My daughter will be a HS junior next year in suburban downstate NY. Has ADHD, and probably some slight learning disabilities. Has an IEP in cotaught regular level classes, no honors, or AP. She is trying Chemistry next year because she has some interest in possibly trying AP bio as a senior. Ending 10th grade has about an 84 average. Took the Pre ACT last year, but I don’t think she really tried, got a score of 10. Doesn’t really study at home, but does complete assignments for the most part. Probably has a lot of growing and maturing to do in the next couple of years. Did do some Jewish youth group stuff, and was part of a Holocaust survivor interview and documentary making program in Freshman year, but didn’t really do much this year. She is working as a camp counselor this summer. I read a lot on this board about “twice exceptional” kids. Kids who have ADHD but score 1300 or more on SATs, etc. , or do amazing extracurriculars, or still take high level classes. I do not think this will be her. I think she is willing to try taking the SAT or ACT with preparation, but not sure how she will do. Does anyone have any suggestions for colleges, preferably in the Northeast, that might be a fit for a kid like her, we’d like to start looking around a little? She does not really seem to know what she is interested in yet, though she has mentioned nursing, but not sure if it will be a good fit. I think she will need a program that offers a little more support, such as mentoring, special programs, etc, not just your typical disability accommodations, but I’m open to suggestions. She says she wants to go to UConn, which I know has a good ADHD program, but I don’t think she can get in with her academic profile!
I would definitely look into Curry College. They have the type of program you are looking for. Not too far from Curry is Dean if you are going to be looking in that area.
There is also a program at Mitchell College called the Thames program that is like a transition program if you think she isn’t really read for the independence of college yet.
Marist, Hofstra, Landmark, Curry, McDaniel to stay in the NE.
I believe Landmark’s focus is primarily here.
Best of luck.
You say Northeast - but mention UCONN. I know Arizona (not NE) has the Salt Center - unlikely you’d have interest given the region but just a big school that is well known for its offerings (which come at extra cost).
I’m sure some folks in your situation will add to schools to look at.
All are welcome at College Confidential, including kids with diagnoses and very “regular” academics!
Mercyhurst was the first school that came to mind for me. It’s in Erie, PA, so I’d still call it the northeast, but definitely on the western tip of it. They offer a lot of supports that are included in the regular tuition and fees, plus some additional fee-based offerings for even more support. Registered nursing is one of the majors available.
And then I started digging into some other possibilities. I didn’t realize it, but in College Navigator (the feds’ website) under the General Enrollment tab, there is a statistic called, “Undergraduate students enrolled who are formally registered with office of disability services, Fall 2023.” And seeing that Mercyhurst has less than 3%, it made me wonder if I was confusing it with Marywood (with a 20.5%).
Since I often use the relative popularity of a major at a given college as a proxy for strength (with the thinking that students would flock toward stronger departments at a given university), it made me think that schools with a higher percentage of undergrads registered with the office of disability services might be a sign of students showing up where they feel supported or where they have word of mouth that others have been well-supported.
So although many of these programs don’t necessarily make national lists (which is understandable, as many colleges don’t charge extra fees for their support services, and these supports do cost the colleges money), these are some of the schools where I would start my search.
All of these schools are classified as residential schools (on the College Board’s Big Future website) and the list is sorted from highest to lowest percentages.
School
State
% undergrads formally registered w/office of disability services
I many cases, those students are just registering for accommodations (time on tests, physical accomodations, etc). Often those students will just look into how easy the disabilities office is to work with, but not be looking for specific supports. The tricky part comes when a student needs more than accommodations, since IEPs don’t transfer to colleges. Getting additional services usually requires a completely different program than what the majority of Student Disability Services offices provide.
For example, Curry’s program (PAL) provides specific 1:1 support as well as small group classes about meta cognition. They also have a different program (SAIL) for students that need social supports.
I just read somewhere the 20% of incoming students are enrolled in the PAL program, so it should be very high on the list, but it’s not even mentioned.
Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions. I’ve heard curry college mentioned here before. Is it a “special needs” school? Or is it just a regular school that offers supportive programs.
Curry’s percentage is 8.57% (source). I think I drew an arbitrary limit of about 10% or so when listing schools.
And as an indication that the percentage isn’t an absolute indicator (but perhaps more of a clue), here is a description of Mercyhurst’s Academic Advantage Program, which is but one of its forms of supports:
The Academic Advantage Program is a structured, inclusive academic program designed to help with the transition to college while fostering skills that encourage academic success and career readiness. Students participating in the program receive consistent one-on-one support from a professional student success coach throughout their enrollment and design an individualized academic plan based on their strengths, abilities, and interests. Weekly sessions help students acquire more effective and efficient study skills, promote self-awareness, and foster independence to increase academic achievement. The Academic Advantage Program is a fee-based service and available to all majors and college years. (source)
So even though its percentage is less than 3%, I still think it could be a good option.
But essentially I was digging through College Navigator because most searches online for schools with good supports result in the same 10-15 schools, and I strongly suspect that more than that many schools can provide the types of supports that OP seems to be seeking for their student. This percentage is one data point that I thought could be a clue to find more.
Here’s another list for OP with more descriptions - that should be validated of course.
I know Landmark is 100% designed for students who learn differently - as they note.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you are seeking that.
In the search box, type in ADHD so those schools come up just for that. You have geographic constraints but another school might pop or just seeing the various offerings and costs, if any, might be helpful to you.
It’s definitely not a special needs school ( I would put Landmark in that category), but has robust support programs. It tends to be a college that kids in my area choose if they are athletes, but need EF support, as the suppport is more individualized (more than just accommodations). I know about a 1/2 dozen kids that have gone to Curry, and all seemed happy, whether they needed support or not. One now has a sibling attending as well. Two have done the summer early start and highly recommend it.
You mentioned nursing as a possibility. I have a friend of a friend who has taught nursing at Curry for over a decade. She says it’s a great program with a lot of support.
I just checked their NCLEX pass rate and it’s pretty high. Higher than the national average. I’d say if nursing is a real consideration, it’s definitely a school to consider, as staying in a nursing program is as hard as getting into one, and Curry seems to have the services to facilitate that. Considering it’s the most common major, you can assume that a good percentage of those students used support services. Also, have her look at the admission requirements to make sure she takes all the classes she will need.
The group that runs this site also has a Facebook page that is pretty helpful and includes parent experiences of a number of these schools, so that may be useful to OP as well.