DEALING WITH DEPRESSION

On the long list of worries that Mom and Dad have when a child goes to college--grades, homesickness, partying--there's a new issue gaining prominence: the apparent rise in mental illness on campus. More than 1,100 college students commit suicide each year, according to estimates by mental-health groups. And even when students aren't in acute distress, they're suffering in surprisingly large numbers. In a 2003 survey by the American College Health Association, more than 40 percent of students reported feeling "so depressed it was difficult to function" at least once during the year. Thirty percent identified themselves as suffering from an anxiety disorder or depression.

While there is debate over why the numbers seem to be rising, there's also concern that colleges aren't dealing with the problem adequately. In January 2004 the Crimson, Harvard's student newspaper, published a widely discussed five-part series which concluded that "an overwhelming majority" of Harvard undergraduates experience mental-health problems, and that the university's shortcomings in helping them were creating "a pervasive mental-health crisis" on the campus.

Given that kind of assessment, it's inevitable that mental-health issues are starting to filter into admissions conversations. One counselor at an East Coast private high school says that during the 2003-04 admissions cycle, officials from two colleges confided they were particularly focused on admitting a class that was "rock solid" emotionally--both to help prevent suicides and to reduce the toll on overbooked school therapists. MIT Admissions Dean Marilee Jones says she's looking to enroll "emotionally resilient" students. "If we think someone will crumble the first time they do poorly on a test, we're not going to admit them," she says. "So many kids are coming in, feeling the need to be perfect, and so many kids are medicated now. If you need a lot of phar-maceutical support to get through the day, you're not a good match for a place like MIT."

Since the admissions process requires students to appear flawless, many families avoid disclosing a child's history of emotional problems, especially before they get an acceptance letter. However, parents are starting to ask tough questions about just which kind of mental-health services they can expect from schools. Those inquiries become particularly acute at colleges that suffer high-profile student suicides.

At NYU, after four students fell to their death from buildings during the 2003-04 school year, the university took several steps to help students cope. Among them is a 24-hour "wellness" hot line; when talking on the phone doesn't seem to help, the hot line--with the student's acquiescence--will dispatch a counselor or the campus police to the student's residence.

In addition, families of all incoming NYU students are receiving letters asking for information on special needs, including whether a student is taking medication or seeing a therapist. The university's therapists now make weekly trips to residence halls for one-on-one appointments. By going to dorms, administrators hope, counselors will increase their visibility and make sessions more convenient.