🔺 r/gradadmissionsuRonPaul42069·59 days ago
How to explain an extremely long gap due to mental illness?
I'm 32 years old and am getting ready to apply to PhD programs. I did not do great in my first year of college when I was 18 and dropped out due to severe bipolar disorder, which had me in and out of mental hospitals for a decade. I was not working or studying in that entire period. I came back to school 3 years ago, at age 29, and have since excelled academically and gained significant research experience. I have heard there is a quiet discrimination in grad school admissions as they are reluctant to accept students who admit to having mental illness. So what do I tell them? What do I do if I get an interview and am asked about what I was doing in those years before I re-enrolled? Should I be blunt and admit I was a complete loser who did nothing with his life for years, or is there a way to spin it to make myself look like a better candidate? submitted by /u/RonPaul42069 to r/gradadmissions [link] [comments]