512: Navigating Mental Health Disclosures in the College Application: The Counselor Perspective

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Welcome to our special three-part series on mental health disclosures in college applications. To kick things off, Ethan interviews Chris Loo, Director of College Counseling at The Stony Brook School, where Chris has been working to help students navigate mental health disclosures in their applications for years. In this episode, they explore:

• Which student populations does Chris see struggle with mental health challenges?
• When to disclose mental health issues and when it might not be necessary
• How and where in their applications students can disclose, from their additional info section to the counselor recommendation letter to the personal statement
• Advice for counselors and an exploration of the question: "Are we discussing this too much?"

This episode is informed by conversations with many admission officers over the years and by direct work with students. If you’d like to hear from an admission officer directly, check out episode two in this series with Christina Lopez, Dean of Enrollment Management at Barnard College, and episode three with Emi Nietfeld, who discusses what it was like to navigate mental health disclosures from the student perspective.

Chris Loo immigrated from South Korea at the age of 5 with her parents. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in American History and received her Masters in Clinical Social Work. She has also worked as a music teacher, a campus chaplain and a mental health counselor at a refugee resettlement organization. She also serves as a board director for the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC).

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Play-by-Play

• 2:24 - Chris’ background in mental health and college counseling
• 6:11 - Should students disclose mental health challenges in their college application?
• 10:20 - What questions can students ask themselves to help decide?
• 15:08 - What is the Additional Information section and how could it be used to disclose mental health challenges?
• 17:20 - Chris and Ethan review an example disclosure from the Additional Information section
• 24:06 - What information could be shared through the counselor letter of recommendation?
• 24:42 - Chris shares a sample counselor letter example
• 34:33 - Ethan reads a personal statement sample where a student chose to disclose
• 47:15 - What is the role of the counselor in this process for students?
• 54:44 - Are we talking about mental health too much?
• 57:27 - Closing thoughts for students and families

Resources

• Blog post inspired by this episode: Should I Discuss Mental Health in My Personal Statement or College Application? (And If So, How)?
• How to Use the Common App Additional Information Section: Guide + Examples
• CEG Podcast Episode 507: What Colleges Want (Part 7A): Recommendation Letter Crash Course for Students and Families
• CEG Podcast Episode 508: What Colleges Want (Part 7B): Recommendation Letter Crash Courses for Counselors and Teachers
• NYTimes Article: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?