How can I document depression for later reference in grad school applications?

Question

I am currently a third year undergraduate at a good university studying computer science. I am planning to apply to top graduate schools when I finish my undergrad and I need a bit of advice.

In the first two and half (5 semesters) of my studies, I took the most challenging CS/Math courses in my university and did very well in them (GPA 4.11/4.30). I also joined two research groups and have 2 publications where I am the first author, published in reputable journals. I also have a very good relationship with my 2 research advisors.

Now in my sixth semester, I decided to go on an exchange semester and things just started crumbling. First of all, I couldn't integrate well in the culture and I was left very lonely with no new friends in the area. My Girlfriend of 5 years broke up with me, my mother got into a car accident which affected her health, and I started taking depression medication due to that. I also gained a lot of weight which lead to some health problems. Needless to say, this term is coming to an end and I can't wait to leave this place. I am going to probably fail 2/4 courses, and in the remaining ones, I will barely pass. I am expecting a 2.0 GPA at best.

Now I know this won't go unnoticed by graduate school admissions. I am just wondering what steps can I take as of now to document all of this so that I can justify the poor performance in the exchange semester during my graduate application?

Answer 1

Your transcript should be all you need. Presumably, your transcript shows that you studied at a foreign university, and that things did not go well. If you are back to 100% next semester, it will be pretty obvious that the problems were related to studying abroad. You may then want to write something in your statement of purpose when you apply to assure them that attending grad school won't cause problems similar to what happened when you were studying abroad. This should be an easy sell, especially if the exchange program was in a very far away country and the grad program is in your home country/region.

At any rate, graduate school admissions people certainly do not want to see documentation about your health or personal relationships. They just need a believable reason for why that one semester doesn't indicate you are unfit for grad school, and the transcript showing you studied abroad far away and had some problems should address that. The only place you may run into problems is if your application is automatically filtered out before it reaches the committee -- but no way to avoid that.

The question posed in the title is a bit more challenging. You are able to attribute your difficulties to having studied abroad. For students who suffer mental health challenges at their home universities, graduate school admission is more challenging. Even in this case, however, I do not think they are interested in seeing medical or other documentation.

Answer 2

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced while you studied abroad. You're right- grad programs will notice this, so I think it's important to acknowledge it, but find a way to put a positive spin on it/use it as a way to showcase your other strengths as an applicant. I don't think providing documentation of any sort will come into play though.

Assuming you have personal statements to submit, I would find a relevant way to include that you studied abroad because (insert a good reason here), but that you struggled during your time there for a number of reasons, including not integrating well with the culture. Then, turn it into a positive by saying what you took from the experience (maybe that you just discovered something new about yourself, you learned a new language, interesting coursework, etc), and talk about how you've bounced back (you're doing your best to improve your final grades, you now have a much clearer idea of what you want/need from an academic program, what you need to do excel, etc...)

The trick (and difficult part) is to do this in just a few sentences, and then quickly move on so it's not the focus of your personal statement.

Ultimately, I think the message you need to get across to them is "I know I took a stumble, but look how I came out much stronger and better prepared for your graduate program!"

One last thing I'd add: if any of your references writing your recommendation letters are privy to what you've gone through, you could always discuss your concerns with them. Now, you can't specify to them what to write in their letters since they're confidential, but in sharing your concerns with maybe just one of them, they might take it upon themselves to corroborate what you say in your personal statement by commenting on how you're an excellent student who - yes, took a stumble - but is still a great investment because of (insert strengths here). Of course, I would only discuss your concerns with your professor if he/she is someone you trust/are comfortable with.

Answer 3

Having experienced health/family/personal problems of any kind doesn't give one a magical get-out-of-jail-free card when it comes to grad school applications, so in this sense, documentation is irrelevant.

The area where documentation can be helpful is when one is trying to get reasonable accommodations due to a health condition that affects one's studies (in the UK I think the term is reasonable adjustments). If you are about to leave your current geographical area, and you have consulted a medical or mental health professional where you are now, you might want to sign a release so that those recent records can be transferred to your primary provider, who would be the ideal person to hold a repository of all your records.

(Side note, some SSRIs have less side-effect weight gain than others, so you might want to talk with your doctor about possibly switching your SSRI to one with a lower side-effect profile.)

Answer 4

Just suck it up. Talking about depression will make it worse...not only did you underperform, but you make excuses.

This is not a troll. I have underperformed on all kinds of things in my life. But once you are an adult nobody wants to hear about your excuses. Get it done or don't get it done. But just deal with it when you don't. Life goes on and there are a million second chances. But don't ask for special forgiveness.