ADHD on college apps

[Anonymous]

I think you need to consider why you'd be sharing this information, how you think it will affect the thinking of the admissions office. If, for instance, your kid had mediocre grades through high school until he was diagnosed with ADHD and then his grades shot up in the second half of his junior year, I could see disclosing it as a way of explaining why the grades changed so dramatically, and thus why it's reasonable to expect he will continue to perform at that higher level now that his ADHD is being treated. If, in the other hand, your child has always had mediocre grades due to his ADHD and there's no improvement, I wouldn't expect it to help if you disclosed the ADHD, because it doesn't affect the level of academic performance the school could expect from him if admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How low is the GPA? 3.5 or 2.5?

3.5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree not to disclose.

I have a kid with ADHD and even I am very skeptical of kids who don't 'discover' they have a disability until junior year. ADHD affects all aspect of one's life, and if one can manage until that late, it is a mild case.

Agree. It is suspect when kids are diagnosed so late some schools think the parents "bought" the diagnosis to get testing accommodations. I have a sophomore who most likely has ADHD. We have known forever (early testing showed discrepancies that likely pointed to it, combined with things we've seen throughout the years). We never got her diagnosed because she's very bright and has always done well in school. Now she is floundering and we considered diagnosing. I consulted with a neuropsych who said the schools/ testing companies would be skeptical. We thought about what we would do with a diagnosis and whether she really wants extra time, etc. (she says she does not) and decided not to bother. She does drink coffee before every test now, though, and finds it helps. Its a mild stimulant, so is essentially a mild form of self-medication. It has improved her txt scores quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with PP^. It would do neither my kid nor the school any good if we were to hide or mask her ADD and EF Disorder in the admissions process. Any school that would not admit her based on this -- regardless whether we knew it was based on this fact or not -- would not be a good fit.

In addition, I can't believe the attitude that these sort of conditions should be hidden or there's something wrong or defective with kids that have ADD. The only way to effect a change is to advocate for one. Sneaking in or fooling admissions directors is not any way to do this.

Lastly, I call BS on the poster above who doubts that a LD can just be discovered in high school! Many kids with ADD are 2e; that is, that are also extremely bright. They may have coped very well under a medium workload -- even excelled. However, in very competitive schools where the workload is heavy, they may falter. It is only when the As and Bs become Bs and Cs that parents may realize that something is amiss. Even then, getting an appointment to have a Neuropsychologist Exam may take weeks, sometimes months. After that, it takes a while for the results to be written up. So, please take your ignorance elsewhere.

I am very interested in following this thread. Like the poster above, we did not know my DD had an LD until the end of her sophomore year when she was in danger of failing a class. She pulled through; however, damage was already done. Her freshman year had been rocky, but we thought it was due to the fact that she had changed schools. We had no experience whatsoever in identifying potential LDs. Her teachers had never mentioned anything related to a possible LD. Her grades and test scores prior to high school were excellent.

We are still trying to manage her condition. There is no way she would thrive in a school that did not know about this during the admissions process.

[Anonymous]

I'm the parent whose two children disclosed and were not harmed by it. For what it is worth, if you are in public and have an IEP your college counselor knows it and will encourage you to disclose.

[Anonymous]

And even if you get by the college counselor, there are some courses that if your child takes scream "IEP" to college admissions committees. This is well known. Don't believe it if your public counselor says otherwise. I can pull the names of the courses for Langley if you need it. We disclosed so it was a nonissue but there was definitely discussion first and second year about these organizational courses and dual teaching courses, and confined that signalled just via the transcript that the child had an IEP.

[Anonymous]

PP, what classes "scream IEP?" I have a recently diagnosed DS in middle school so want to know what to expect. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree not to disclose.

I have a kid with ADHD and even I am very skeptical of kids who don't 'discover' they have a disability until junior year. ADHD affects all aspect of one's life, and if one can manage until that late, it is a mild case.

Agree. It is suspect when kids are diagnosed so late some schools think the parents "bought" the diagnosis to get testing accommodations. I have a sophomore who most likely has ADHD. We have known forever (early testing showed discrepancies that likely pointed to it, combined with things we've seen throughout the years). We never got her diagnosed because she's very bright and has always done well in school. Now she is floundering and we considered diagnosing. I consulted with a neuropsych who said the schools/ testing companies would be skeptical. We thought about what we would do with a diagnosis and whether she really wants extra time, etc. (she says she does not) and decided not to bother. She does drink coffee before every test now, though, and finds it helps. Its a mild stimulant, so is essentially a mild form of self-medication. It has improved her txt scores quite a bit.

You can treat her ADHD without telling anyone. She is likely to self medicate in college and that can Have disasterous consequences. As someone who was doagnosed later in life because I had good grades, I wish I'd had medication years ago. she doesn't have to flounder and rely on coffee.

[Anonymous]

If I were OP I’d be most concerned about a school where a kid with ADHD will be supported. That may or may not be the most competitive schools.

Has your search taken that into consideration?

