Should I just give up now????

somemom
Fri, 16 May 2008 13:34:07 +0000

It’s true at the UCs and the same standard applies for the MCAT.

In very simplified terms:

In HS a disability is defined based on a student being impaired in performing to THEIR POTENTIAL- so if your IQ is 150 and your “processing” is 120, you have a 30 point (is that 2 std deviations?) delay. This causes some disconnects when processing things you are reading; one ends up reading the same passage over and over; the net result is slow reading. Think of an average guy with an IQ 100, he would process at 70, defined as ■■■■■■■■, a big difference.

In the UCs and the MCAT you must perform substantially below ( I forget the precise educationese definition) average people without accomodations…so that 150 IQ would have to perform at a 70-80 IQ level to merit accomodations in the post HS environment; yet the only people with that huge a discrepency would likely be some one who is physically handicapped and unable to fill in the bubbles otherwise they would not likely be at Berkeley or UVA or Michigan. The population taking the MCAT and attending a top college would likely mostly be higher IQs and not performing sub-100 level, I would think.

I have one kid with an LD who is every bit as bright as her siblings: the SAT with extra time, she still did not finish it, but her score was statistically identical to her siblings who finished with plenty of time. Her extra time did not give her the ability to perform better than she should have, I don’t think any extra time would have raised her siblings scores by any measurable amount, they did not run out of time.

At her top UC she will get lose .2-.4 GPA points in classes (B+ instead of A-, A- instead of A) where she runs out of time on exams. She can still get a 3.5+, but her GPA and MCAT scores will not be as high as she has the intellectual capacity to produce, as she is too slow in reading the passages- she does not have trouble doing things or understanding things, she just has to read & reread the passages; she does not think slowly, she just reads slowly.

Either she will do enough to overcome that and her outside life experiences will make her an acceptable candidate, or they won’t. If she does not get in anywhere, she’ll adapt and pursue other fields, but she would be an outstanding physician; she has the fascination, the curiousity, the interest, etc.

But then she is also not on this board talking about a rough first year and personal problems affecting her; she knew it would be difficult to adapt in timed testing at a large public and she is doing her best and not whinging ;)