Question for counselors/ career advisors out there:
Do you make mention of a health disorder on a college application or mention anything about it when you write about yourself in an essay?
Our youngest child is a high school senior. I remember all the questions on college apps (from our oldest boys) about explain special circumstances, write about an important time in your life, etc....and our youngest was recently diagnosed with seizure disorder. His grades have dropped a little due to the side effects of the meds, but grades are still good enough to get into a good school. But we don't know if scholarship money would be affected by the drop in grades last yr.
We know from experience there is a lot of money out there for top students and he's toward the top of his class, but not where he was before the first seizure. From someone in the field, is this something he should mention and explain or does it look like he's trying to make excuses and gain "the sympathy vote."
When first diagnosed, his neurologist said to not make a big deal of the new situation, that would only make him dwell on it....but for the college / scholarship applications, what would you do? thanks.
I believe in full disclosure. My son battled a degenerative hip disease & we made that clear to the college. He ended up dropping out for a hip replacement, & I was thankful it was documented. He ended up receiving credit for the unfinished classes.
It doesn't hurt especially if he is accepted and the medical condition could impact his classes. No reason not to.
My husband has worked in higher ed for 20 years and I have been there for 8 as well. I think at the undergraduate level we are almost always looking for thriving despite circumstances so if he is going to mention it he should also point out what he is doing to deal with the problem in a productive manner. Admissions people are only human so it does tend to send up a flag if the student mentions and problem and explans for how this accounts for some amount of difficulties but does not give some reasonable assurance of how things are being managed well at this point. Other thing to point out is at the graduate school level (years away if he goes that route but...) generally schools have a larger investment in those students and need to know that their graduate students are capable of carrying out the work they expect out of them in the years to come so generally not saying as much on a personal level is more important to him at that point
Is there an essay on the application? That would be a great place for him to discuss an event in his life where he had to overcome adversity, adjust his way of thinking and living, and demonstrate his ability to bounce back from a challenging situation.
Unfortunately though, in this day and age everyone is trying to get scholarship dollars. If the scholarship is merit based (based on academic performance) then typically the applicants with the highest GPAs, highest ACT or SAT scores, highest class rankings, and most difficult academic courseloads are seen as more favorable. With merit scholarships, they are typically based on objective data. There are other scholarships that schools offer though, so that might be a better route.
There is a lot that goes into consideration. Here is the thing if you leave it out then he is not painted by his disorder. The draw back is you leave it up to their imagination why his grades took a dive. Don't leave it up to them to fill in the blanks.
There is good advice posted already. State what happened and how he is coping. He may, and probably will, be judged by where he is now instead of where he was then because it is the better measure of his potential unless you can show upward progress since he started coping with the meds.
My daughter has had a seizure disorder since she was 4. When she started school the meds she took set her back mentally and physically about 2yrs, while on them. She is now on meds where she can function normally and is back up to speed age/physclly wise. She also has a VNS installed in her chest. (for her seizures)
She is now a Jr. in high school and in ARDs. They say to disclose it, and the schools will make accomodations. She is in Band, volleyball, and active in Church. Everything is taken into considertion, not just her grades.
Good Luck
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