I’m a bit of an unusual case, so any opinions on how to address this would be greatly appreciated. I spent three years at a research-intensive Canadian university after high school, during which I struggled constantly with severe mental health problems and as a result didn’t really take a full course load. I then dropped out of that school, took a year off to work and get my act together, and am now reapplying to colleges better aligned with what I think I want to do - i.e. liberal arts colleges.
The Education Progression section of the transfer student Common App asks you to indicate any breaks in progression SINCE secondary school and gives you 250 words to “provide details about the change in progression since secondary school that you indicated above.” How do I justify taking a whole year off in the middle of my college education without belaboring the fact that I had bad depression and anxiety? Do I have to go into personal details and justifications, or is this section really just asking for the facts (took this year off, did this, etc.)?
Any thoughts?