<p>Hi all, my daughter (a rising sophomore) is dealing with some health issues which require her to stay close to home for her treatment. She is taking a medical leave of absence for the year. (Her college is 1000 miles away.) Would appreciate any advice, etc. for those who have been in this situation.</p>
<p>I haven’t exactly been in your shoes, though do have some advice, and that is to have your D be as productive as her health allows. </p>
<p>Without knowing how limited your D is, here are a couple of ideas:</p>
<p>If possible, maybe she could take a class or two at a nearby college over the next year. Make sure they will transfer in beforehand.</p>
<p>Or, maybe she could work a part time job or volunteer somewhere around her appointments and rest restrictions.</p>
<p>If nothing else, have her read, read, and read some more. Or, listen to books on tape. Or watch/listen to movies in her foreign language. And, write a diary about her health experiences. It will keep her intellect sharp.</p>
<p>The issue may already have been settled, but often there are advantages to taking a personal leave of absence rather than a medical leave of absence, even if the reason for the leave is medical, because the student doesn’t have to pass any medical scrutiny to get back in.</p>
<p>The only advantages of a medical leave of absence are that you can take it at any time during the semester and do not need to be in good academic standing, whereas a personal leave of absence usually can only be started very early in a semester or during the period between semesters, and is usually available only to students in good standing.</p>
<p>Does the treatment keep her in bed or can she attend classes locally at another school?</p>
<p>If she is able to go to college but has to stay home for treatment, may be a transfer?</p>
<p>Before taking any classes locally, the student must check with her “main” school that this will not invalidate her medical leave. Someone posted a sad story here recently of an MIT student who was not allowed to return after a medical leave, because of local college classes he had taken while on leave.</p>
<p>I have no advice, but I do have good wishes.</p>
<p>Good advice above about finding out precisely what she can and cannot do to maintain her medical leave. Maybe audit classes at Northwestern or the U of C, if she wishes and is up to it?</p>
<p>First of all, I am sending wishes for your daughter’s easy and speedy recovery.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry so much about your daughter’s academics. Time off is not a bad thing. If she wants to/is able to take classes, maybe something off beat that she would love to explore…glass blowing, flower arranging, a writing circle?</p>
<p>Is she worried about being socially isolated? If her treatment does not compromise her ability to be around people, could she volunteer at something near and dear to her heart, especially if it is something that could help develop her resume? Maybe becoming involved in a local political campaign ( if not a politician, maybe on an issue like a school levy?) or fundraising for a local charity? Could she volunteer at her old high school, maybe doing tutoring or helping with college application essays/scholarship searches in the guidance office?</p>
<p>There’s no rush to get anywhere! The most important thing is get her health issues under control. </p>
<p>Good wishes for a speedy recovery.</p>
<p>pizza. One of my kids had a medical problem and left mid semester.</p>
<p>She returned and started another semester and had a relapse. the college had no sympathy and said she should have known she would relapse. We lost all our money for that semester.</p>
<p>just one experience</p>
<p>Out of the box: but, if she needs to be around home for an appreciable amount of time, and it could run a year or two? I’d consider enrolling her in one of the excellent universities in the area… unless she is too ill to do even that.</p>
<p>Either way, I’m sorry she is going through this and wish her a speedy and full recovery.</p>
<p>Wishing your D a full & speedy recovery</p>
<p>No advice, but also wishing for good health for your daughter.</p>
<p>No experience with this–just sending good wishes to your D. Hope she’ll recover ASAP.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about your daughter and wish her a speedy recovery. Not knowing the nature of her illness and treatment plan, I offer some general advice:</p>
<p>1.Focus on getting her healthy. Listen to her for what she needs for support.</p>
<p>2.Set a reward for when she gets healthy. Travel is great. Let her decide where she wants to go when she gets healthy. She can research and plan the trip if that’s her thing.</p>
<p>3.Don’t worry about the academics. It will work itself out.</p>
<p>4.Very important, don’t forget about supporting your son in his life. It is easy to do when you are so focused on your daughter’s health.</p>
<p>I don’t have advice, but do wish her a speedy recovery. I don’t think she needs to do anything academic. If she’s worried about a gap in her resume perhaps she can find some volunteer work she could do.</p>
<p>Best of wishes, PG. A dd to the recommendation that you support your son, that you ALSO take care of yourself and your DH. You can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself first.</p>
<p>My d took a year off when she had to retake a class.
What worked for her was while she was retaking the class elsewhere( I had her retake whole sequence of Ochem, instead of just spring term), she was also allowed to take some courses that would count for her degree that her school didn’t offer. ( it helped that as a very small school, they didn’t have divisions like geology)
This was nice as it gave her even more wiggle room when she came back and might be an option for your D.</p>
<p>justdafacts gives excellent advice. Best wishes to your D for a full and speedy recovery!</p>
<p>PG - wishing for your D’s speedy recovery. Agree with others that you need to take care of yourself. If she is mobile while she is recovering, it maybe a good opportunity for you to spend some quality time with her.</p>
<p>I know people who have taken (medical) leaves of absences from your D’s school. Your D should be in contact with her class dean. Depending on her situation she may want to authorize you, the parent, to be able to speak to the school on her behalf. She should find out if there are “special rules” that will apply to her when she returns. Any courses taken else where need to be pre-authorized in writing. (For the record, I am not the only one who finds Wellesley “special” when transferring in credits). In the long run she may have to decide which class year she walks with (or not depending on her credit situation). </p>
<p>On the bright side this isn’t happening in the middle of the semester.</p>