<p>My first four years at CC are marred with 10 W’s, two F’s (non-trans), a couple of AR’s, and a few legitimate grades. Without boring you with the details I was struggling with bipolar disorder during the time. After the bad period I took a year off. The next two years after that I have got mostly A’s (anything else is a B ~ 3.80 GPA), completed my IGETC, got a chunk of my pre-reqs done, and worked full time to support myself. </p>
<p>Dealing with my disorder has made me a much stronger person. I think I could do a pretty good essay about overcoming it. Despite that I know mental illness is still a risque topic for college essays. I highly doubt I could overcome any reader’s predisposition (subconscious or not) in about 500 words. So my question is does the length and degree of the bad period require me to explain it? Do my most recent accomplishments overshadow them enough? Would it be acceptable to ignore it and write an essay on something else, or at least vaguely mention it? Or does it pose a bigger risk to ignore the elephant in the room? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance. I’m really struggling with what to do.
(Applying to UCB, UCSD, UCI in Fall 2011 for Computer Science)</p>
<p>tl;dr Do I have to explain my extend bad CC record if my most recent record is good?</p>