Where does your child with anxiety attend college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child (not diagnosed with anxiety) had a good experience at Berry. The college seems to be set up to support students and help them succeed. I think it's academically solid, but it doesn't have the pressure cooker vibe. They talk a lot about education being for "head, heart, and hands". While many colleges probably express similar sentiments, Berry really seems devoted to the concept. They also have a strong emphasis on community service.

Although it has a fairly small enrollment, it has the world's largest contiguous campus. If your child likes nature, she can find plenty of it there.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/berry-college-1554

Thank you so much, PP. I just looked at their website - very impressed by how they ease the freshmen in with mentoring. My son is a junior and I'm bookmarking this!

Yikes! The graduation rate is only 61% - do you have any idea why?

[Anonymous]

Look at Reed.

[Anonymous]

I started having anxiety attacks at Notre Dame, but I don't know if I would have had them anywhere, i.e. it was just that age and time for me, or if it was ND-specific.

I *do* always tell folks consider there to keep seasonal affect disorder in mind. Especially if you are coming from a more southern state. Because, later, as a senior R.A., I saw so many girls suffering in silence about this, really, just trudging through those long, cloudy, glum winters. Just hanging on by a thread until spring came (which was just about in time for finals.)

[Anonymous]

My colleague's child had a very bad experience at Reed. Many of the students were alternative to an extreme degree, and drug use was heavy. At last among the kids she encountered, I am not saying that description describes the whole student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my girls has a fairly severe anxiety disorder with panic attacks. She did really well at a large school. She liked being able to blend in. She went to University of Florida and had such a great experience.

make sense to me.
I would also recommend a larger university, or at least a college that is non-competitive. So, all these small, excellent private schools that people are recommending would not be a great choice for a student with anxiety...in my opinion. (all of the other students probably have anxieties too, and then they all feed off each other)

I have a child with anxiety (mild to moderate), and she does best in settings that are relaxed and classmates who are varied and diverse. I would make sure it's not too far away from home, less than 5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child (not diagnosed with anxiety) had a good experience at Berry. The college seems to be set up to support students and help them succeed. I think it's academically solid, but it doesn't have the pressure cooker vibe. They talk a lot about education being for "head, heart, and hands". While many colleges probably express similar sentiments, Berry really seems devoted to the concept. They also have a strong emphasis on community service.

Although it has a fairly small enrollment, it has the world's largest contiguous campus. If your child likes nature, she can find plenty of it there.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/berry-college-1554

Thank you so much, PP. I just looked at their website - very impressed by how they ease the freshmen in with mentoring. My son is a junior and I'm bookmarking this!

Yikes! The graduation rate is only 61% - do you have any idea why?

That is quite good compared to the national average.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a child with anxiety here. The "go to a big school so she can just blend in!" thing seems like kind of a cop-out, IMO. Ask any professional in mental health; the most effective treatment for anxiety is actually facing your fears and doing the things that you are scared of. By choosing a college where you effectively avoid those things by blending in, you're not actually managing your anxiety.

[Anonymous]

My daughter (who was not diagnosed with anxiety...but did not seem confident to me in high school), seems to be blossoming in her first few weeks at a small school (CTCL)

She is joining a ton of clubs, introducing herself to faculty and administrators. It is making me proud and happy.

I think that her MoCo high school, chock full of super high achievers, was an intimidating environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't want to hijack the thread but it would seem like there also needs to be a plan (hopefully a college could help with this) to handle medical level anxiety after graduation and on the job.

Or how about we just let kids play, have fun, and just be kids. Even thru college. Stop micromanaging them, stop putting them in daily sports or other structured classes. Stop giving them tutors, test prep, and fighting the school for more things - making them think their idiots. Focusing on college. Who cares? Happiness and laid back fun should be what kids need to learn growing up. Ending the helicopter tiger parent generation will help so much more than medicating them all of their lives.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

All play and no work makes Jack a dumb boy.

Balance is important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child (not diagnosed with anxiety) had a good experience at Berry. The college seems to be set up to support students and help them succeed. I think it's academically solid, but it doesn't have the pressure cooker vibe. They talk a lot about education being for "head, heart, and hands". While many colleges probably express similar sentiments, Berry really seems devoted to the concept. They also have a strong emphasis on community service.

Although it has a fairly small enrollment, it has the world's largest contiguous campus. If your child likes nature, she can find plenty of it there.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/berry-college-1554

Thank you so much, PP. I just looked at their website - very impressed by how they ease the freshmen in with mentoring. My son is a junior and I'm bookmarking this!

Yikes! The graduation rate is only 61% - do you have any idea why?

That is quite good compared to the national average.

It's objectively awful compared to any reasonably decent college.

[Anonymous]

I would take her on college campus visits and see which schools seem "like home" to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we visited Swarthmore, our tour guide describing being involved in a rather astounding number of campus activities (and he was just a sophomore). When someone questioned this, he said that he had learned his lesson after freshman year and now made it a point of getting to bed by 3 am on school nights (vs 5 am the year before). One mother asked whether any kids just come home for the summer to relax and he said, "Swatties don't relax."

The atmosphere seem very unhealthy and competitive to us.

A graduate of swarthmore here- it is a very intense, very intellectually challenging school. Honestly, too intense for me. But, I never found it to be competitive - completely the opposite actually. I think for an academically motivated, but anxious kid, it could be a great fit, as long as the academics weren’t overwhelming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child (not diagnosed with anxiety) had a good experience at Berry. The college seems to be set up to support students and help them succeed. I think it's academically solid, but it doesn't have the pressure cooker vibe. They talk a lot about education being for "head, heart, and hands". While many colleges probably express similar sentiments, Berry really seems devoted to the concept. They also have a strong emphasis on community service.

Although it has a fairly small enrollment, it has the world's largest contiguous campus. If your child likes nature, she can find plenty of it there.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/berry-college-1554

Thank you so much, PP. I just looked at their website - very impressed by how they ease the freshmen in with mentoring. My son is a junior and I'm bookmarking this!

Yikes! The graduation rate is only 61% - do you have any idea why?

That is quite good compared to the national average.

It's objectively awful compared to any reasonably decent college.

You sound like you have very limited familiarity with higher education in general.