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Anyone else have a medical withdrawal for a semester in college on their transcripts? I got a withdrawal passing for all the classes, but not sure if/how to address it on applications.

Any thoughts?

tfarunner wrote:Anyone else have a medical withdrawal for a semester in college on their transcripts? I got a withdrawal passing for all the classes, but not sure if/how to address it on applications.

Any thoughts?

It's not a big deal at all. If it was a physical ailment all you need to do is write a brief addendum without giving too much information to the point of making others uncomfortable (ie: if you had cancer just say you had cancer, don't talk about the agony of chemotherapy).

In truth, you might not even need to name the ailment. For me, I just wrote "due to a serious physical ailment I..." It's critical to note that the ailment no longer affects you (you are fully recovered).

If it was for a mental health reason, it gets trickier. There is still a major stigma, although I know multiple people who who based their personal statements on mental health issues and got into the top schools...

Thanks for the reply. Not anything like cancer, but still very sick. I like the idea about speaking to it in more vague terms and just noting that it has been fully treated and taken care of.

tfarunner wrote:Thanks for the reply. Not anything like cancer, but still very sick. I like the idea about speaking to it in more vague terms and just noting that it has been fully treated and taken care of.

This is what I said "during the fall semester of my junior year, I was diagnosed with a serious physical ailment. With the full cooperation of my school's administration, I withdrew from X courses and granted a medical leave of absence. After treatment, I was restored to perfect health and returned to school."