<p>hi everybody. I’m going into my senior year and I would like to know my chances at some schools I’m considering. I’d also like to get some opinions about mentioning some personal problems I had, whether it would help me or hurt me.</p>
<p>Carleton
Carnegie Mellon
Davidson
New College of Florida
Vassar</p>
<p>Brown
Cornell
Northwestern</p>
<p>I guess I’ll talk about the “problem” first, since it might give you some perspective. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder in october/november of 9th grade. it’s been a whirlwind of doctors, medications, and hospitals. in 10th grade, when I was really getting excited about schoolwork (taking my first AP - ap european history, little dani was excited), I got worse. I was institutionalized, and thank god for that. although I kicked and screamed at the time it happened, I truly realize how necessary it was, looking back on it now, and now I love my parents for doing it, instead of hating them for making me miss so much school.</p>
<p>anyway, I was in the treatment facility for 6 months. in addition to being exposed to some rather tramautizing experiences, I also missed the second half of my sophomore year. I didn’t get to finish AP euro (it was devastating, really), I didn’t get to take french 4 like I was supposed to, and more importantly, i was scheduled to take pre-calculus too, so i could go on to ap calculus my junior year, and that didn’t happen either. I begged my parents to talk to my teachers to see if we could work out an arrangement so I could still study while at the facility. my teachers were cooperative, the facility was stupid and didn’t want to get involved. grr.</p>
<p>later I learned that my parents had contacted many other institutions about me, including a boarding school-type thing with AP CLASSES :(!! but I had been rejected at all of them because I was too much of a liability. </p>
<p>I know that many, MANY people get depressed sometime in their high school, because I was friends with pretty much all of ones that went to my school. misery does love company. but, considering the magnitude of illness, would this be a circumstance that would be worth mentioning? it really explains things in my academic record.</p>
<p>okay, now on to the grades, test scores, and… stuff.</p>
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<p>I think that my scores are a reflection of my state at the time, but what I want them to say is, “dani is smart, but not when she’s depressed and drugged up with unneeded antipsychotics.” those really killed me, I couldn’t do anything the summer they put me on them. i want my scores (as well as the rest of my academic record) to say, “now that dani is stable, and relapse-free for over a year, she can think clearly again, and she really will do everything in her power to reach her potential, if you just give her a chance to shine.” yeah, something like that…</p>
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<p>[we take 8 courses a year at my school, AP classes count as 2 courses]</p>
<p>I’m taking AP calculus AB this year. I mean, I hope I will. I didn’t have space for it my junior year, so I’m taking pre-calculus online right now (as we speak!) so I can hopefully go to AP calculus this upcoming year. traditionally, the course would finish after the school year begins, but I’m going to do it in about half the time you’re supposed to do it, because… I just am, I have to do it.</p>
<p>okay, extracurriculars. when I was depressed, I didn’t really like being around people at all, so I wasn’t in very many clubs. but, I developed my talents outside of clubs on my own (like graphic design) and that turned out pretty okay. :)</p>
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<p>(* should I include this? it was only one day, but I remember it because I drew EVERYONE in the trial for 3 or 4 hours straight and it was really exhausting)</p>
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<p>i guess that’s it… oh. this summer I’m going to cornell for their summer program. I’m taking courses for college credit (intro to cognitive science, pre-calculus). I leave this wednesday. I’m excited. :)</p>
<p>by the way, I’m like, 99.9% recovered (don’t ask how it happened, it’s a miracle). I’m not going to be a liability to any school, i promise. the only thing that remains of my depression is the quality of resilience it left in me.</p>