How to find college choices for smart, quirky ADHD kids who are introverted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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 bigger than VT
U of Arizona bigger than VT
Alabama bigger than Tech
Purdue bigger
Penn State Way bigger than Tech
U of South Florida bigger than Tech
TCU

Op, all but one of these schools are bigger than Tech.The only suggestion here that is helpful (size-wise) is TCU, which is recognized as a top party school.

It would be helpful to know what STEM major your son is considering because a lot of good SLACs and LACs have some good programs.

I have a DD that has a similar social profile. She doesn’t want to go to a party school. I do think at rigorous state schools you can find your people e.g. UVA or Tech. Depending on the major, maybe William and Mary? Case Western, Kenyon, Northeastern, Emory, Tufts, Dickinson, Skidmore could work.

Yes these are large schools but the Honors Colleges are a school within a school - they often have their own residence hall and unique activities. Plus more access to faculty and resources.

[Anonymous]

lehigh
macalaster
pepperdine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid who wanted small, tech-inclined schools looked at:
WPI
Rose Hulman
RPI
Clarkson
RIT (more mid size than small)

This is a great list, and I was just about to suggest most of those!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re on FB, consider joining Parents of College Bound Students with LDs, ADHD, and ASD
https://facebook.com/groups/parentsofcollegeboundstudentswithld/

+1

I was also going to suggest this group. Lots of helpful insight and suggestions.

W&M came to mind as an option that could work. Lots of different types of students with varied interests.

[Anonymous]

What does your kind want to study? If it's engineering/STEM, I want to give another shoutout to Rose-Hulman. Very quirky kids there, and the support for neurodiverse learners is great. My quirky, introverted kid loved Rose when he visited, and it moved to the top of his list.

[Anonymous]

Franklin & Marshall
Ohio Wesleyan
Case Western
Bennington
Oberlin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

What about Bucknell? It's a smaller environment with a rigorous engineering program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

What about Bucknell? It's a smaller environment with a rigorous engineering program

I like Bucknell, but I would not use the phrase “rigorous engineering” with Bucknell. All ABET engineering programs will be hard and largely will have the same curriculum, but Bucknell’s is not a stand out for rigor.

[Anonymous]

St Olaf College in MN if goal is either math or CS. Smaller college in a small town. It will be cold, but a good place for an introvert and quirky is fine.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of these schools, but the key difference is how tech oriented it has to be. People are throwing out schools like Reed, Macalaster, Oberlin, etc...I was just posting about limited options at SLACs above. My DD attends a school like these. (Not one of those but similar) And there are NOT many technology courses, which is hard because that's her major. We did know the department was small going in, and in all other ways the school has been a great fit for her so far. But that is something to consider. A lot of the schools for quirky smart introverts tend to attract more humanities students (from what I've seen).

We did consider RIT but didn't visit because ultimately she didn't want to be in Rochester. Is there a location you want to be in or not be in? Ultimately, since we're on the east coast, we ended up taking schools on the west coast off the list. (We did consider Macalester and she would have gotten great merit there--they do a preread, but we felt even that was kind of far.)

Early on we did also consider Harvey Mudd when we were thinking west coast. There is the Olin College of Engineering, which is REALLY small, outside of Boston. But that is REALLY techy. So HOW techy do you want the school to be? My daughter ultimately wanted to be able to take other kinds of classes as well as just CS classes.

I think you want to try to narrow by a few factors.
1. Does location matter? (East coast/West coast) How easy is it to get home and does that matter?
2. Does location matter in terms of rural/suburban/city?
3. Does size matter?
4. Obviously cost. Are you hoping for merit aid?
5. Can your kid get in? Do they have a realistic chance?

If you can answer those, I can provide you with some suggestions, and I'm sure others can. But I think you need to answer those questions first and then narrow from there.

[Anonymous]

Look at Brandeis University