DMelanogaster

I am following up to say that my son was just accepted EDII to his first-choice, top Eastern LAC. Although he is a legacy (I went there) we're, well, a little shocked, given the various "issues" he presented with. This school has pretty good resources for ADHD and, after being reassured that it is no shame to declare his disability at this point (and my having found on the web and shown him a statistic that approximately 10% of the students at this school have disclosed LD/ADHD (!), he is very willing to do so. )

(by the way, I have a friend who teaches at NYU and she tells me that at the beginning of each semester numerous students hand her 504 letters for accommodations. I guess I was naive; I knew nothing about this trend in the colleges. It's a different world from the one I grew up in!)

So anyway, at this point, we are very happy and grateful to Cool Liberal Arts College for seeing my son's potential! good luck to you all who are dealing with this process with its complications!

nyquist

I don't know how accurate the data is, but the College Navigator web site

College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics

shows data for "Undergraduate students enrolled who are formally registered with office of disability services" under the General Information tab. To find a college, enter the college name in the search entry line.

rowkid

Once you are allowed extra time at your school, be sure your child uses it, document this, then have the teachers fill out the teacher recommendation/extra information form (and sign it) documenting that your child uses the extra time in class. The SAT won't tell you to do this. The form is on their site however and is definitely taken into consideration.

AnonyMom

Absolutely, rowkid. We submitted more than a dozen of those letters when appealing a denial of appropriate accommodation and won. The teachers' observations add something important that the ETS/CB appears to value.

Sudsie

I thought it was time to resurrect this thread as it discussed important issues!

D disclosed her ADHD to all but her safety (and that was because she sent that application out before we made the decision) and was accepted at all 3 colleges, 2 with significant merit awards. In her case we decided to disclose because she spent the last 2 years of HS at an alternative school for nontraditional students rather than at her hypercompetitive local public school, and her GPA (3.55) was lower than her SAT scores (2190) would suggest. She put a small statement at the end of her resume talking about the advantages and challenges associated with her ADHD. I would be happy to PM that statement if someone wants to read it.

lisztserve

Sudsie, glad you had a good outcome. We were advised by GC, college counselor and various informed parents NOT to disclose. Sounds like your D learned to manage ADHD, which is what colleges really want to know. My S continues to struggle, details of which might raise red flags. It killed me though to know that his mediocre grades in tough classes could be read as ordinary old "underachievement" when there was so much more going on...and I'll always wonder if the decisions would have been different.

Sudsie

I'd say she's made progress in managing her ADHD, but wouldn't say she's completely learned to manage it! Based on aptitude her GPA should have been significantly higher. And we still need to see how she actually performs in college. Although she's taking a gap year first, so she's got a year more for that frontal lobe to mature a bit more!

skier29

lisztserve - oh how I share your thoughts on that! I could have written your post! Wishing the best for both our boys. Still waiting here for 3 more decisions.

roseabella

Sudsie - I would like to see that statement. My youngest of four has ADHD and although he is in the 11th grade, I plan to disclose in his college applications, most probably in his personal statement. He has come such a long way with accommodations and received all A's last quarter. He wants to be a doctor and I support him all the way. I actually fought to allow him to repeat 5th grade because his birthday fell 2 days before the cut off in the new city to which we moved. The school he was attending did not want to do this because he was doing fine academically, however, his maturity level was more that of a first grader. He has been managing with counseling and a lot of love and patience -- this is the first year he even tried Adderrall -- and he only takes it occasionally. The biggest thing is that I am wholeheartedly for disclosure because it shows that your child was not on an even playing field because of his or her ADHD. I describe it as juggling five balls while everyone else is juggling two. I disclosed for my eldest who had a nonverbal learning disability (diagnosed in 11th grade) and he was accepted at several good colleges and received a merit scholarship to the one he chose to attend. This is just part of who they are and disability support in college is so important for a successful college transition. So I say - disclose - and be proud. I look at ADHD as just nature's way of helping the brain to evolve in order to keep up with and build on all the rapid technological, scientific and other innovations in our ever changing global society.

Sudsie

Hi, Roseabella,

I'll PM you that statement...and good luck with the whole process!

Another poster who PM'd me asked whether she'd only applied to schools with strong LD support. We definitely crossed off our list several schools that the counselor said did NOT have strong LD support, and we visited the disability offices at every school once we had decided to disclose. BTW, it was very clear that the disability offices woud not share into with the admissions people, and we had no sense that anyone was keeping track of this--so it's not a big deal scheduling that visit even if you don't plan to reveal. Her final decision was in part influenced by comparison of a great disability office with a mediocre one.

The counselor suggested that she look at schools known for their LD programs, like Curry and Landmark. D refused.

BTW I noticed how much of this I wrote with "we" instead of "she." I really did drive a lot of the college application process--because she was not doing it on her own. I did insist that she take the lead when speaking with admissions or disability people and of course she wrote her own essays (with subsequent adult feedback). I'm aware that many kids have the drive and motivation to do this themselves, but D is not one of them with her EF issues.

NewYork1994

Hi all,

I'm a senior with ADHD in the midst of applying ED to Cornell. I was diagnosed with it in Kindergarten, so I've learned to cope with it for the most part, but it was enough of a struggle that it has made me want to become a psychologist or psychiatrist so I can help other people to overcome their problems or disorders as well. I have a GPA of 3.73 unweighted and a 2240 on the SAT's and I'm an officer of 3 clubs, but my ADHD can still sometimes make my work take much longer for me to do. If I were to disclose that I have ADHD in my essay for Cornell, it wouldn't be to explain shortfallings, but would instead be to explain a personal reason why I really want to be a psych major. My parents think I shouldn't disclose because ADHD can be seen as a disability and a huge negative, but every guidance counselor at my school thinks I should disclose given my personal reasons and I think so too, but I'm still uncertain.

Should I disclose, or would a competitive school like Cornell look at ADHD as a disadvantage?

happykidsmom

I don't claim to have it all figured out, by far. However, my son has been disclosing his disabilities since he was in middle school applying for elite summer programs and scholarships. He has won every scholarship he's applied for so far, has been accepted to highly selective summer programs on full scholarship and has won lots of national scholarships. His GPA is nowhere near a 4.0 and he is not even in the top 10% of his class. He has decent, but far from perfect, testing (over a dozen AP's, but only four 5's, mostly 4's and two or three 3's). He is now applying to tippy top schools. We will see how that goes. However, I firmly believe that if you show that you have achieved and excelled in spite of your disabilities, colleges will look at what you have accomplished rather than focusing on your shortcomings. Good luck! I can't wait to see where everyone lands!

pinkmom

For those of you that did disclose a learning disability, did you disclose it in the additional information section of the common app? And if so, approximately how long and how detailed were you? Also, would you recommend disclosing specific diagnosis or keep it a bit more general? Thank you!

cmscribe

Our son has ADD (non hyperactive type). He has solid grades but SATs only in the high 500s. Our counselor advised us to disclose ADD in the additional information section of the Common App, but said it should be done in a positive way, highlighting the coping strategies that he has used to achieve academic success. Interested in any feedback on this approach.

nobreaks

Not only should you disclose it, you should highlight it. It is an excellent hook, even more so than being AA. Happykidsmom's post says it all. My neighbor's kids (with 4.0 and good EC/leadership) have had a hard time getting into any selective/free summer programs since middle school. I guess they are just not special enough. The elite schools can easily fill their rosters with 4.0/2350 students many times over. They want a story. Overcoming disability is as good as it gets. Congrats!