College Application Process and Learning Disabilities

[Anonymous]

I am working on the Naviance parent questionnaire for our HS senior DD, whose guidance counselor will use our responses to help form the content of his recommendation letter. (He has hundreds of counselees and, I assume, does not know any of them well enough to write a reference without some notes like this.)

DD has executive function-based learning disabilities, which we discovered via neuropsych testing when she was in 10th grade. She has a very high IQ but her working memory and processing speed are average. She was almost but not quite diagnosed as having ADD. She did work with an EF coach last year and has various tools for staying organized. She uses them with varying degrees of success

Still, her grades (in a demanding magnet program) are just ok. She does work hard but it is very hard for her. OTOH, she scored a 2380 on the SATs. The score doesn't surprise me at all because I think it reflects her raw talents (vs. day to day juggling of homework etc.).

She has EMT (informal) accommodations in school (e.g. she has preferential seating and can turn work in electronically), but no 504 or IEP.

One of the Naviance questions for her parents is: Are there any unusual or personal circumstances that have affected your child's experience or education?

I'm not sure how to answer this. OTOH I would like to allude to the impediments/difficulties she has faced in the course of her rigorous education. OTOH I fear that if her guidance counselor raises it in his reference letter, it will come off as whiny-excuse-making (given that she does not have a 504 or an IEP).

WWYD?

[Anonymous]

I went through this with DD. She did not want her LD mentioned anywhere because she's "outgrown" it, ie shed the diagnosis. (She still has issues, though.) Her guidance counselor insisted that she both mention her LD history in her essay, and that he write about it in his letter, so she did. The guidance counselor said it's essential for kids like my DD to mention that they've had LD. It explains the high test scores (DD tested almost as high as your DD), but lower overall grades. I worried it would come off as whiny too, but the guidance counselor said colleges need the overall picture of your kid. Also, when your child goes to college, she may need some accommodations, so it's best to be upfront about her challenges.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't address the topic. The counselors know, or should know, your daughter's particulars. I'll bet whether the counselors mention it/are allowed to mention it in a recommendation is out of your hands. Also I don't think you are going to sway their opinion of your child at this point.

So I wouldn't address it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't address the topic. The counselors know, or should know, your daughter's particulars. I'll bet whether the counselors mention it/are allowed to mention it in a recommendation is out of your hands. Also I don't think you are going to sway their opinion of your child at this point.

So I wouldn't address it.

Bad thing to assume in a public school. Assume GC knows NOTHING about your DC b/c, in most cases, they don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't address the topic. The counselors know, or should know, your daughter's particulars. I'll bet whether the counselors mention it/are allowed to mention it in a recommendation is out of your hands. Also I don't think you are going to sway their opinion of your child at this point.

So I wouldn't address it.

Bad thing to assume in a public school. Assume GC knows NOTHING about your DC b/c, in most cases, they don't.

OP here. This is correct. The counselor has been in EMT meetings but I assume he doesn't retain any specific information about DD.

Helpful info here, thank you. I do wish I knew a college admissions person I could consult with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went through this with DD. She did not want her LD mentioned anywhere because she's "outgrown" it, ie shed the diagnosis. (She still has issues, though.) Her guidance counselor insisted that she both mention her LD history in her essay, and that he write about it in his letter, so she did. The guidance counselor said it's essential for kids like my DD to mention that they've had LD. It explains the high test scores (DD tested almost as high as your DD), but lower overall grades. I worried it would come off as whiny too, but the guidance counselor said colleges need the overall picture of your kid. Also, when your child goes to college, she may need some accommodations, so it's best to be upfront about her challenges.

OP here. This is helpful.

How did your DD do in the admissions process?

[Anonymous]

My son wrote his college essays about the challenges he faces with his LDs. (He always made decent grades but his SAT was really really low. Really low). Because he always uses his accommodations there was no benefit in trying to hide it.

[Anonymous]

You can mention the results of the neuropsych but having avg processing and working memory is not going to get you a 504 or IEP as you well know. And scoring 2380 without accommodations pretty much show the colleges that your child does not need accommodations to do well in testing.

Not worth mentioning, imo. It does sound like you are making excuses. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

We are on the flip side, DC has excellent grades, but his test SAT scores will not be as high in the grammar/writing portion, even with accommodations. Although he did score a 5 on his AP test last year, so that helps. He is a rising junior, so we have one more year. We also have to explain why he did not take a foreign language. He will need accommodations in college, so he will be revealing his issues somewhere in the application and certainly in the counselor's recommendation.

Since your DC does not receive accommodations and does not expect to in college, I would not reveal the issues in the application. Your DC is already in a magnate program and being average there is acknowledged to being above average in a regular HS. How did your DC do on APs tests? High AP tests scores would help in the this case.

[Anonymous]

OP - While the process of applying to college has changed a lot since our daughters went, I am well aware that where a student goes to college can have an impact on their successful completion or not. So while you do have to mull over handling of the discrepancy between the SATs and high school transcript in a magnet program, I do think it very important that you are considering the kind of college environment your daughter will need to balance out the degree program she is applying to and the lack of executive functioning skills when she is no longer within the family structure to perhaps have support in following through on not only class demands, but also her daily living. Is there any chance you could talk to one of her teachers a the magnet program to get advice in the kind of college that she should be applying to as she obviously has particular strengths, but may need a certain setting to accomplish her academic goals.

