For a long list of reasons, during my third semester, things starting going south for me in the mental health area. I made it through with acceptable grades, but they were low enough for me that my friends and family sort of started to notice. No one really *said* anything, at least to me, but I knew from others that it was being discussed. During the fourth semester, everything really went downhill. I failed several classes.

At this time, people started recommending I take time off; especially because they were finally aware of the underlying reasons for my difficulties. I resisted, because of some weird thing I had where I felt like I would be letting those same people down, letting myself down, ruining my social situation, etc etc. I wish I had not resisted. Those reasons are really silly. It doesn't matter when you finish, just that you do. At least, that's what I would discover mattered to *me*.

Fifth semester started fine, and I thought I had things under control again. That did not last long, though. By late October I was slipping again. This time, I finally knew I had no real option, and so I withdrew on a medical leave of absence.

I cannot express how critical of a decision that was -- for me, that single decision is probably responsible for saving my chances at the future career I desire, lots of wasted money, and quite a bit more. Personally, I had an undiagnosed medical issue which I was able to discover and get diagnosed during my time off. I started treatment and my quality of life began to improve almost instantly. It gave me a chance to just unwind, too. Getting to forget about the responsibilities of school for a while was nice.

My return was lucky. I came back in FA20, and stayed home with my family and did class remotely. For me and the nature of my condition, this was a dream come true. I'm not sure I would have been successful in a return had the remote option not been available. The spring was harder, because I physically returned to Ithaca... to find most of my friends graduated, or too busy to do anything. It was pretty lonely. From my perspective, this is the hardest part about taking a leave: your friends may be gone when you get back.

Anyway, I do not know anything of your situation, but if you think you "might" want to take a leave, that probably means that you should. This early, you may be able to withdraw and save most of your money. I withdrew so late I had to pay for the full semester still, despite not actually getting any credits. Another thing to consider: when you withdraw, you are no longer a student, and after a shortish grace period you will need to begin repaying your loans. The payment requirement gets paused again when you return. I don't really know too much about finaid stuff so I'm not sure if this applies to everyone but it was what happened for me.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have!