I am a teacher who is acting as a counselor for a student from Asia, as there is no guidance counselor in the school I work in.
I am new to this whole process, and though the student, let us say XY has been most helpful, I cannot broach this topic with him, so I seek your help.
XY has certainly been the most exceptional student I have seen in my career. He has been consistently topping the class with a 4.0 GPA for 3.5 years.
In January, there were a few incidents which began affecting him. A jealous classmate and his parent accused XY of academic impropriety, but a subsequent school investigation cleared him of all suspicions.
Along with this, he had to deal with a couple of personal tragedies, including death of a near one.
I see him try his best to maintain his previous level of work ,but that enthusiasm is missing, and the grades have fallen. Approximating it to the American grading, 2 grades are C/B- , and there is a B+
Unofficially, a doctor friend of mine suspects it is depression, and a official diagnosis is due soon.
He has already been admitted to a couple of Liberal Art Colleges. I do expect an acceptance letter from an Ivy League school as well, as he has been among the very best in the country.
Other than calling (inconvenient), what steps should I take to ensure that his acceptances don’t get rescinded? Do colleges typically require medical certificates or anything of the kind to justify claims, or is my word considered sufficient?
Thanks