How to find college choices for smart, quirky ADHD kids who are introverted
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Anonymous
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We are just starting the college search and am completely overwhelmed by the choices and where to look. My kid is a junior, gets good grades, is very introverted and veers toward isolation and loneliness. He does have school friends but not a lot of outside of school friends. He plays a sport but doesn’t have much of other outside interests other than video games. Academically, he could do Virginia tech or schools like that but I’m afraid that it may be too big for him. I want him to find some good friends but not be so overwhelmed that he does not try.
We are lucky enough that we could pay for private schools or out of state. I just don’t know where to look other than this forum for lists of smaller, tech-inclined schools. We have a college counselor but they seem to have their favorite schools and may not be casting a broad enough net. Other than this forum and the special needs forum, are there good resources for parents to whittle down choices? |
Anonymous
This sounds like more than ADHD. Could he be on the spectrum? |
Anonymous
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Get the Fiske guide and just start reading. We found a school that sounded like our kid, and though we never visited before acceptance, it is the perfect fit.
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Anonymous
| Op here. He was tested and is not on the autism spectrum. But, he certainly has those social skills deficits. I get his deficits. We have been doing all sorts of services and we’ve been proactive. He wants to go to college, is smart enough to do so and does have friends. I don’t really need more of a diagnosis. Just a good place to look for colleges. |
Anonymous
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Some options to consider - my son is also ADD, national merit semifinalist but doesn’t want high pressure and will benefit from supports. We looked at a lot of schools that offer Honors Colleges - gives him a cohort from the start.
Arizona State U of Arizona Alabama Purdue Penn State U of South Florida TCU |
Anonymous
| + U of South Carolina |
Anonymous
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Stevens Institute in NJ comes to mind. I had a classmate go there who had a similar profile to your son, way back in the day. 4000 undergrad, so not too big.
https://www.stevens.edu/ |
Anonymous
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If you’re on FB, consider joining Parents of College Bound Students with LDs, ADHD, and ASD
https://facebook.com/groups/parentsofcollegeboundstudentswithld/ |
Anonymous
Why would you go somewhere other than Alabama with that amazing NMF deal if it's already on your list? |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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I would not recommend a state school, and definitely not Penn state.
Swarthmore, Haverford would be good choices |
Anonymous
It’s at the top of the list for sure! Along with Oklahoma. But kid wanted to have options so we will compare offers. |
Anonymous
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Does he want engineering or not? That’s a major junction in the decision tree because there aren’t as many small schools with engineering schools and it’s a different school already.
If so, some possibilities are Union, bucknell, Stevens, rose hulman, Harvey mudd. If he could find an rxtracurricular for college I think that would really help. Like maybe the club version of his sport, or a robotics team or something, or a hacking team or even competitive video gaming. It will give him an opportunity to bond with people over doing something rather than just chit chat (which is way harder for the introverts). |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks so much for all these recommendations and resources to start this crazy search! |
Anonymous
| I think any of the top 20 schools would be good. From touring many of them, there are tons of quirky, introverted, smart kids at all of them. |