Gap year explanation

CrushLSAT

Hi All,

So I had to take 2 semesters off at the beginning of my 3rd year in university because I had suffered from severe eating disorder... Although I had recovered from it fully since then (and this gap year happened about 7 years ago) I am planning not to write an extra addendum unless schools specifically ask me to explain about any gap years in my education history (So far I have noticed that Cornell, Duke and NYU ask this).

Would it be ok if I just say that I developed a medical ailment and decided to treat it during the 3rd year instead of talking about the details of the illness? I just don't wanna open a can of worms if I do not have to. I've been looking for some sample addenda explaining about gap year but haven't been successful as of yet... Any feedback on this would be much appreciated!

Alejandro

Hello @CrushLSAT ! Thank you for the question and so sorry you had to go through that. So far, all schools I've applied to have asked me if my undergraduate schooling had been interrupted at some time so definitely do prepare to write a small paragraph on that! I don't think that you have to go into the raw specifics of your eating disorder but I would say it was some sort of eating disorder that you had to take care off. You can also say how you came of that situation a lot stronger, etc. Hope that helps!

ticklemeluu

I also had to take a year off from in college due to getting sick. I did not write an extra addenda - there is a box in the education component of the app that asks if your education was interrupted for any reason, and I just filled that out. I wrote about 3 sentences saying I had to take a medical leave of absence which resulted in my education being interrupted for a total of two semesters. This is also denoted on my transcript by the courses I had to withdraw from. I didnt think it was necessary to go into the details of my illness for purposes of the application, particularly since it was medically related

CrushLSAT

@Alejandro thanks for your feedback!

CrushLSAT

@tlu Thanks for your feedback and glad to hear that a really short and simple response would suffice! I was literally thinking that it would be like a few sentences long like you said lol.

Alejandro

@CrushLSAT simple works too!