What do I need to do to return?
The moment you leave, Student Affairs will give you an updated version of your mandate with both new and old requirements. Here was mine (Figure 6):
Figure 6: Version 2 of my mandate, with annotations
In short, once you fulfill the requirements in the updated mandate, you can then enter conversations for a potential return (Anonymous). Student Affairs will then review your case and decide if you’re ready to return based on reports on your progress from outside treatment teams.
The requirements themselves will differ based on your circumstances. While I can’t provide a complete guide to cover every possible situation, here are some steps I took to return that you might take as well.
Outside Treatment/Contacts
If you went on leave due to health reasons, Student Affairs will likely require you to seek some sort of treatment, such as IOP, outpatient therapy, physical health treatment, or psychiatry. If conduct issues were involved, you may also undergo a forensic evaluation from a psychologist licensed to do so, who will be in charge of your care recommendations (Anonymous).
It’s important that you participate fully in the treatment as once you establish communication between your outside provider, they will be giving CMU detailed reports about your progress and whether the provider feels you’re ready to return.
Talking to Student Affairs and CaPS
As you undergo treatment off-campus, stay in contact with both your liaison and CaPS case manager. Keep them both posted on how your treatment is going and find out who specifically in your outside treatment team from which they need information.
Release of Information
The release of information (ROI) is the most important document in the entire return process. This document gives your treatment team back home and your contacts in CaPS and Student Affairs permission to talk to one another and for your treatment team to share info about your medical recovery.
To establish an ROI, you must sign two forms, one from CaPS and one from your outside provider. If your CaPS case manager has not already given you this form, please reach out to them to receive the electronic link. For your outside provider, talk to your therapist or psychiatrist to sign their ROI form. As you do so, make sure you give your outside provider your case manager’s contact information, and vice versa.
Discussing With Parent(s)/Guardian(s) and Student Affairs
Once you have fulfilled Student Affairs’ return requirements, your liaison will likely request a meeting between you, them, and a parent or guardian to get their opinion on whether you’re ready to return.
If so, make sure you and the parent/guardian attending the meeting have agreed on a rough consensus around your readiness to be a CMU student, and on a list of questions and concerns to bring up to Student Affairs. If your parent(s)/guardian(s) have questions about cost, housing, enrollment, the decision date, or anything else, now is the time to address them.
Waiting for the Decision
Ironically, the hardest part of the process is the part where you aren’t doing anything, since the decision might be delayed by everyone involved in your case finding a time to be in the same room at the same time to have a conversation. If you’re curious, see Figures 7 and 8 of when everything happened during my leave, but since it was more truncated than most LOAs, your waits may be longer.
Figure 7: Part 1 of my LOA timeline (2025)
Figure 8: Part 2 of my LOA timeline (2026)
The delay can stretch into the start of next semester depending on timing, but just know that you can still enroll as long as you receive permission to return within the semester’s first two weeks, before the add course deadline. In the meantime, try to keep busy with hobbies, rest, or interaction with friends, and trust that progress is being made toward a decision.
Have Faith
You likely have your heart set on studying at Carnegie Mellon once again, and you may be feeling uneasy at the idea that it might not happen. I hear you, and I can’t take that anxiety away, but I can assure you that all the progress you’ve made and shown to Student Affairs is being recognized.
The day I left, my point person gave me these parting words:
“We want you to return.”
It wasn’t a guaranteed “the leave will be lifted,” but a promise that it was being taken so I would one day be equipped to potentially return. And I want you to hold onto that too, that every person on your decision team is indeed rooting for you to come back.
And know this
It is not the end of the world if you find out you cannot return. You may feel disappointed and anguished, and that is understandable, but one rejection from Student Affairs is not a deathblow to your studies at CMU. They may simply believe that you need some more time away or some additional treatment, so definitely talk to your liaison to unpack their reasoning. In the meantime, try to engage yourself with something meaningful at home, whether it be working, volunteering, or taking outside classes. Speaking of which:
Transfer Credits
If you choose to take classes outside CMU during your leave and want them to count towards your CMU requirements, submit the syllabus or class description to your academic advisor(s) and department head(s). Unfortunately, don’t expect approval for credit transfer to be likely, as CMU is notoriously strict in this respect.
If you don’t know where to begin to look for classes, your advisor(s) can help you look for classes at local colleges in your hometown (Anonymous).