BPkid101

I've read these forums for a few months now finally decided to register and post.

Basically when I first went to a ccc for a year I completely bombed out, F's, D's, and C's everywhere. It later turned out that I had ADHD and was apparently Bipolar. After seeking treatment and working for a few years I came back. I now have maintained a stellar GPA, 3.8 and I am on track to transfer next fall. I completed an academic renewal, so virtually all of the 1st year I bombed out of has been "Eliminated". It is still on my transcript but isn't calculated on my GPA.

So my question to all of you, I'm applying to CAL&LA(like most of the people around here it seems like!) is being ADHD and having BP disorder a legitimate hardship the college would look well upon, and recognize that I overcame the disability and have now become a good student. Or would the stigma of having those two conditions outweigh the benefit of putting them as a hardship?

For reference my GPA for my one year at CCC was .79. Now after three semesters back I am sitting on a 3.8(with academic renewal)

I've been debating this for about a month now and some outside input would be much appreciated.

njoy

are you gonna use this as your topic for your personal statement?

honestly, i knows loads of people who have written about the exact same thing, and id say about 40% of the appeal letters that admissions get back are about how the student had ADHA and had to overcome that and ive never heard of anyone getting admitted afterwards (submitting the appeal).

im not saying that you wont get admitted if you talk about that though. all im saying is that is very common. like you said you have a pretty strong gpa...so unless your major is like super impacted and has a low admit rate, i would focus on something else to mention

Rwasko

Maybe use this in prompt 3 for additional comments. I think it's important to address why you had to get academic renewal. There's like 500 extra words. Make it like a mini essay! I don't have any disorders but I did have a poor start in college. It's important to explain why. Good luck. Focus on how you have learned from that challenging time...

mikei

Do not write about this in your first and second prompt. Well, perhaps you could write about it in the second prompt if it led you to some sort of revelation regarding what you want to do in the future. Cal and LA are looking for people passionate about their major who are likely to become leaders in their field. You should answer your first and second prompt with that in mind.

You should use your third prompt to explain anything strange about your application. If you were to ask an admissions officer, he or she would probably say "YES! Of course you should explain why your grades were so low the first year!!!"

But the kind of hardship that should be discussed in the first two prompts should be ones in which leadership or other personal traits pulled the applicant out of.

UChopeful2010

A little food for thought.

Should I Mention Depression on My College Application? - US News and World Report

anonymousername

do it. It can only help you now that you've gotten the treatment and are showing your true potential with a 3.8.

success story's are always fun

good luck

edmfanatiq

UChopeful posted a good link.

Everyone, to a certain degree, has depression, ADHD, bipolar/manic depression, seasonal affective disorder etc....
I don't think it's wise to include that in your application. I was probably in a worse situation than you and I really think making an excuse like ADHD/depression isn't helpful.
If you really want to include it, you should make a short reference (1-2 sentences) to it.

BPkid101

Interesting link.... I'm kind of wondering how the 14 year old killed her mother now though....jeez

I'm still torn on it, although I guess CAL has a special supplemental application of some sort pertaining to the disability.


and to edmfanatiq, what would you recommend I say in place of ADHD/BP to explain away my year of awful grades? I mean legitimately, pre meds I couldn't sit down and study. it was the same way in high school, I'd show up an ace most tests but I'd forget, miss, or just ignore homework assignments altogether. the adhd meds really put a stop to that, and the BP meds kicked the 2 weeks of laying around doing nothing but sleeping and eating.. I never really thought I was depressed, but it came in cycles I'd be hyperactive for a few weeks and then for a few weeks I wouldn't do anything and if I showed up to class it was a miracle.

the people appealing UC decisions did they have bad grades like my 1 year or just a lower GPA that they were trying to compensate for with ADHD?

