elizabethh

My son has a gpa of 2.9 overall, 2.7 academic, sat of 1050 (taking again in the fall). He has ADHD which has greatly affected his schoolwork in high school. Question: is the holistic admissions process truly holistic? Should he disclose his ADHD on his application? he will also have played 4 years of football and does volunteer work. he'll be applying for fall 2010.

swissmiss3

I have ADHD too, but I take medicine to help me focus. I did not mention it on my applications. I think the holistic view of applications is very limited, and here's why. I scored 30 on the ACT and have a GPA of 3.59. The first two years of high school, I was fighting cancer twice and depression when a cancer friend died. As you can imagine, I missed a ton of school getting treatments and my grades reflect that lack of instruction. Junior and senior years I have worked my tail off and have nearly a 4.0 from all those semesters, raising my GPA to that 3.59. Even with letters of recommendation from my teachers and counselor who told me they'd mention my illness to explain why my GPA was lower, and one essay about battling cancer, I was rejected by all my favorite colleges except UConn. So much for compassion and a holistic view. So much for overcoming life-threatening adversity. It is a numbers game at the top schools, but others might be a bit more forgiving.

If your son doesn't take meds yet for his ADHD, he might want to start. For me, they make a huge difference in school. They don't make me a zombie or out of it, but I'm able to focus my attention and study far better. I tried several different meds before finding the one that works for me, so if you don't find the right one for your son, keep looking. I take it every morning without fail because I know that if I forget, I'll have a very difficult time paying attention.

I hope this helps you and him. Good luck with his education!