Transfer to UNC- High School Troubles

BlueUkiyo
Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:58:55 +0000

I am a future college student who will most likely be attending Appalachian State in the fall. I know it might seem crazy for someone who hasn’t even enrolled at a university to already be looking to transfer out of it. But that is precisely what I am contemplating.

You see, I did not bother applying to UNC this year because I did not feel I had a strong enough case for admission. This all relates to clinical depression, from which I have suffered since my earliest high school days. Being depressed, I was not a particularly motivated student. I never bothered to study and often blew off assignments entirely. This had a severe effect on my GPA. I still managed to graduate on the honor roll, but only just (My GPA was 3.84). Being a depressed individual, I also was very reserved and had virtually no extracurricular activities throughout my entire high school career.

On my one and only time taking the SAT, I received an 1850 (1230 out of 1600). I was really quite disappointed with myself; I knew I was capable of scoring upwards of 1900. But, as a result of my lack of motivation, I didn’t bother retaking the test.

The next year in 2011, I graduated from high school without having applied to any colleges in winter of 2010/2011. The winter of 2011/2012 passed, again without me applying to schools. My parents eventually saw that I needed help and made arrangements for me to see multiple therapists. I have since begun taking antidepressants and am still in the process of overcoming my condition.

It wasn’t until fall of 2012 that I became more motivated to apply to schools. I have been accepted to App State and will most likely enroll for fall of 2013. If I work hard and fully invest myself in my studies, I anticipate a first-semester GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Given this information, do you think I would make for a quality transfer applicant? If, in my personal essay, I include my struggles with depression, do you think UNC-CH will be more understanding of my less-than-stellar high school academics and so-so SAT scores? Will they see that I am now a motivated student who will strive to do well at their institution?

I am aware of the lengthiness of this post, and I would like to thank anyone whom took the time to read it in its entirety. Any words of reassurance would be greatly appreciated.