First Gen URM - Chance me

One of my sons had a profile very much like yours (ADHD, comparatively low GPA, high ACT). He wrote about his ADHD in his essay in the context of his farm job. He is not however URM or 1st gen. We were unsure of how he’d do with college admissions; but in the end he got into 8 of the 10 schools he applied to, including two of his reaches. (the two reaches he got into, in case that helps were Emory and Macalester, and the two he was rejected from were Colorado College and Davidson).

A couple of tangential points: one, some colleges, including Emory drop 9th grade grades and recalculate GPA, fyi. And two, my son found that focusing on smaller schools made sense for him as there was less to manage with them vs. a larger school. I of course realize you may be entirely different, but if you have a harder time with executive function and organization, dealing with a large impersonal bureaucracy might be tougher for you than most.

Another completely tangential point: Washington & Lee offers 40 (I think?) full ride scholarships every year, and they are really keen on increasing their diversity – because they really need to. It is clearly not the right school for everyone, but it is not as much on the radar screen as some other smaller, similarly selective colleges so if you think you might be interested it is worth looking into.

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