Level of medical detail in addendum? Forum

[abolonsky]

I suffered from a serious illness during part of my college career and I have to do a GPA addendum (it had a big impact). I'd prefer not to discuss my illness and treatment in detail (it's not a mental illness, but still feels "personal"), and wish instead to focus on the limitations I faced while in college. However, I do want to make sure I include the requisite detail/documentation.

Does anyone have direct experience with this issue? What kind of documentation do law schools typically require from applicants (doctor's letter enough, or do I have to provide diagnosis codes, etc.?) to substantiate medical addenda? Should I include anything with my application or wait until it is requested?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[bp shinners]

Have the documentation available upon request, but no need to send it out unless they specifically request it. Just mention the situation in your essay (without going into too much detail - they don't need to know all of the symptoms, unless pertinent to what you're saying).