I’m a junior in high school and I have a lot of mental health issues (depression, anxiety, etc.). I’m diagnosed and go to therapy, but my grades are dropping because I don’t put in effort or pay attention at all. I have good test scores (in the 2000s for SATs), and my gpa has been about a 4.0 before this year. Over the summer I had traumatic experiences that really affected my mental health, and my grades suffered a lot. I’m very interested in film and I do well in a film class at my school. I’m applying to NYU Tisch and USC and other schools in the fall, and I’m not worried about the quality of my portfolio, but I am nervous about my grades holding me back. I take AP Chem and AP macroecon, and all of my other classes are honors. My gpa for 3/4 of junior year is 3.6 i think, and my overall is 3.89. I plan on taking AP Spanish, bio, lit, and possibly euro next year. I’m well rounded (national honors society, drama, cross country, mock trial team, etc.), but I’m just very worried that my grades will hold me back, and I’m not sure that I will be able to “just work hard and bring them up” because it’s extremely difficult for me to put in the effort to school (not to anything else though, I work very hard at my part time job and I put a lot of time and care into the film festival I’m involved in). Do you think that gpa is that big of a factor? Also would there be any way to get some more financial aide money because of mental health issues, or is that not taken into consideration?
I feel your pain about not being able to bring your grades back up I went from a 3.6 (9th grade) to a 2.4 (10th grade) to hopefully back to a 3.1(11th grade) I also have mental health issues (depression and anxiety ) and am on medication.im in therapy and interested in psychology . My attendance was horrible at school.im at a point where I have no supportive people except my therapist .im not going to play victim I’m going to make at least a 3.8 my senior year .im going to take three APs bio lit and psych .i wish you the best and hopefully you’ll get into USC.
I think your grades should be fine. Especially coupled with a good SAT. Just keep working on your portfolio!
And a “no” on the money for mental health question.
Good luck on the film festival!
Do they really want mental health issues? Is that a positive that they’ll pay more money for, that really makes them say “We need this person on our campus”?
I wouldn’t say so.
It is good that you have a diagnosis and are receiving treatment, I have known too many kids like you that cover up the issue, go off to college, do horribly, and struggle to recover. Living on your own, changing your support group, probably more stress. These are more important issues you need to plan for than worrying about your GPA. Seriously, I wish you luck finding a school that fits your needs for a film career, but I think it is also worth considering the resources of the school to deal with your mental health issues. Perhaps your counselor or therapist has some insight into schools that would be supportive. With your scores and current GPA, you will be competitive most everywhere if you have a good portfolio/resume. I wish you well.