UT Austin medical withdrawal: organizing a mental health request

Identify the request, student category and current deadline

UT's Healthyhorns page distinguishes routes by student category and timing. It describes the academic dean's role before the ordinary withdrawal deadline and UHS or CMHC involvement in medical or mental health requests, with separate instructions for graduate and international students. Open the current semester's table instead of borrowing a date from another student's situation.

Write down your school or college, the semester, whether you are asking about some courses or the entire semester, and the office that confirmed the route. If a deadline is close, say that in the first contact and ask what must be received by that date. Do not treat an inquiry as a submitted application.

Sources: UT Austin Healthyhorns: Medical Withdrawals and Course Load Reductions

Build the application packet from UT's instructions

The university's instructions distinguish dropping selected courses through a course load reduction from withdrawing from all courses. They also describe the application, required signatures and supporting documentation. Use the form linked for your student category and ask the coordinator if an instruction is unclear.

UT's instructions request current-semester medical documentation. For care outside UHS or CMHC, they describe an outside provider's signed letter or records containing the specified information. Give the treating office the actual university instructions and deadline. Ask what the clinician can appropriately document and how the material will be delivered; do not assume a new appointment will produce a letter.

Sources: UT Austin: Current Semester Medical Withdrawal/Course Load Reduction Instructions

Ask about consequences through the responsible offices

Healthyhorns flags financial aid, housing, student academic employment, immigration status and veteran benefits as areas that may be affected. Treat that list as a contact plan. Ask the relevant university office what a proposed change could mean before making assumptions about refunds, eligibility or future enrollment.

Keep these answers alongside the application, with the office and date attached. If you need a signature or a separate request, make it its own checklist item. A counselor's recommendation, an academic signature and a benefits-office answer solve different parts of the process. This page cannot make those academic, financial or immigration decisions for you.

Sources: UT Austin Healthyhorns: Medical Withdrawals and Course Load Reductions; UT Austin: Current Semester Medical Withdrawal/Course Load Reduction Instructions

Confirm receipt and keep track of unfinished items

Use the delivery instructions on the current Healthyhorns page and ask the receiving office whether the packet is complete. Save the submitted version and the acknowledgment in a private location. The linked PDF and current web page list different office-room details, so confirm the current destination before delivering paperwork in person.

Your tracking note should distinguish submitted, received, additional information requested and decided. If the office asks for more material, clarify exactly what is missing and whom to contact. Keep arranging care separately through your treating team; the university's academic review does not establish a treatment or follow-up appointment.

Sources: UT Austin Healthyhorns: Medical Withdrawals and Course Load Reductions; UT Austin: Current Semester Medical Withdrawal/Course Load Reduction Instructions

Common questions