hospitalization. Hospitalization is so completely disruptive to an academic year, that it really doesn’t have to turn into sob story. It’s one of those hard facts that stands as a very credible explanation, like real homelessness, etc. Interestingly, it seems that most unresolved impairing chronic condition or situation aren’t viewed as such “hard facts” and those seem to be very likely to move into sob-story territory. FWIW.</p>
<p>It’s tricky, in part, because although schools may look at mental illness in admissions, once you’re in you’re a protected class under Section 504, and entitled to accommodations. </p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind: When a student has an “excuse” for their low grades due to a hospitalization, a college WILL NOT take the student’s word for it. The situation needs to be documented by an adult in a supervisory capacity at your school, such as your GC or principal of the school. If you write about the issue, a college that is interested in you WILL CALL your GC to corroborate the story unless the GC has also written about it in the student’s Secondary School Report (SSR). So, you must engage those folks to be your advocate anyway, so my suggestion is that you talk to your GC and get their take on the matter. </p>
<p>A medical report is always best</p>
<p>^^ NOOOOOOOOO – it’s not! Please don’t give advice like this. A medical report contains confidential information, some of which may not be appropriate for Admissions Officers to see and may result in the student being immediately put on the reject pile. </p>
<p>One of highest expenses at colleges today is health care, and as some student health care systems are already maxed to capacity, why would a college accept a student when presented with a medical report that might specify the continued treatment recommendations of various doctors? Think about it seriously for a moment. If you were an Admissions Officer, would you admit a student that might cost the university large sums on money for continued health care? No, you would find some other reason to not admit this student and move on. Do not submit a medical report. The OP should talk with their GC!</p>
<p>i second @gibby.
@AmbiD77 is incorrect. Never ever give a medical report, especially not one of a family member (does not apply here, just wanted to emphasize that). It is extremely inappropriate. The only time you submit a medical report or diagnosis report is after you’ve been accepted, if you need to give it to disability services to get accommodations. </p>
<p>Agree DO NOT give any medical records AT ALL! This is something that we grappled with in HS. Both my kids had chronic health conditions and the school kept asking for access to the docs. The docs repeatedly refused and told us it was in our best interests and our kids’ best interests to write carefully worded letters to the school, providing them with the information they needed to work with our kids in the school setting but no more. Schools can use info against kids–subtly or not so subtly. It’s very important to know what you’re doing before you disclose. Work with your GC.</p>
<p>I am not suggesting an actual med report, just a statement saying that there were medical issues, and VERIFIED by a doctor or GC. That is to prove that OP’s drop in grades was a result of a medical issue, not to describe the medical issue</p>
<p>Since a college cannot verify anything the student himself says, only a dr or GC can credibly state that a student was performing poorly as a result of medical issues</p>
<p>I also agree with @gibby! Having a guidance counselor mention it in the recommendation letter is the best way to go. Actually, anything you want to say that may come off in the wrong way (either it sounds like you’re giving excuses or you’re being a show-off) can be resolved by having your guidance counselor write it out. I agree that it shouldn’t be viewed as an excuse though, especially if you inform them properly. Don’t be specific if they ask you at the interview, you can always answer the question without actually “answering” the question. I think it’s safe to say that you should avoid mentioning the disorder (as I said in my reply earlier). </p>