Hello everyone,
I am putting this in the parent cafe forum because I would like an adult perspective and opinion.
This current schoolyear, starting in September of 2016, I started high school and I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and OCD. I put myself in two full classes worth of study hall to help me balance my schoolwork. My school is on a block schedule by the way. Next year, I am taking no study halls, as I am treated. These study halls will no effect my graduation requirements in anyway, but will they hurt my chances of admission to a 4 year university? I know people make mistakes and take it easy during freshman year, and colleges don’t weigh it as heavily, as lets say they do junior year. Will 4 year universities still offer me admission from a mass of study halls but due to mental and emotional reasons? Thank you for you responses! 
My daughter has a mental illness and had hospitalizations, adjusted schedules, study halls and a 3.4 GPA and still got accepted in a four year college and a scholarship. She turned it down due to a boy but it is possible!
Thank you very much for your time and advice! I highly appreciate it!!! 
@momocarly
I don’t think it should matter about study halls, but just keep in mind that colleges like you to have a certain number of years of various subjects, like foreign language, social science/history,… Figure out what those are and make sure you have enough by the time you graduate. I am sure your guidance counselor will help keep an eye on this for you too.
Yes we just planned this, I will meet all of my graduation requirements! Thank you very much for your input! @LBowie
You should be fine. As I would tell anyone assess your academic record honestly and cast a wide net when you apply. Find a group of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (run the net price calculators) and that you would be happy to attend.
Thank you @happy1 That sounds like a great plan! I appreciate your time to help me!!!
My daughter was accepted to Duke, UPenn and won a Stamps scholarship to another university. She had two semesters of study hall, and two semesters of being a mentor in a study hall program for students who need a little extra help. She has some medical issues and it was explained ever so briefly that she has had to learn to pace herself and that she just can’t always do everything she absolutely wants to do. (Although now that I think about it, I think one of her supplemental essays for Duke was on diversity and she wrote that about having an invisible disability and being judged for things like taking a study hall.) So. yeah, you can absolutely get in to schools with study hall, even when all your classmates are taking 2x as many AP classes.
You know what @SuburbMom that just took a huge weight off my chest!!! Thank you so much and for your response! That makes me feel so much better!
D1 had 4 years of study hall, and 3 Ivy acceptances.
You’ll be fine. For now, just concentrate on doing well in your classes and enjoying high school.
I have met a few kids who went through similar issues three or four years ago, and who either went off to a very good 4 year university last September or will be going off to very good 4 year universities this coming September. You should be fine.
By the way, the US high schools system puts way too much stress on students. However, you don’t have to give in to it. The “all AP classes, lots of ECs, work and worry” mentality might be needed for Harvard or Stanford, but there really is no good reason for the vast majority of students to go to either of these schools, or to want to go to these schools. There are thousands of universities in the US, more overseas, and many hundreds of very good schools. You will be able to find a very good fit for what you want to do.
A bit of stress-related issues in grade 9 is perhaps a reminder to keep a wider perspective and avoid getting caught up in the hype. However, it won’t be a problem when you get to applying to universities a few years from now.
My D had one semester when she didn’t have study hall and did very well in admissions. This is very common in our high school. Maybe a lot of kids at your school don’t take study halls. That will possibly factor in. The thing is to ensure that your classes fulfill all the requirments for the college you want to apply to.
Agree with the comment above that the most important thing is a balanced list. I suggest a high reach, a couple of low reaches, several matches, and one or two safeties. Your most realistic choices are going to be schools where your stats are well above the 50th percentile and ideally above the 75th.
Thank you very much everybody for the advice!!! Its helped me already come up with a plan and I made a meeting with my guidance counselor this Thursday to plan this and share some of the ideas given on here!!! @Lindagaf @DadTwoGirls @colorado_mom @Much2learn
I’m glad to hear that you’re taking medication for your issues and you’re doing better now. I agree with everyone else – this should not hurt your chances at admission. Colleges are very familiar with seeing extremely smart and accomplished students who struggle with anxiety, depression, etc. What they want to see is whether you know how to manage your issues and that you can do well academically in spite of them.
At the same time, please keep an eye on yourself and how well you are doing. Sometimes a medication will work for a while and then start being less effective. If that happens, you may need to switch medications and it can take weeks or even months to fully adjust and get back to your usual state (my daughter had to do this during her senior year, resulting in her dropping two classes just like you). Please remember that your health (mental as well as physical) is the most important thing.
I think most students at my kids’ competitive high school had lots of study halls and it didn’t seem to affect them. When I was your age, I took a study hall period to practice piano. Study halls can be good!
When I helped my mentally ill son request accommodations in college, more than one of his professors told me that every semester they have more than a couple of kids who need assistance. So don’t ever feel embarrassed about your illness! One professor even shared that she’d been diagnosed with depression as a teenager, so she “got it.” We found his two colleges to be really understanding and helpful.
If your grades and requirements are in order and you have entrance exams and such in hand, I dont see a problem with study halls. However, I admonish you to use your study halls to learn how to manage anxiety and OCD. These disorders are often chronic and wax and wane in severity, but are not like flu in which you take medication and it’s over.
There are things you should learn about yourself. What makes you more anxious such as you avoid an accident, but get anxious obsessing on what if as you drive on. If anxiety starts rising or lyrics rattle around in you head, how do you stop the distraction enough to move on. Can you self sooth by deep breathing, take a short break to rinse hands, shutting your eyes, stretch or shake fingers and hand… practice what works for you. Befriend some aspects of anxiety such as using a strategy imposed by cod to develop a strategy to complete work, file papers, place completed work. Others may compliment you on your organization. Go really early and wait in the car or terminal or conversely, wait until most passengers are leaving and th en gather your things and leave without pressure.
Hah! Get tools such as an automatic shutoff iron (need better age example), then unplug it when you are done and move it to a designated location. Finding a place to place for stacking completed work to to reduce anxiety by seeing completed work or productivity. Regulating your life to accommodate your control tricks really helps. You want to be as calm and engaged as you can with more overt signs of an anxiety or ocd seen as some combination of a strength or just a personal quirk.
Be absolutely faithful about taking medication as directed. It doesn’t cure, but helps and noncompliance is the pits. When you have some skill managing anxiety, You can pretty much succeed at any number of things.
In my opinion, study halls help.
Top schools want to see rigor & good grades. For a generic student they are most interested in what you took and how you did in English and Math, science.
If you take the most rigorous track and the study hall helps manage that load, it is fine. They don’t care.
My daughter had a ton of study halls her last two years in high school, and got into some great colleges.
My kid also had a study hall - senior year as I recall - and did just fine in college admissions.