<p>Freshman and sophomore year I went to a very prestigious public school. Freshman year I got terrible grades, almost failing several classes. Sophomore year I got all As and Bs however I felt too much pressure from my school's rigor and almost had a nervous breakdown. I was diagnosed with depression and an anxiety disorder among other things. Still struggling with depression, I transferred to a private IB school junior year and received all As and Bs with the exception of my English class in which I received a C both semesters. Therefore my GPA is extremely low (a 3.0). I am 2 months into my senior year but I have the option of starting my junior year over again. If I do this I project that I will get all As and therefore raise my GPA significantly. Should I do this or should I continue my senior year? My main reason for considering this is to raise my GPA so I can be more competitive in applying to top universities. Where I stand right now I have no chance at being accepted into any of the schools I would like. The extra year would also give me the opportunity to pursue more extracurricular endeavors.</p>
<p>Do you think I should repeat junior year? Would it be worth it to raise my GPA? </p>
<p>Also, could universities see that I repeated a year, and what would they think of that? Would they look down on me for doing so?</p>
<p>Extra things: I got a 1900 on my SAT in May. I just re-sat the SAT two weekends ago and I hope to get 2000+. My dream school is NYU. </p>
<p>I don’t think you get a choice of doing a “do-over” to improve your grades so you can go to selective schools. Who pays the bill for your ~$8,000 year of public schooling?</p>
<p>My school has agreed to let me do this. Maybe I should have made it more clear but I’m not simply doing this to get a “do-over”, I’ve suffered from serious mental health issues for the past 2 years which have hampered my ability to perform to the best of my abilities in school. And if you’re really curious, then you should know that my family has sufficient funds to pay for my $19,000 a year of private schooling and to pay for any university I should go to. I apologize if any of this sounds rude but I want to make it clear that I have very legitimate reasons for possibly taking this “do-over” year.</p>
<p>Although this probably won’t happen explicitly, here’s the probable scenario - You repeat, get great GPA, but someone somewhere is going to want to know why you repeated. That will be hard to hide. When the issue of mental health either comes up or someone implies it, elite schools will say pass - they don’t need the hassle.</p>
<p>I’d stick with completing this year and rolling the dice on “upward trend”. Raises a whole lot fewer questions and there are many, many reasons for an upward trend that don’t involve mental health.</p>
<p>I personally think it could be a good idea. I think I would disagree with what MrMom62 is saying that elite schools dont want ‘the hassle.’ Are these highly endowed schools really not prepared to deal with mental health issues, when they affect such a high percentage of the population?</p>
<p>Are they prepared - yes. Do they want to - no. </p>
<p>Imagine you have multiple candidates for your esteemed university, all with the same outstanding qualifications, each one better than the next. Only one presents higher risk for flunking out, suicide, needing expensive mental healthcare, counseling services, even harming other students, etc. vs. five or ten perfectly well adjusted candidates, at least on the surface. Why, oh why would you pick the obvious problem child?</p>
<p>I too have mixed feelings about this case. I think that based on your family’s finances, you might be better served by taking a 5th year at a prep school, and showing this continued upward trend in your grades. This might also give yourself more time to get healthy before beginning college. But I am confident that “repeating” a year of high school would somehow not go unnoticed. And then you would have to explain why you are repeating the year (when many kids get poor grades). On the other hand, you could take a 5th year and few colleges would question it.</p>
<p>Not only would they notice it, it is asked about on the common app and an explanation is required. </p>
<p>I think the post grad year (PG) at a prep school would be a real blessing for you and I encourage you to look into it. A good place to start, if you are interested, is boardingschoolreview.com Do a search for PG year. Keep in mind that applications for next year will be due in January and the application is very similar to college apps. </p>
<p>Hmm. I would make my decision based on your mental health, not based on whether you can make yourself more attractive to “elite” schools. Based on what you are describing, I can’t really understand why you are looking only at “top universities.” That sounds like a recipe for later problems. If the pressure of high school was so great that it sent you into depression and anxiety, I’d reframe my search to find the university that best fits and that will provide the support you need when (not if) you find the same challenges arising in your life. I don’t say this to be mean. I’m only saying that the triggers that hurt you the first time don’t disappear. You learn to manage them and to cope with the difficulties over time but there is no miracle cure.</p>
<p>I would redo your junior year if you feel it helps you to learn greater strategies for coping with schoolwork. I would also broaden my perspective about college. There are many, many great schools out there with exceptional programs and wonderful reputations that would be happy to have you, either way.</p>
<p>I would recommend continuing with high school as normal and if you need more time to develop academically or anything then you spend a post grad year at a prep school.</p>