Last December, I had to leave my old college with a mess of incompletes after a suicidal episode and a number of other mental health-related meltdowns. Obviously, it made the most sense to take some time to really focus on taking care of myself, rather than continuing to take classes elsewhere immediately. Recently, I’ve been feeling well enough to start looking at some other schools for transfer possibilities. I know I won’t be well enough to do this anytime soon. I’ve been emailing counselors at a few places about my situation and to let them know that I probably won’t even apply for at least another year while I sort myself out. I need to know that I’m healthy enough to leave home before I really immerse myself in classes.
I’ve also been asking these counselors whether my most recent transcripts are going to be too big a hindrance for me to even try applying. To this concern, I’ve received roughly the same answers all across the board: yes, they will be looking at my most recent academic activity (which would be my unfinished autumn semester), but it is highly recommended that I take a preferably three courses each semester that I miss before I apply anywhere. However, I’ve honestly been wondering how detrimental it would be to ease myself into that kind of full-time student life and spend my time off doing other meaningful activities? Like getting papers and articles published, volunteering, internships, doing independent research projects, and maybe (okay, most likely) taking a few classes as well. I don’t mean to make myself seem as though I’m incapable of accomplishing anything in higher education. I had a pretty solid 3.73 CGPA at the end of my sophomore year (spring 2014), and I’ve always been passionate about my classes. I just know that this process of bettering myself is going to take a lot of time, and I want to make sure I devote myself as fully to that as I can, while also trying to prepare in other ways to return to school. I know a lot of colleges allow students to send essays explaining their occupation during gap years, which is why I’m contemplating anything like this. Thoughts?
