Will a long medical leave in high school lose my chances of getting into a state college?

I’m currently on a medical leave of absence because of my depression. I have a home teacher that comes by four days a week but… I have still have severe issues with my mental health, and I was just recently diagnosed with ADHD, which is another bump in the road for me. So I’m essentially barely passing.

Will this greatly affect my chances of getting into a state college? I was originally planning on just going to a community college, but it’s a bit better for me to have a little more choices to choose between.

I’m in my sophomore year right now, and I live in New York City (which I am mentioning because of the SUNY and CUNY colleges), and I’ve missed about three semesters of school.

Thanks for any answers!

I don’t think your chances will be severely limited. You can keep the state college open as an option and apply, but don’t leave out the CC option.

There are so many choices out there; I’m sure that there are several that you would have no trouble with.

But perhaps the bigger issue is the idea of going away to school with such a tenuous grasp on your mental health. Some-- MANY- of the SUNY schools are FAR from the NYC area!!! Would you consider a local school-- say St. Johns or Hofstra or Adelphi on Long Island, ? That way you could consider working with the same counselor you’re working with now.

Also, take a look at schools that offer “open admission.”

Why not consider, perhaps in addition to SUNY, some of the smaller private schools within a few hours of NYC? Some of them are relatively close in price to SUNY.

College navigator is a site run by the federal government. In addition to telling you about the real cost of attending a school, you can also find out what percentage of kids in the school receive “institutional aid.” For a number of schools, that percentage is 99 or 100, making those schools a lot more affordable.

Why not email your guidance counselor when you get the chance? (Now that the Seniors are more or less set, she will have a little time before the Juniors swamp her. This is a good time to pick her brain!)

How are your grades?

The good news is that you have the luxury of time. As a sophomore, there’s time to get things worked out, both in terms of your health and in terms of college admission.

The best of luck to you.

Attendance in school doesn’t really matter all that much. I mean, you could be absent every single day and if your grades don’t show it, no one will care. However, you have missed more than a year of school. You should consider a more permanent solution. Lucky for you, NYC has several public 4 year colleges with open admissions. You don’t need to have good grades to get in. You just need to graduate.

Also think about starting at a community college, and then transferring to a state college after two years.

With your mental health issues and long absences from school, I think you need to put the work into feeling stable first. If you find stability, you can eventually find consistency. If you’re better by the time you’re ready to apply to colleges, then go for it. Otherwise, going to community college consistently for 2 years and getting good grades will show a university that you can mentally handle being a full time college student.

Community college is likely the best option for you because:

  1. You can be closer to your family and your therapist as you adjust to taking college-level classes.
  2. It shows colleges that you are stable enough for college-level work. Many top tier schools have issues with depression and suicide, and colleges in general will be very wary of admitting someone with a history of depression straight out of high school because they fear the student will not be able to handle the workload.

Community colleges in NYC are HUGE. (Manhattan CC: 32,000 students. Hunter: 29,000 students. LaGuardia CC: 26,000 students.)

Sorry, I have to disagree with all those suggesting a Community College. You have mental health issues. What you don’t need is a big school where you and your issues will fall through the cracks. You need a place where you can be part of the community, where people know you and you know them.

Find a smaller college that’s local. There are lots of them in the tri-state area that have student populations in the ballpark of 2500 kids.

Some schools that are within 2 or 3 hours of NYC that you may want to look at:
Albertus Magnus in CT
Becker (MA)
Castleton in VT
Central CT
Daniel Webster NH
East Stroudsberg PA
Lock Haven PA
Merrimack MA
Mitchell CT
Post CT
Southern CT
St. Thomas Aquinas (Sparkhill NY—near the Tappan Zee)
Western New England (MA)