Reply to S/O: revealing health conditions in college app

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Look at the current thread on revealing ADHD in applications.

If essays are focused on career & major choices, the medical condition seems relevant.  Be careful about reviewing the tone so your child comes across as genuine and gives an impression as a whole candidate.

Be honest.  Are you hoping that this is your child's hook to get in because she had to work harder?  If so, keep in mind that some people have to work harder for other reasons (parents are not in the know, no money for tutoring, dyslexia, etc).  Only share information that makes AO impressed that your daughter is a hard worker and has a meaningful career plan vs. "overcoming" something.[/quote]

NP here. If her child has a significant chronic illness/disability, she didn’t “overcome” something, she actually overcame something. FFS. Parents get posters falling over themselves with sympathy when their kids overcome cancer, but anything else, and it had better “relate to their major.”[/quote]

I am PP being quoted and I feel the same about cancer.  I value personal medical privacy and I don't like to share my personal business with randoms in order to obtain something of value to me.  If it's relevant I agree with divulging.  But if one has passed through the fire, it's not always relevant to talk about it. Randoms include admissions officers, essay readers, etc.  If I wouldn't talk to a new friend or prof about it naturally at the new school, why would I want some random essay reader rating my life experience/hardship and how I wrote about it against others.

I guess I'm a bit harsh.  Sorry if I struck a nerve.  But I do believe this.[/quote]

Well, I have a child with an invisible physical illness that has knocked her down for multiple years. There is no way to explain her life, let alone her transcript, without including this information.[/quote]

PP.  I believe there are multiple possible school choices for everyone and I'm not a snob about rankings.  If someone needs a specific school environment or they are really afraid of being rejected from a dream school, then I suggest making the most personal approaches possible. For example, if allowed/advisable, speak with the people that make the decision or people in the department that the student will be educated by on the other side.  I noticed on this year's Indiana Bloomington App that they asked whether the applicant had spoken with a faculty member about admission.  I suppose that could have factored into "Demonstrated Interest".

Two of the schools my child is applying to let you know that you can call the specific regional admissions officer with questions.  Also, I favor the use of the additional information section for briefly explaining complicated situations if there is no action the school needs to take other than admit yes/no.

I understand that chronic conditions never go away.  But if lots of explanation is required to get in, is the school the right place?  I do wonder about that.  In my state, ten nationally UNranked but highly effective and pleasant to attend universities just committed to let in any h.s. grad with a 3.0 or above.  I work with people from these schools and they get paid decent money and have happy lives.  Community college is also excellent for repairing a track record. Schools do generally have GPA rules of thumb that are suggestive of the amount of work and pressure one could expect after matriculating.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts and of course each parent is better placed to counsel their child appropriately.
[/quote]

One the the PPs further up in the thread. Appreciate this post. But I don’t understand what you mean by “Schools do generally have GPA rules of thumb that are suggestive of the amount of work and pressure one could expect after matriculating.” What sorts of rules of thumb, and where would we find them? [/quote]

PP.  I wrote that about "rules of thumb".   Those are internal to the admissions departments.  They aren't usually written down where an external person can read them and compare across schools.  You can sometimes get a sense of them when you go to the school's own presentations on campus.  Little nuggets of info come out.   For example, I went to an Ivy League school's presentation last August and the Admin Officer speaking said if the student has even one C on their transcript, that would be a strong signal that the student's not a good fit for the school...(implying because they want kids who can at least somewhat keep up with the many peers who had perfect high school grades).  The Admin Officer went on to say that if there was a good explanation, that "rule" would be set aside and he has admitted great candidates with imperfect records.  That's basically inviting the conversation this thread is about (what are the extenuating circumstances and how should they be discussed or factored into admission decisions).  I will admit that rule could mean my senior has 0% chance at that school - he's struggling with a class this year.  And doesn't have a good reason to explain his difficulties - doesn't like the topic, doesn't have natural aptitude, but is also not giving 110% to overcome his lack of interest and aptitude. In this case, the Admin Officer is right, and if my son is disqualified, I agree that that means my son likely couldn't handle the pressure at that school.

Other rules of thumb.  I mentioned above that there are 10 schools in my state that are decent that have come right out and said - "If you have a 3.0, we'll admit you".  That's pretty clear cut.   The guidance counselors at high school may possibly know some for the schools of interest to you.  Maybe you could also consider Naviance and SCOIR as sort of giving rules of thumb.  I think they would work best when there are a lot of data points and for a less selective set of universities.  E.g., for your kid's high school...can you find the typical GPA & SAT needed for a particular institution (as long as there are a decent number of data points).  In my son's school's SCOIR data, it's quite clear what the decision rules are for several universities.  There are distinct cutoff lines in the data.  They are consistent with the Common Data Sets published by the schools.

Regarding amount of pressure...that kind of flows from the H.S. GPAs required to get in.  Of course, illness can tank GPAs. Having poor health naturally diverts effort from school.  But if the GPA has been raised to an acceptable level by junior/senior year..then the kid should be able to handle a university that has taken "lots" of grads from the same high school with similar GPAs.

The most important thing is that your child comes out of college capable, employable, happy, and healthy.  I wrote this same thing on a thread about "My child has flunked out, what does the next 5 years of life look like." in the College section.  When parents are agonizing over what their child should include in their essays about medical issues to ensure admission, I get concerned for the kid.  Because I feel that energy should be invested in picking the right school for the kid or right department or right program or just making sure the kid will have the right energy level for the school.  My parents trusted me to pick my own college and I did a crappy job (long story). So, with a child who might be medically vulnerable or prone to mental health issues, I would focus a lot on in-person contacts/checking/discussing/visiting to make sure it's right. One short campus visit with guided tour doesn't tell you much.

Let's also remember that admissions officers and professors are usually people that like people and want to help.  In person (by phone or live on the spot), you can do much better asking your questions like "I'm worried about X" or the child can ask "Can I do research on my passion for X" here and get answers.  Then the student can make more of the essay about how the school is right for the student vs. focusing on extenuating situations.  It's the difference between "guessing it will work out" and "knowing it can work out".

Again, this comes strongly from a place of "I don't like strangers knowing my personal business" while also understanding the need to present a successful and genuine narrative about oneself to reach desired goals.[/quote]

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