<p>I read a post on here that says Stanford doesn't accept additional material.</p>
<p>Alright. Here's the case.</p>
<p>I had a nervous breakdown this school year, which is my junior year of high school. I had great grades before the breakdown. Now my school administrators made me drop my AP classes for the sake of my health, but are letting me take the exams if I so choose to do so.</p>
<p>If my counselor and psychiatrist both write a letter of explanation for what happened junior year, do you think Stanford will bother to read it, even if they "don't accept additional material"?</p>
<p>I'm hope you're doing okay now. Your counselor will have an opportunity to mention any special circumstances in her recommendation (the secondary school report) so I don't think that would count as additional material. You might want to sit down with the GC sometime and talk things over. She may be able to cover things well enough that a letter from the psychiatrist isn't necessary. Take care.</p>
<p>They'll read it if they're already considering you for admission, and I think it would kill whatever chance you had. If you've already shown that you don't handle academic stress well, they wouldn't want to do you any favors by admitting you to the lion's den.</p>
<p>I recommend that you consider school like St John's College, Evergreen State, New College of Florida, New School of New York(Eugene Lang), and there are a bunch of others that don't give grades but professor evaluations. This way you can learn in a much less stressful environment.</p>
<p>By the way, I'm a lot like you - I dropped out of Stuyvesant High School in NYC due to academic pressure (this is the top public magnet in NYC which feeds 15% of its grads to the Ivys). I spent the next few years at an alternative high school in NYC where I interned at the Museum of Natural History taking casts of dinosaur bones, working for a music publicist, a casting agent, etc. I was even offered employment by the music publicist (should have taken it!), but still felt a college education was something I needed. Instead of going to a school like I mentioned, I went to a third tier local college where I still crumbled under academic pressure. If I could go back and do it all over, I'd either have stayed at the music publicist (I got to meet major rock stars and go to concerts! :) or attended a school like I just described.</p>
<p>I agree with the MDMom's advice that the GC letter is the place for this explanation.
You have about 8-9 months before you prepare Stanford's application (and the rest!)...make sure that you are taking care of yourself in the meantime. Any college reviewing your application will look to see that you have taken steps to address the issue (it sounds like you are doing a great job of this) and that you are capable of living and learning productively in a stressful group environment.
Do well in your classes this semester, have a productive summer, and start off strong in the fall. Your teacher recs and GC rec will count for a lot in your case, so make sure those relationships are good.</p>
<p>I didn't see anything in the original post that suggested academic stress was the cause, or even a factor, in the OP's difficulties. LovelyBonsai, there are people with mental health issues who recover fully and go on to live wonderful lives. You've had a tough time but if you're smart enough to be considering Stanford then you've got a lot going for you. All the best.</p>
<p>Thank you, MD_Mom. I will most definitely follow your advice.</p>
<p>And MattsMomFL, it wasn't because of academic stress. I have bipolar disorder and wasn't responding well to my medications. I was manic to the point where I wasn't getting enough sleep and eating enough (I was very underweight). So my health wasn't that great to begin with. I don't think academics played a big role in my breakdown. Before the breakdown, I was first in my class and involved in a reasonable amount of extracurricular activities. It just so happened that my mental disorder got in the way. But I see where you're coming from, and I'm glad you've found success in life.</p>
<p>I guess because academic stress was a trigger for me, I read that into your post! Oops :) On the other hand, I was eventually diagnosed with cyclothymia, but not till I was 27, so in retrospect, academic stress might have just been a convenient thing to call what may have been similar issues, because my schoolwork suffered. Anyway, who knows. I'm glad for you that it was caught and medicated early, and that you have good psychiatric care and that it is under control now. </p>
<p>With that said, I still wouldn't let on to the admissions committee that it is an issue. After Virg Tech, I imagine any university would be leery about accepting students with known mental health issues and risk the liability, although the bias might be somewhat subconscious. I would also not tell the GC unless you have done so already, because I would be afraid she might drop it to other admissions counselors, even should you decide not to have her write the letter to Stanford.</p>
<p>If there was a traumatic event in your life junior year and your grades dipped, then that would be something you could write about. That wouldn't hurt your chances. Most kids see their grades nosedive if their parents are in the middle of a divorce, for example. </p>
<p>But it's best to phrase it in a way that it looks like it is a one-time event rather than a symptom of psychological illness.</p>
<p>I've just read LovelyBonsai's last post. They aren't going to respond well to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. If you can phrase it in some vague way such that it wasn't obvious that it was a psychological illness then that might be ok. Like say you were dealing with "personal issues" or something vague like that and say that your performance that semester doesn't reflect your abilities and work ethic. Anyway, be careful with what you tell people, even your GC.</p>
<p>I don't really have experience with this issue so I couldn't say with confidence how Stanford (or any other school) would respond. I would hope that how you handled difficulties would be more important than the diagnostic label. I know you're getting different viewpoints but if I were in your shoes I think I'd tell my story in a straightforward way and let the chips fall where they may. Although it deals with a different problem (anxiety disorder) this might be worth looking at.
<a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/000171.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/000171.htm</a></p>
<p>(from the link):"Yes, its likely that some colleges may view you as a challenge they wont want to take on, but youre probably better off in the long run if you land on a campus where the administration is understanding of your situation."</p>
<p>I totally disagree with this philosophy. Your goal right now is to get into whatever college you are applying to. Before you accept, find out what their psychological services are and try to gauge what the support level is like at the schools. Don't use the college admissions process to see who will be the most supportive.</p>
<p>I suffered from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after a violently abusive relationship in the beginning of my junior year. Fortunately my grades remained steady, mostly because school was one of the few places I felt safe. However, my SAT's scores we not fantastic because I had not slept for weeks before the test. I am much, much better now thanks to a lot of support from family, friends, and doctors. I sent an additional essay to Georgetown explaining my recovery and the events that have allowed me to heal and move on from such a challenging experience. I don't know where you are in terms of treatment or stability, but I know if you can present you illness as a challenge you have overcome it will be received much better than simply an explanation for a dip in grades (most schools allow you to include such an explanation even if they don't allow supp material.) I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>^^I think that's a different situation. IMO, this would impact the committee as a situation in which an otherwise healthy person was dealing with a major trauma in an expected way rather than a psychological illness. </p>
<p>I still think the OP should be guarded. Probably it is in her best interests to say something because she had a bad semester, but be vague enough that it's not clear what exactly happened.</p>
<p>I don't think Stanford (or any University) would make the automatic assessment of bipolar disorder= bad investment. I think if you presented your situation the right way; i.e as a situation you overcame, are treating as a challenge, then they would be pretty understanding, and hopefully would not be biased against you. I won't tell you that I know for sure it wouldn't effect your chances at Stanford but I know you shouldn't give up your dreams because of this.</p>
<p>I would present it as a medical issue...it is so early in the understanding of bipolar disorders, many people still have aprehensions and on misunderstandings, which is too bad, but the way it is, so I wouldn't be too focused the phycological issues as the medical ones, which you case is</p>
<p>I would advise against disclosing your medical records to colleges. One of my high school classmates, a brilliant mathematician, disclosed his epilepsy to his #1 choice college. He was extremely qualified, but did not get in (off the record he was advised by an adcom to conseal his condition when he applied to other schools the folowing year). I do not know what happened to this guy :(</p>
<p>I don't think it's fair for a college to not admit you on basis of a psychological disorder. It's not as if you're a psychopath.</p>
<p>If there's laws on not admitting based on race, shouldn't there be laws on not admitting based on disorders which one doesn't have control over?</p>