Best elite school for Disabilities

MissFiskeGuide
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:20:52 +0000

I don’t mean to be disparaging, but having a learning disability will not give you a leg-up in the admissions process at most of the “elite” (USNews top 25?) schools. There are tons of students out there with stellar applications - 4.0+ GPA, perfect standardized test scores, zillions of hours of community service, leadership positions, varsity athletics, glowing recommendations, etc. These schools view the “whole package,” so successful applicants tend to have many strengths, and maybe one or two weaknesses. If you believe that disclosing a learning disability will patch up the weakness in your 9th grade grades, then go ahead… On the other hand, I do not believe that one bad grade in 9th grade will taint your application. I think you would be best served to refrain from mentioning your learning disability, as there are thousands of kids who do not have that “baggage”. Tons of kids make mistakes during freshman year of high school. It seems that you have done very well ever since.

Also, if you plan to apply to elite universities, you really should take at least two subjects of the SAT II or the ACT. Your SAT score is not bad. Did you have extra time for it? Maybe you can improve it, but don’t worry if you can’t.