I’m an international transfer student from Germany planning to transfer in about one year. My grades are not bad but they’re not exceptional because I wasn’t able to deliver my full potential as I was dealing with a multitude of difficult issues. I was severely bullied throughout school due to the color of my skin, and when I was 13 I found out I was gay which felt like a death sentence to me because I was raised in a very homophobic environment and if anybody found out my parents and fellow students would have made my life more of a hell than it already was. All that lead to severe mental health issues of mine including major depression and social anxiety to the point of me being suicidal. As you can imagine that had quite a toll on my academic performance. I’m convinced I’m a very good student and could have excelled hadn’t I dealt with all those obstacles. Considering my problems my grades are still surprisingly good, but sadly not Ivy League good. Luckily I recovered and now am at the full capacity of my mental abilities so I’ll be able to prove myself in the next year at university which hopefully will help me to transfer into competitive colleges. I’m aiming for a 1.0 score (best grade possible on a scale from 1 to 6). But then there’s still my good but not quite excellent high school performance which I’ll have to explain. I want to address my mental health issues and problems in my college application as they shaped me more than anything else and kind of explain my performance in high school. I don’t want to them to pity me because of a sob story but I don’t want to hide this huge part of my life either, I really just want them to fully understand me as a person and be honest. What do you guys think, should I address those issues and what role would they play in the college’s admission decision?
No.
I am sorry you have had such a difficult time. Young people can be very cruel, and hopefully, as you mature, you will realize that most grown-ups behave like grown-ups. But my response is NO. Colleges are wary of accepting students with a history of depression because these students often encounter a lot of difficulties in college. They find themselves unable to cope and this can result in the student failing out or worse. It’s also a lost seat for the college. Plus, you are going to be moving to a foreign country, which is going to raise a giant red flag, in combination with revealing all the rest.
Can I suggest that you put off going to university for a year and take care of yourself? College is stressful. Even the most stable kid can find the transition difficult. Or stay in Germany, whihchas a great university system. You can study aborad after a couple of years, just like kids do all over the world. I am sorry to say that you are not necessarily going to find all US colleges to be super welcoming to foreigners in the present tense atmosphere. Hopefully that changes for the better, but if I were a gay student of color, I wouldn’t really want to be away from home. Even if your family aren’t accepting of homosexuality, they still love you and will want to support you. I strongly urge you to reconsider your plan.
I’m fully recovered and 100% able to handle any stress that college will put on me. I already took care of myself and I’ll adamantly pursue my plan because I want it more than anything else. The longer I wait the harder it will be to get into an American university and one year after matriculation is the perfect time to transfer so there’s no way I’ll wait. Also I’ve read of several colleges that want to be informed about difficulties in a student’s life that had an effect on his academic performance. And with excellent grades I don’t see why it should be such a problem to get accepted by a college.
No. If you want colleges to know about your past have a recommender mention it. I would not make this the focus of your essays. Surely you have something more to talk about, something about your contributions rather than your setbacks?
An essay topic that highlights your passion and drive would make a better choice. With your good grades you should have success getting accepted into a school that is a fit for you.
But that’s so generic and boring, an essay about how I overcame my obstacles and about how my ambition helped me to persevere would be so much more interesting.
Listen to the posters above. Emphasizing your history of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts will hurt your chances for admission.
@prstofhappiness While you may believe an essay about how you overcame your obstacles and how your ambition helped you persevere may be more interesting, in addition to the good advice already provided above, you have to take the word limitation into account. With a word count limit, not every topic comes across as one intends it to when having to condense it. It would be hard to effectively describe each obstacle and the impact it had on you and then describe your accomplishments. While each AO is reviewing thousands of apps, your essay will not come across as you intend it to.
College admissions is not a game in which students compete over who grew up within the hardest background.
If your essay is a biography, don’t expect it to help you get in anywhere. App. readers will see it as: “they must admit me because I’ve had problems.”
Still, though, if your common app is a story about your life and how it shaped your interests and passions, then go for it.
BUT, KEEP IN MIND: Do not expect to get into a college just because you wrote your essay about your struggles as a justification for your sub Ivy-par grades.Everyone struggles.
That said, take care of yourself! Sending thoughts your way.
Learn more about what our competitive colleges look for. As guitar wrote, it’s not who has the saddest tale. Nor is it just telling them you overcame. Or just improving the most recent grades. Or your ambitions.
But what about this: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/should-student-discuss-his-depression-in-his-college-essay/
Seems like it could be worth a shot after all. My struggles and the way I overcame them define me and an essay about those hard times and how my undying ambition has been an anchor during them would show the colleges who I really am and isn’t that the point of an essay. Also I’m sick of having to tiptoe around people’s insecurities with mental health issues, acting like it’s a shameful secret. Why should I have to sweep it under the rug just because it’s a wrongfully stigmatized issue? I mean an essay about beating cancer would be acceptable so why not depression? I could write the main essay about another topic and address my past problems in an unsolicited supplementary essay to show them that the hardships of my life played a big role but there’s also other facets in my life that are significant, too. Would that be a better idea? I have faith that the colleges will understand my situation and not hold my past struggles against me.
OP, you asked if you should write about your depression and other issues and the resounding answer was NO. You then replied defensively because you wanted the answer to be YES. If you already decided it would be good to write about it, why did you ask the question?
Read it several times until you see how measuresd it is.
You don’t have to sweep it under any rug, in real life. You need to be alert to the fact that competitive colleges are not looking for you to detail hardship and then declare you’ve overcome. There is no “empathy vote.” They want to see the person you are now, how you think now, what you will contribute on their campuses. Not a biography. They want to see this in the record and the writing. “Show, not just tell.”
No, a beating cancer essay wouldn’t do the trick without the rest.
OP, do what you like, but don’t be surprised if you don’t get admitted to many schools with an essay about all the issues you want to mention. The posters who have responded are by and large very seasoned and know what they are talking about. No one here thinks it is a good idea. Good luck.
I’ve read essays from a girl who talked about her depression, eating disorder, etc, and she got into Stanford. You shouldn’t feel like you have to leave out major obstacles/events in your life just in the probability that the admissions officers will discriminate against you. There is a chance that they will view it unfavorably but also a chance that they will see how you grew from it and learn much more about you. If those events are really central to your personality and you are sure you can write it in an a beautiful and encouraging way, I say go for it. Not everyone can live a picture perfect life and admissions officers know that. Ppl on CC tend to heavily advocate against mentioning any sort of mental illness/adversity in essays, which I understand, but on the same note I have known so many people who have done just that and gotten into so many great schools. It’s all about how you write it and how you spin it. Good luck!
Thank you, that’s uplifting:)
Just had a look at your other thread OP. Very interesting. Hope you don’t have to “stoop as low” as community college to get your desired American education. I stopped that low, spent three years at CC, and I am a happy and successful member of society with a BA. My child now goes to an excellent LAC. Life isn’t over if one attends a less-prestigious college. If you really want to get into college here, write an essay that makes them like you. Colleges want to admit people they like, it’s really about that at the end of the day.
^^ I also read your comments on the other thread including the ones that were deleted by CC. I wonder why you come here asking for advice and then trash anyone who doesn’t say what you want to hear. If you’re so convinced you can pull off your plan than just go ahead and do it. You don’t have a very endearing personality from what little you’ve posted so I hope you don’t project this in your applications, I will say good luck but caveat that I hope you don’t end up in my school after the things you’ve said.
Agree with above. Seems you don’t like the US so stay in Germany.