What effect will medical withdrawals have on my admissions?

[bomoatchir]

Due to emergency medical circumstances for an extended period, I had to withdrawal from a majority of courses one semester (but was still able to make up a small number of courses) and take a reduced courseload the next semester due to continued treatment making me need to miss class for extended periods. If I have an otherwise normal courseload & transcript following this circumstance with good letters of recommendations, will this negatively effect my grad school admissions?

Edited April 5, 2018 by bomoatchir

[fuzzylogician]

You should be fine. You should have a short explanation somewhere (SOP, accompanying statement, or similar) for what happened; you don't need to give details, just something along the lines of a medical problem that's since been resolved. Bonus points if you can say you've made up the missing credits and have been on an upward trajectory ever since. If you have a trusted letter writer who knows what happened, having them say something might also help. You just want to do enough to assuage any concerns an adcom may have looking at your transcript. Everyone has unexpected problems once in a while, so as long as there's an explanation and there are people vouching for you, most adcom members will understand. (Though, of course, no promises; you never know what a particular person might think at any particular time.)