Is it worth visiting schools (ie Dartmouth) that have quarter system for neurodiverse DS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your kid’s school historically send kids to Dartmouth? Ours doesn’t so we didn’t bother.

Dartmouth will absolutely take a kid form a school that has never sent a kid their before. But generally, they have to have a strong fit and profile (e.g., one of the best in the past few years).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are debating whether or not to visit Dartmouth during our Spring college visit to Boston. DD is a straight-A student with inattentive ADHD and anxiety/on the spectrum. She is looking for an intellectual environment (but not cutthroat). She is super bright and has lower processing speed, and is interested in medical school. I am not sure whether the quarter system at Dartmouth (and also Northwestern) would be a good fit. It is generally recommended that kids with ADHD avoid schools with the quarter system. Should we even visit a school like Dartmouth when we are traveling to Boston? (Asking as we are traveling from the West Coast and Dartmouth is a significant detour).

(Also looking for a school with structured guidance, inclusive clubs, and accepting/nurturing environment).

Is it? Why? I would think shorter terms would benefit those with ADHD

Agreed. My AuDHD child is at WPI, where you take 3 classes at a time for 7 weeks. No time to procrastinate, focusing/balancing fewer classes is much better.

[Anonymous]

My kid with adhd is pre med at one of the quarter system schools mentioned. She loves it and it probably works okay with her adhd because she is really itense about stuff and then wants to move on. She is working insane hours, in part because she won’t give up any of the ECs that she enjoys. She really wanted a quarter system school so she could do more, more quickly.

With slow processing speed, it might be tough. The stem classes really do move quickly and are really hard. I think my advice would be different for humanities. I have adhd and always wished I was at a quarter school because after a few months of a class, I was bored with the topic and wanted to move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your kid’s school historically send kids to Dartmouth? Ours doesn’t so we didn’t bother.

My nephew goes to Dartmouth and I don’t think anyone from his very small rural public school had gone there recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean this gently - if she cannot keep up with a quarter system, she cannot go to medical skill and be a doctor. land the helicopter and let her decide where to go to school.

Interesting - I was wondering how someone with a slow processing speed would get through medical school.

A slow processing speed does not mean she is not bright. Otherwise she wouldn't be a straight A student.

I dont understand your comment. To be successful in medical school and to be successful physician, you need more traits than “bright.” It sounds like fast processing speed may be one of the needed traits.

[Anonymous]

DD has ADHD and is at UChicago. I wanted her to ask for extra time and she refused. She likes the speed of classes. She gets bored and harder, faster classes help her focus. She has to “lock in.” She has really excelled in that environment.

[Anonymous]

Many ADHD kids process things faster than typical kids. This is my son. His brain is all over the place and he flies through material. Taking a stimulant actually slows down his brain. He never had extra time and never needed it. If anything he needs to fill the time he's given.

He attends a quarter school and it works really well for his brain. He takes an extra class each quarter so he's always busy and always learning something new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD has ADHD and is at UChicago. I wanted her to ask for extra time and she refused. She likes the speed of classes. She gets bored and harder, faster classes help her focus. She has to “lock in.” She has really excelled in that environment.

Extra time in college usually just applies to exams. It has nothing to do with the speed of the classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are debating whether or not to visit Dartmouth during our Spring college visit to Boston. DD is a straight-A student with inattentive ADHD and anxiety/on the spectrum. She is looking for an intellectual environment (but not cutthroat). She is super bright and has lower processing speed, and is interested in medical school. I am not sure whether the quarter system at Dartmouth (and also Northwestern) would be a good fit. It is generally recommended that kids with ADHD avoid schools with the quarter system. Should we even visit a school like Dartmouth when we are traveling to Boston? (Asking as we are traveling from the West Coast and Dartmouth is a significant detour).

(Also looking for a school with structured guidance, inclusive clubs, and accepting/nurturing environment).

Our neurotypical kid who always gets slow starts at the academic year decided to avoid all schools with the quarter system. It works for some people, but not all. We know plenty who are doing great at Northwestern, Chicago, Dartmouth etc...just not the right fit for our kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are debating whether or not to visit Dartmouth during our Spring college visit to Boston. DD is a straight-A student with inattentive ADHD and anxiety/on the spectrum. She is looking for an intellectual environment (but not cutthroat). She is super bright and has llower processing speed, and is interested in medical school. I am not sure whether the quarter system at Dartmouth (and also Northwestern) would be a good fit. It is generally recommended that kids with ADHD avoid schools with the quarter system. Should we even visit a school like Dartmouth when we are traveling to Boston? (Asking as we are traveling from the West Coast and Dartmouth is a significant detour).

(Also looking for a school with structured guidance, inclusive clubs, and accepting/nurturing environment).

