Where are your high achieving dyslexia students applying to college?

[Anonymous]

DC is not applying this year but we are planning ahead to find the right fit. DC is dyslexic and dysgraphic (with an IEP) and is a solid B+ student in mostly regular classes with one or two AP and honors classes thrown in. Taking the ACT practice exams but no scores yet. Wants to focus on earth science and atmospheric sciences. Has a lot of impressive EC activities and athletics, including leadership and professional level paid accomplishments. Plays two sports at the varsity level. Looking at schools like College Park, Virginia Tech, UVA, Rutgers, NC state, and other larger schools that have a BS in earth/atmospheric studies. Are there any smaller colleges to consider that would support a student with this profile? Higher achieving with learning disabilities but not straight A and not a plethora of AP or DE classes yet.

[Anonymous]

Interested in this too. DC has a similar profile. Only in 10th so just starting to feel things out, but curious what others are considering.

[Anonymous]

Our DC with this profile is at W&M

[Anonymous]

I have a kid with similar profile. Wants a big state school with sports so applying to Tech, JMU, Penn State, Delaware, WVU, Miami of Ohio, Clemson, NC State. With an A- average I think a lot of these are reaches. Targets are JMU, Delaware, Miami. WVU a safety.

[Anonymous]

Havrard

[Anonymous]

My kid with a similar profile (plus dyscalculia, fun!) has a bit lower GPA in private school. He is applying now. He is looking at small schools where he won’t fall through the cracks. He is essentially assuming he’ll not use accommodations in college, aside from using audiobooks where it makes sense to (long novels for lit classes). He hasn’t been good about using them in high school so we’ll just let it go.

So he is looking for a school where he feels he can thrive and be successful as he is, and where there is intellectual rigor and curiosity without being a pressure cooker. He is also very interested in knowing the school has good internship programs and career services.

So basically…he is treating his search as any other kid would. Trying to match up his interests/preferences to where he is likely to get in.

[Anonymous]

Any big school can be made small.

My kid with learning disabilities is thriving at UMD. They just earned a 91 on a test, and the class average was 80.

They struggled in the past but UMD’s support has been beneficial to them.

UDEL
Muhlenberg in PA
SMCM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Havrard

You're not just a jackass but a trite, unfunny jackass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Havrard

You're not just a jackass but a trite, unfunny jackass.

I’m dyslexic and so is my daughter. I had a chuckle. Dyslexics can have a sense of humor too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Havrard

You're not just a jackass but a trite, unfunny jackass.

I’m dyslexic and so is my daughter. I had a chuckle. Dyslexics can have a sense of humor too.

I’m dyslexic and so is my son, and I didn’t even see the joke because I really don’t see the innards of words!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Havrard

You're not just a jackass but a trite, unfunny jackass.

I’m dyslexic and so is my daughter. I had a chuckle. Dyslexics can have a sense of humor too.

I have two dyslexic kids and it made me laugh out loud! This is how I see my kids — one of whom is very high-achieving, the younger is still too young to tell so we’ll see — write all the time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Havrard

DD spells like this. But she also has a 4.0 in her senior year. And she's an English major!

Half her professors say they also have dyslexia and/or ADHD, so they value substance and don't hold the spelling against her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any big school can be made small.

My kid with learning disabilities is thriving at UMD. They just earned a 91 on a test, and the class average was 80.

They struggled in the past but UMD’s support has been beneficial to them.

UDEL
Muhlenberg in PA
SMCM

Would you mind expanding on UMDs supports? UMD is one of my kid's target schools - currently doing very well with a 504 at an FCPS high school.

[Anonymous]

I would encourage your student to seek every and ALL accommodations they can in college. They don't have to use them for each and every test/midterm or evaluation - but having them set up and knowing you can use them is a huge benefit to your student.

Our student with a similar profile didn't like using accommodations in high school but has been a huge self-advocate in college - they determine per class what they will use - and the accommodations office was very helpful during the initial meeting to provide additional ideas for resources they had never used or thought to use. It's a small school - we needed to ensure they wouldn't fall through the cracks. With that said - there seems to be a drain on testing centers and personnel to manage accommodations at schools - even UMD - has such a large demand that it has been difficult to maintain - I would work on getting your student to be their own best advocate for what they need - regardless of the place they land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is not applying this year but we are planning ahead to find the right fit. DC is dyslexic and dysgraphic (with an IEP) and is a solid B+ student in mostly regular classes with one or two AP and honors classes thrown in. Taking the ACT practice exams but no scores yet. Wants to focus on earth science and atmospheric sciences. Has a lot of impressive EC activities and athletics, including leadership and professional level paid accomplishments. Plays two sports at the varsity level. Looking at schools like College Park, Virginia Tech, UVA, Rutgers, NC state, and other larger schools that have a BS in earth/atmospheric studies. Are there any smaller colleges to consider that would support a student with this profile? Higher achieving with learning disabilities but not straight A and not a plethora of AP or DE classes yet.

B+ and only a couple AP classes seemed very unlikely for UVA or VT acceptance