Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe college isn't the right choice. Trade school is highly underrated--stylists/mechanics/plumbers routinely make 6 figures.

While that is true for some kids there is nothing wrong with shooting high for LD kids. They are often smart, and even gifted, but just have learning differences. My DC is LD/ADHD, will be graduating from a top 30 college this year and has been accepted to a good graduate school for next year. Just because a kid has LDs doesn't mean they have limited options.

This might be derailing the thread but did the college offer help foe LD students or was he able to maintain grades on his own?

Anonymous wrote:Maybe college isn't the right choice. Trade school is highly underrated--stylists/mechanics/plumbers routinely make 6 figures.

While that is true for some kids there is nothing wrong with shooting high for LD kids. They are often smart, and even gifted, but just have learning differences. My DC is LD/ADHD, will be graduating from a top 30 college this year and has been accepted to a good graduate school for next year. Just because a kid has LDs doesn't mean they have limited options.

Maybe college isn't the right choice. Trade school is highly underrated--stylists/mechanics/plumbers routinely make 6 figures.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thank you PPs who've responded. I've been taking a look at Colleges that Change Lives, and there seem to be some good suggestions in there. Anyone know much about College of Charleston?Also wonder about VCU or Christopher Newport? Also, is Ursinus a stretch for a kid like this? Thanks again.

CNU and College of Charleston are both pretty competitive so they might not be the best ideas. Randolph Macon, Radford, ODU might be better options

The admission rate is 70% at C of C. I don't know anyone from this area who didn't get in.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thank you PPs who've responded. I've been taking a look at Colleges that Change Lives, and there seem to be some good suggestions in there. Anyone know much about College of Charleston?Also wonder about VCU or Christopher Newport? Also, is Ursinus a stretch for a kid like this? Thanks again.

CNU and College of Charleston are both pretty competitive so they might not be the best ideas. Randolph Macon, Radford, ODU might be better options

My DD with less than perfect grades and ADHD got accepted nearly everywhere she applied. She had an authentic essay that I helped zero with. I really think that, plus her forthright ness about her ADHD and how she overcomes it helped a lot.

There will be options.

George mason

Radford is your best bet. Christopher Newport is now very competitive. My B+ Lacrosse player could not get in. VCU is not a safe school for those who can't defend themselves.

Try community college for an associates degree, it will save you money and heartbreak, and give your child a headstart into a better school.

George Mason. Has a fantastic LD department

This is OP. Thank you PPs who've responded. I've been taking a look at Colleges that Change Lives, and there seem to be some good suggestions in there. Anyone know much about College of Charleston?Also wonder about VCU or Christopher Newport? Also, is Ursinus a stretch for a kid like this? Thanks again.

Your DD sounds a lot like mine, who is a senior, so we've just been through this. She has 3.1 UW and 3.3 W, very poor test scores due to her LDs, but great community service that she parlayed into a very nice essay.

Look at the smaller liberal arts colleges like Hood, Stevenson, Goucher (now does video applications; no scores or grades required!), McDaniel, Loyola if she wants to stay in the area. A little farther afield are York College of Pennsylvania and Lynchburg College in Virginia. Some of these are in that Colleges that Change Lives book, which is very useful.

We are in Maryland, so the state choices are not great. UMD is out. Your D would get into Frostburg, which is isolated, but when we visited seemed better than I anticipated. Towson U. has a special program called the Freshman Transition Program for students who don't quite make the cut to be regular Towson students. They live on campus and take classes there but from Community College of Baltimore County profs for one to two semesters before transferring in. We looked into this program, but it was very complex toggling between the two schools and I got the sense that the program students were almost like second-class citizens (all classes were at 4 p.m. or later, after regular Towson profs were done teaching, for example).

Another option are Pennsylvania state schools. Slippery Rock University has a tuition discount for out-of-state students with a 3.0 or higher. Indiana U. of Pennsylvania has discounts for Maryland students. Most of the state schools (not Penn State) seem to have average GPAs and scores of 3.0 to 3.5 and SAT scores of 1500-1600 for the three tests. A pleasant surprise worth looking into. And they have much better out-of-state tuition than Virginia schools did for us.

Also look at West Virginia schools. Several have programs for LDs, including Marshall University. West Virginia Wesleyan has been mentioned on this list for good LD support, but it was too small and isolated for my DD.

The whole college admissions thing is hard and scary for everyone, but especially for kids like ours. But I think your daughter will have options. My DD is almost ready to commit to one of the liberal arts colleges listed above, which gave her merit aid. I was pleasantly surprised that she got merit aid at a few of the schools (aid higher than her scores and grades would indicate).

Good luck to you and DD!

Thank you OP and responders. I have a dyslexic freshman. Great kid but will never be an academic standout. I really wonder if he will be anywhere other than community college...which is not a death sentence either

Mine applied to SLACs in the 20-40 rankings of the US News list. One deny, 2 WL, 4 accepts. DC had good scores but a B-/C+ average (from a private school). Very good extracurrics/leadership. Interviewed well.

I dont want to ñame specific schools but please dont stress about this. My DC applied to 12 schools, has been rejected by two and accepted by 10. Some even offered special programs to boost success rates. And get off of this forum.

Our wonderful DD with some learning issues is worried she'll never get into college with her 2.9 unweighted GPA and mediocre test scores. She is a solid B student at the moment, however she's overcoming some rough grades from earlier in HS. She's not an athlete, an amazing talent in anything -- just an average nice kid with a few extracurriculars who wants college but certainly isn't going to highly selective schools. For those of you who might have children similarly situated, where did your DC's end up for college? I need some inspiration and good suggestions. Thanks!