[Anonymous]

DC disclosed his LDs and ADHD on his essay and in one of her question. Part of it was to explain why he did not take a foreign language and took 6 classes instead of 7 junior and senior year. He had great test scores and GPA. We felt that if it was a school that would discriminate based on a disability, it was not a school for himself. He was rejected by only one school (a crap shoot school) and waitlisted at another (another crapshoot school),but was accepted to the other four to which he applied (including UMD-CP Honors program). He is currently a freshman in the school that was his best fit overall,so things worked out for him. He has adjusted well. He applied for and received the accommodations that he felt were the ones he needed to keep from his HS IEP. He had an IEP from 2nd through 12th grade and received accommodations from the College Board for all tests.

I think it would be fine for your son to reveal his ADHD in a paragraph (the one that asks if there is anything else) as a way to explain why he struggled in the first two years of HS and has now figured out how to compensate for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a seminar I went to a few months ago, I asked this question of someone who runs a college learning disabilities office. Her advice was NOT to disclose because you can't be sure which admissions people will be biased. There is some stigma about ADHD, whether we like it or not. Her advice was to let the grades and scores stand on their own.

But if you have an IEP, are in a SN school for ADHD, currently benefit from extra time, etc. you may have to disclose which will work to your child's benefit if they need extra time on college exams. Both of my children are signed up with the Office of Disability Services at their universities. They get extra time on exams and soemtimes papers. It's been a huge benefit. BTW, both scores very high on the ACT. First child had 3.4 GPA, second 4.0+. Both in great universities you have heard of.

You don’t disclose until admitted. Nothing a high school sends can mention an IEP or 504, and the admissions tests don’t carry a notation that they were taken with extra time.

A student with a documented disability should absolutely reach out to disability services once accepted or enrolled.

I did not know this info. Now I'm appreciating why so many parents in our school system are seeking 504 plans for their kids in their junior and senior years of high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a seminar I went to a few months ago, I asked this question of someone who runs a college learning disabilities office. Her advice was NOT to disclose because you can't be sure which admissions people will be biased. There is some stigma about ADHD, whether we like it or not. Her advice was to let the grades and scores stand on their own.

But if you have an IEP, are in a SN school for ADHD, currently benefit from extra time, etc. you may have to disclose which will work to your child's benefit if they need extra time on college exams. Both of my children are signed up with the Office of Disability Services at their universities. They get extra time on exams and soemtimes papers. It's been a huge benefit. BTW, both scores very high on the ACT. First child had 3.4 GPA, second 4.0+. Both in great universities you have heard of.

You don’t disclose until admitted. Nothing a high school sends can mention an IEP or 504, and the admissions tests don’t carry a notation that they were taken with extra time.

A student with a documented disability should absolutely reach out to disability services once accepted or enrolled.

I did not know this info. Now I'm appreciating why so many parents in our school system are seeking 504 plans for their kids in their junior and senior years of high school.

Exactly. It's a new trend to get en edge. My FCPS junior knows several kids "diagnosed" this year because they "only had a 3.5 so something must be wrong." They're getting extra time on schoolwork, tests and quizzes, plus the SAT and ACT. It's absolutely disgraceful and the kids flaunt it.

Op, I don't know your kid's situation, but with a 3.5, he's clearly not struggling too much. I wouldn't mention it in the apps to avoid being presumed to be one of those kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, what classes "scream IEP?" I have a recently diagnosed DS in middle school so want to know what to expect. Thanks.

In Middle School, in FCPS— Strategies for Success. Make your MS kid take it anyway. It is amazing at our school.

[Anonymous]

Kids with ADHD can absolutely be in college and shouldn’t be discriminated against.

But they are not usually the most steady students. Their grades typically bounce up and down, as medication and therapy are not silver bullets. They need to be adjusted and attention is hard to sustain over a long period of time, especially in subjects of little sustained interest to the student.

For these reasons my DC with anxiety and ADHD is interested in schools with a quarter system and fewer core classes — because he will have a harder time with classes unrelated to his major.

I’m skeptical of anyone who discovers ADHD late, and makes an instant turnaround upon diagnosis. It just doesn’t work this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a seminar I went to a few months ago, I asked this question of someone who runs a college learning disabilities office. Her advice was NOT to disclose because you can't be sure which admissions people will be biased. There is some stigma about ADHD, whether we like it or not. Her advice was to let the grades and scores stand on their own.

But if you have an IEP, are in a SN school for ADHD, currently benefit from extra time, etc. you may have to disclose which will work to your child's benefit if they need extra time on college exams. Both of my children are signed up with the Office of Disability Services at their universities. They get extra time on exams and soemtimes papers. It's been a huge benefit. BTW, both scores very high on the ACT. First child had 3.4 GPA, second 4.0+. Both in great universities you have heard of.

You don’t disclose until admitted. Nothing a high school sends can mention an IEP or 504, and the admissions tests don’t carry a notation that they were taken with extra time.

A student with a documented disability should absolutely reach out to disability services once accepted or enrolled.

I did not know this info. Now I'm appreciating why so many parents in our school system are seeking 504 plans for their kids in their junior and senior years of high school.

Exactly. It's a new trend to get en edge. My FCPS junior knows several kids "diagnosed" this year because they "only had a 3.5 so something must be wrong." They're getting extra time on schoolwork, tests and quizzes, plus the SAT and ACT. It's absolutely disgraceful and the kids flaunt it.

Op, I don't know your kid's situation, but with a 3.5, he's clearly not struggling too much. I wouldn't mention it in the apps to avoid being presumed to be one of those kids.

It is very difficult to get College Board accomodations with a recently discovered diagnosis.