Deciding on college
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Anonymous
OP. Yes. In fact, right from the pre-application college visits, DC did not like small college environments. We visited a handful of publics and a few privates after admissions. This private bubbled up to the top after the visit but he says he still thinks the public school remains his #1 choice. This private is along the lines of your child's SLAC.. more about smaller class sizes, engaged professors, etc. vs services. |
Anonymous
Thanks to PP for recommending a particular group. Can you say what the EF service looks like? Also, how much do these services cost? Less expensive state school + paid support is a really interesting solution! |
Anonymous
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Here's some advantages to a large school: more ways to attend class. Different sections. Miss a lecture? There's another meeting of the class later in the afternoon. It's a large class no one will notice. Not good getting-up in the morning? Create a schedule of classes late in the day. There might even be a night class. Want to drop a class? No need to beg/convince a hand-holding counselor to sign-off on it. Failing? Just drop it. (w/in drop date guidelines) Same with trying-out a class in another major or changing majors. Yes, it takes some or your own research. Actually, initially sign-up for more credits than you're going to keep with the intention of dropping the 1 or 2 classes that are not going well. Love a professor? Hate another? easy to avoid. Need a few more credits to graduate on-time? Lots of classes in the summer.
I found a large school very freeing. Changed my major 3 times and was still able to graduate in 4 years + 1 summer. |
Anonymous
$13,500/semester! Plus another $2500 pre-semester. ouch! Are these costs typical for such services? |
Anonymous
PP again. That's $29,500 for the first year, almost as much as what one would pay for tuition+fees+R&B for most in-state schools in VA! |
Anonymous
| PP - I looked at their website too. Very expensive. And not clear on process. |
Anonymous
| Friend’s son with ADHD/EF was choosing between a small school with a lot of resources (her preference) and a large OOS school. He chose the OOS school, did well though will take a 5th year to graduate mostly because they changed their major. I’d support your kid’s choice. |
Anonymous
"Let them decide" is not the right wording in my opinion in that you have to factor family finances. |
Anonymous
We have a friend whose son made the same choice but ended up failing out of the large OOS school. She wishes he had gone to the SLAC. |
Anonymous
| We had similar discussions. We ended up choosing a large public with a built in program for mild to moderate learning disabilities and ADHD. The program is an added cost but having the built in support made us parents more comfortable. This past year has been great. He has enjoyed the large university, joined a frat, and is living the life, but he does have a lot of support. He is continuing in the program next year, but he is hoping to not need it by junior year. (This is the U of Arizona SALT program). |
Anonymous
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That’s a lot of money!
I’d be inclined to the public. My two kids (one ADD/anxiety the other ADD/depression) are thriving at big state schools. They’ve each really dig into their interests and both have joined smaller communities (clubs, team, LLC). For them, it’s been great. My junior said that even though it was a big, tricky challenge, she was in an internship interview and realized how much she’s grown and gained confidence from tot. Good luck. |
Anonymous
I wouldn’t push for the private school that cost more if that’s not what your kid wants. While the smaller school might have the benefits of the professor knowing their name and harder to hide in class - which might make them more likely to be prepared for class, there could be some cons to smaller environment including more limited class offerings, more limited activity offerings, and smaller pool of people to meet/find friends. Also, your kid still has to be able to break down work assignments, seek out help from professors at office hours, and advocate for themselves. Attending a smaller school doesn’t guarantee your kid will do those things. If there are guardrails you feel are needed so they can fail, but less likely to derail at the larger university be up front. Maybe it’s that they have to be willing to meet with an EF coach weekly the first semester and after that if they feel it’s needed. Maybe for freshman year, they have to authorize you to see grades and encourage and support them in registering for disability services. Encourage them to use office hours, study groups etc before they think there is a problem. Some schools also offer peer mentor programs that a student applies to and is a mentee the first year and applies to be a mentor the next year and those can be general or around a specific interest. There are also residential living communities around themes and interests. Having those touch points at a larger university where it will make it easier for them to connect and feel like it is a smaller school might help them and alleviate some of your concerns. |
Anonymous
haha - yeah, THAT isn't happening! That's more than the extra cost of the private. |
Anonymous
Thanks PP, this looks really interesting and possible solution to worries about my DD. |
Anonymous
| Does the big school have a good Disability Services office? |