One important aspect to also consider is to be sure she learns how to handle activities of her daily living so that she will not be suddenly "thrown off" by the mundane, but essential aspects of college living - budgeting her time for course work as well as other activities, doing laundry, keeping things in a dorm room organized, keeping track of her calendar for classes, but also social or other time commitments, being able to shop/prepare simple meals on the side if schedule means she eats breakfast in her room or grabs a sandwich, handling her money. [/b]It will be important for you to carefully evaluate the resources which each college has for students who do need support should the need suddenly arise. To do this, you need to learn what the college would require in terms of testing and how recent as without an IEP or even 504, it could be difficult to document the support she has received even if informal.[b] I t may also be that she might just need a smaller college setting or a reduced course load the first semester as she settles in. Keep track of dates including the last date to drop a class and the last day to request an Incomplete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP - While the process of applying to college has changed a lot since our daughters went, I am well aware that where a student goes to college can have an impact on their successful completion or not. So while you do have to mull over handling of the discrepancy between the SATs and high school transcript in a magnet program, I do think it very important that you are considering the kind of college environment your daughter will need to balance out the degree program she is applying to and the lack of executive functioning skills when she is no longer within the family structure to perhaps have support in following through on not only class demands, but also her daily living. Is there any chance you could talk to one of her teachers a the magnet program to get advice in the kind of college that she should be applying to as she obviously has particular strengths, but may need a certain setting to accomplish her academic goals.

One important aspect to also consider is to be sure she learns how to handle activities of her daily living so that she will not be suddenly "thrown off" by the mundane, but essential aspects of college living - budgeting her time for course work as well as other activities, doing laundry, keeping things in a dorm room organized, keeping track of her calendar for classes, but also social or other time commitments, being able to shop/prepare simple meals on the side if schedule means she eats breakfast in her room or grabs a sandwich, handling her money. [/b]It will be important for you to carefully evaluate the resources which each college has for students who do need support should the need suddenly arise. To do this, you need to learn what the college would require in terms of testing and how recent as without an IEP or even 504, it could be difficult to document the support she has received even if informal.[b] I t may also be that she might just need a smaller college setting or a reduced course load the first semester as she settles in. Keep track of dates including the last date to drop a class and the last day to request an Incomplete.

OP here. Yes, I agree with all of this. We started the search process last fall, and all of the schools on her list are small liberal arts schools with learning centers, writing tutors, and small classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are on the flip side, DC has excellent grades, but his test SAT scores will not be as high in the grammar/writing portion, even with accommodations. Although he did score a 5 on his AP test last year, so that helps. He is a rising junior, so we have one more year. We also have to explain why he did not take a foreign language. He will need accommodations in college, so he will be revealing his issues somewhere in the application and certainly in the counselor's recommendation.

Since your DC does not receive accommodations and does not expect to in college, I would not reveal the issues in the application. Your DC is already in a magnate program and being average there is acknowledged to being above average in a regular HS. How did your DC do on APs tests? High AP tests scores would help in the this case.

DD has taken six AP tests, and scored three 5s and three 4s. However, schools don't see AP scores during the applications process - they are only provided to schools after acceptance, when a student is seeking to have them applied (as prerequisites and/or credits).

DD does receive accommodations and they are documented

[Anonymous]

Did your DC GPA improve once it was identified and treated?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP - While the process of applying to college has changed a lot since our daughters went, I am well aware that where a student goes to college can have an impact on their successful completion or not. So while you do have to mull over handling of the discrepancy between the SATs and high school transcript in a magnet program, I do think it very important that you are considering the kind of college environment your daughter will need to balance out the degree program she is applying to and the lack of executive functioning skills when she is no longer within the family structure to perhaps have support in following through on not only class demands, but also her daily living. Is there any chance you could talk to one of her teachers a the magnet program to get advice in the kind of college that she should be applying to as she obviously has particular strengths, but may need a certain setting to accomplish her academic goals.

One important aspect to also consider is to be sure she learns how to handle activities of her daily living so that she will not be suddenly "thrown off" by the mundane, but essential aspects of college living - budgeting her time for course work as well as other activities, doing laundry, keeping things in a dorm room organized, keeping track of her calendar for classes, but also social or other time commitments, being able to shop/prepare simple meals on the side if schedule means she eats breakfast in her room or grabs a sandwich, handling her money. [/b]It will be important for you to carefully evaluate the resources which each college has for students who do need support should the need suddenly arise. To do this, you need to learn what the college would require in terms of testing and how recent as without an IEP or even 504, it could be difficult to document the support she has received even if informal.[b] I t may also be that she might just need a smaller college setting or a reduced course load the first semester as she settles in. Keep track of dates including the last date to drop a class and the last day to request an Incomplete.

OP here. Yes, I agree with all of this. We started the search process last fall, and all of the schools on her list are small liberal arts schools with learning centers, writing tutors, and small classes.

Would you mind posting your list? I have no advice to offer you but have been following your thread as I have a DD without an IEP or 504 who will need support in college (but I am a few years away). Good luck to you and your dd. Sounds like you have done your homework and she has a great support system at home.

[Anonymous]

I'm interested in this topic as well, although DD just started her 2nd year in college, didn't have the super high SAT scores, but otherwise sounds similar to OPs DD. Her HS guidance counselor did not mention the learning issues but instead highlighted other positives. At least one college application essay question will open the door for a response (exposing at least the discrepancey between scores and grades). And really, the discrepancy must be explained. Other than that, we searched and visited campuses for DD to find where she felt comfortable. The final choice had some things from what I wanted and lots of things from what DD wanted (as it should). That being said, her college "support" has been little more than extended time on exams. I provide long distance much more support for her that I did for her siblings. We're just hoping/praying/assuming she continues to take on more and more as she professed through the college years.