I am applying to UT and am considering discussing my struggles with depression and anxiety on the optional supplemental about anything that has affected your academics. I was suicidal and hospitalized, and before this my grades had dropped slightly (3 B’s for a semester- I usually get all As). Since then, I have recovered significantly, started therapy, and my grades are back to all As. I qualify as top 6% of class so I have auto-admin to UT, but still have to apply for my major (I am applying plan 2). I was wondering if discussing mental illness would hurt my application, since I have heard that colleges are sometimes reluctant in admitting students who they know suffer from depression.
Do you think it will help your application? I don’t.
Personally I haven’t experienced clinical depression or extreme suicidal thoughts but I have felt isolated and alone often throughout high school and I did include this in one of my essays - I believe the prompt was something like “What’s the hardest part of being a teenager?” & I got accepted. If you do write about your experiences, I would definitely emphasize the recovery and how it has made you stronger. I was reluctant on submitting that essay but a friend told me colleges are interested in learning about the real you and want to hear your voice.
If you can effectively express your story and its impact on you, then I think it would work.
How is telling them about it going to make them want you as a student? There’s a good reason why you’ve heard that writing about these topics isn’t a great idea.
Better to have your school GC mention your hospitalization in the letter of rec., if it’s mentioned at all. If you missed a lot of time at school, your GC should probably mention that you were ill and have been successfully treated. It’s not the college’s business why you were in the hospital.
Agree with @Lindagaf. Sadly, there is still a stigma surrounding mental illness. Did your depression/anxiety result from a specific incident, or is it more an ongoing thing? If the latter, an admissions officer might be worried (even subconsciously) about your ability to handle the stress of college.
I have three adult children with mental health issues. I would not discuss it in your essay. UT is already struggling to meet the demand for counseling for its students. Appointments have gone up exponentially over the last few years.
First and foremost, I’m glad you are doing so much better. Being a auto-admit to UT is a great accomplishment so congrats.
But to answer your question, any college essay is not an opportunity for a “tell all” or a “soul-baring” exercise. The purpose of a college essay is: 1) to say something positive about yourself that can’t be found elsewhere on the application and 2) to give admissions officers a reason to want you on campus. I don’t think that writing about about mental illness and past suicidal tendencies will make you a more attractive candidate.
You can note that due to illness (I would not specify the illness) you missed X number of days of school.
Write about what makes you stand out as a candidate and how you would add to your major or program. My child (also auto-admit) who graduates this year had a very difficult family tragedy to deal with this past year (though it did not impact his grades), but decided against writing about it in the admission essays and decided to write about what makes him stand out in a positive way. You don’t want to give them a reason to doubt your ability to handle the more advanced programs.