This is not a fit for any of the ivies nor any of the Top25 privates. There will be too many students with well above average processing speed, and premed courses are graded on a curve compared to the rest. Even though Dartmouth inflates some, only 40-50% get A- and A in stem classes, the rest get B range with a few C range. Yours will likely be a solid B student at best. A 3.0-3.4 BCPM(stem) GPA does not get one into medical school, even from an ivy that is too low.
In addition, the MCAT does not allow extra time. Presumably your kid gets accommodations for time on the SAT/ACT. Unless a student can get a 1440+ with no accommodations, med school in the US will be unlikely due to the fact that getting above a 508 will be unlikely. The students who get in to MD programs in the US with below a 508 tend to be underrepresented.

I've heard this posted here below, but I believe that kids these days can and do get extra time on the MCAT. It's an accommodation just like the accommodation given for the SAT and ACT with documented hidden disabilities.

[Anonymous]

I went to a college on the quarter system and was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood. It was great - you focus on fewer classes and there’s less time to procrastinate.

Also for people saying that neurodivergent people can’t handle med school, I have a friend who is a dean at one and apparently there are students who get extended test time and some who end up in the top of the class…I can’t imagine they’re too successful in residency though.

[Anonymous]

No opinion on quarter vs semester for ADHD but probably both are fine.

But as a private practice physician, I will say that someone with slow processing speed will not thrive as a physician and will burn out before they even become a doctor. Physicians work at top speed all day long, literally as fast as we can, staying laser focused and sharp, and also smiling and compassionate with the patient. No set schedule in terms of eating or using the bathroom - it happens when there is a minute, no scheduled lunch break or other breaks. There are no accommodation in residency or working life for slow processing speeds.

I have a kid with super fast processing speed who would do great in medicine if they choose it.

I have another kid with slow processing speed (who does not get accommodations because I want kid to adapt to the real world - getting straight A's) and I would not let this kid pursue an MD. Something else in healthcare, maybe, but wouldn't keep up in med school.

In medicine, you have to move and think as fast as you can literally all day long for decades. And I love that about the field because I am super highly functioning, and anything less would bore me. Average processing speed or slow just won't be the right fit.

Do your kid a favor and guide them into another profession. If you're not in medicine, you have no idea how fast our minds work... not many other professions have to think so fast and remember so much information.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No opinion on quarter vs semester for ADHD but probably both are fine.

But as a private practice physician, I will say that someone with slow processing speed will not thrive as a physician and will burn out before they even become a doctor. Physicians work at top speed all day long, literally as fast as we can, staying laser focused and sharp, and also smiling and compassionate with the patient. No set schedule in terms of eating or using the bathroom - it happens when there is a minute, no scheduled lunch break or other breaks. There are no accommodation in residency or working life for slow processing speeds.

I have a kid with super fast processing speed who would do great in medicine if they choose it.

I have another kid with slow processing speed (who does not get accommodations because I want kid to adapt to the real world - getting straight A's) and I would not let this kid pursue an MD. Something else in healthcare, maybe, but wouldn't keep up in med school.

In medicine, you have to move and think as fast as you can literally all day long for decades. And I love that about the field because I am super highly functioning, and anything less would bore me. Average processing speed or slow just won't be the right fit.

Do your kid a favor and guide them into another profession. If you're not in medicine, you have no idea how fast our minds work... not many other professions have to think so fast and remember so much information.

Good luck!

Meh, Know various physicians with an average processing speed. This is all bogus scrambling of words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No opinion on quarter vs semester for ADHD but probably both are fine.

But as a private practice physician, I will say that someone with slow processing speed will not thrive as a physician and will burn out before they even become a doctor. Physicians work at top speed all day long, literally as fast as we can, staying laser focused and sharp, and also smiling and compassionate with the patient. No set schedule in terms of eating or using the bathroom - it happens when there is a minute, no scheduled lunch break or other breaks. There are no accommodation in residency or working life for slow processing speeds.

I have a kid with super fast processing speed who would do great in medicine if they choose it.

I have another kid with slow processing speed (who does not get accommodations because I want kid to adapt to the real world - getting straight A's) and I would not let this kid pursue an MD. Something else in healthcare, maybe, but wouldn't keep up in med school.

In medicine, you have to move and think as fast as you can literally all day long for decades. And I love that about the field because I am super highly functioning, and anything less would bore me. Average processing speed or slow just won't be the right fit.

Do your kid a favor and guide them into another profession. If you're not in medicine, you have no idea how fast our minds work... not many other professions have to think so fast and remember so much information.

Good luck!

Aren't there a ton of different types of medical jobs, though? I don't think things move THAT fast in a pediatrician's office. And I have a friend whose husband is a pathologist, who just looks at biopsies all day. Boring, but not fast paced. Toxicologists basically never see patients. I think there are all kinds of different medical practices. It's like the law -- some fields require really fast on your feet (criminal defense), whereas others just don't (wills and estates). Obviously you have to get through med school and residency, but you don't have to end up at the top of your class.

[Anonymous]

No idea how true this is but I was once told that low processing speed can make a great radiologist, but not a great trauma ER doc. It may also depend on how high overall IQ is v low processing speed. Do you have numbers from a neuropsych?