~_~

BPkid101

oh and njoy, no. I am planning to talk about how I've moved up the ladder in my field of work.
started out as a sales person at a computer store,
used the technical knowledge I gained there to become a tech specialist at another firm,
used the knowledge I gained there to become a technical analyst at another corporation,
used the knowledge I gained there to become a business analyst at that same corporation, (all promotions in about 4 years time)
ran into a glass ceiling at that point and came back to school because there was no more room for growth without a degree.
hyper motivated to succeed and be a future CEO/CFO... etc, plan on earning my CFA.

I don't know how I am going to turn that into an essay but we will see. I just want to know if they see BP/ADHD theyre going to pull out the red reject stamp lol

edmfanatiq

Don't get too defensive about it and avoid writing a "pity me" essay. If you could have your psychologist or psychiatrist write for you a letter of recommendation for private schools, that would work fine. Since the Virginia Tech incident, every school is being more cautious to prevent another Virginia Tech incident from taking place, so they are taking into consideration suspensions/expulsions/police records and other psychological issues because the shooter of Virginia Tech was supposedly mentally unstable (depression). Pre-VT, it was okay to write about overcoming drug addictions, depression or other tough life conditions but now doing so will cast a shadow over your application.

The personal statement is about you, not about how ADHD/bipolar depression messed up your 1st school year.

anonymousername

^^jeez, the guy who didn't know what TAG was is doling out personal statement advice.

You should write the personal statement that you feel most comfortable with and the one that you think will make the strongest statement of your motivations. I personally would write about the ADHD/BPD not for a "pitty me" factor but because you will be able to explain how you overcame difficulties that you didn't think you could.

I was told by a member of admissions last year that they don't negatively interpret people who write about their disabilities.

If you choose to include it, don't do what edmfanatiq said (writing a couple of sentences about it). In one or two sentences you will not introduce your struggles in a sufficient way and you definitely won't be able to emphasize how you overcame the disorders and why that makes you a better applicant.

I had a friend last year (who's at Berkeley with me now), who wrote about his experience with OCD. All of his second essay was about his struggle with the disorder and the steps he took to overcome it.

Do what you want to do but if you choose to write about ADHD/BPD make sure that you get across why you are a better applicant because you overcame the difficulty.

BPkid101

thanks for the tips anonymous, that makes sense.. not just whining but showing that you've built character and are driven to overcome obstacles..
ty

edmfanatiq

I think you missed my point. I said 1-2 sentences explaining why ADHD/bipolar depression affected your grades and elaborate on how you've become a better person.

Personally, I've heard from various college counselors that writing about addictions/depression and such is a gamble because its very cliche. One of the reasons is because colleges don't want students who have a chance of relapsing and causing harm to the college environment. Do note that the Virginia Tech incident made a change in considering mental health of students------ colleges nationwide are offering free depression scan and counseling.

anonymousername

i don't see the part where you told the op to elaborate on how overcoming bipolar disorder made them a better person....

I'm not sure what a depression scan is (because using an fMRI to find reduced activity in parts of the brain is hardly grounds for diagnosing people with depression) but admissions officers arn't concerned about "will this guy shoot up the school?" while reading a personal statement about triumph over a mental disorder. They don't base their admissions decision on what they speculate an applicant might do, they base it on what they have done. In the OP's case, he/she has overcome a disorder and has succeeded in spite of it. Why would you not take the opportunity to talk about that?


And as much of a tragedy the VT shootings were, I'm still hate the fact that 32 college students can get more media coverage than all the people slain in the genocide in Africa because they were American, from a wealthy (white) area, and educated.

OP, do what you feel most comfortable with but make sure to have a lot of people read over it for grammatical or any other type of errors.

UChopeful2010

"And as much of a tragedy the VT shootings were, I'm still hate the fact that 32 college students can get more media coverage than all the people slain in the genocide in Africa because they were American, from a wealthy (white) area, and educated."

I'm not sure if you know this, but we live in America. I think that is a pretty good reason why there is more media coverage of American's being killed than that of Africans. Don't get me wrong, the despicable human rights violations around the world should be covered. However, I think you are naive to think that Americans care more about what is going on in other countries than what is happening in their own backyard.