Selecting A College for Students with LDs

[Mayleng]

Selecting A College for Students with Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Selecting_College/

[jisp]

We are starting the college search process and I have to say that it is challenging because my son's record is unusual and I am not sure how admissions directors will look at him.

We have put some constraints on the search. He must attend a University that is reasonably easy to get to, so it has to be a place that we can get to by flying directly or that is on the east coast and we can drive to. And if he is not local then he must be in a place that is small and somewhat structured where he can not be anonymous. And then he has his own constraints. He doesn't want a party school. He wants an academically rigorous program. He wants there to at least be a reasonable physics program. He wants a pre-med program. He needs to have a decent music program and a decent studio art program. As of now my son has not taken the SAT or the PSAT or the ACT. He is leaning toward schools that don't require that you submit these scores. I am not sure what to say his GPA is. I guess you could say he is a solid A student in math and science and a solid B student in English and History.

I am open to any suggestions.

[shawbridge]

Our constraints are different, jisp, but my son is generally going to stay in driving distance so if there are health problems, we can get him. There are some terrific smaller schools, where he would not be anonymous (e.g., Bowdoin, Bates, Trinity, Kenyon (too far probably), Swarthmore and Haverford (may be too intense). Kalamazoo, St. Olaf's, Ursinus, Lawrence, Beloit, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Franklin & Marshall, Elon, Colby, Lafayette, Pitzer. I don't know how they are in physics, though. My son's top safety is Sarah Lawrence and he's also applying to Vassar. Apparently Sarah Lawrence is strengthening science a lot because they want to attract more men (I think it is 70/30 or 65/35).

[bros]

Nov 24, 2008 21:34:50 GMT -5 jisp said:

We are starting the college search process and I have to say that it is challenging because my son's record is unusual and I am not sure how admissions directors will look at him.

We have put some constraints on the search. He must attend a University that is reasonably easy to get to, so it has to be a place that we can get to by flying directly or that is on the east coast and we can drive to. And if he is not local then he must be in a place that is small and somewhat structured where he can not be anonymous. And then he has his own constraints. He doesn't want a party school. He wants an academically rigorous program. He wants there to at least be a reasonable physics program. He wants a pre-med program. He needs to have a decent music program and a decent studio art program. As of now my son has not taken the SAT or the PSAT or the ACT. He is leaning toward schools that don't require that you submit these scores. I am not sure what to say his GPA is. I guess you could say he is a solid A student in math and science and a solid B student in English and History.

I am open to any suggestions.

I'd start with the Collegeboard College Search Engine

collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/index.jsp

You can search by school size.

[healthy11]

Here's a great list of colleges with LD services across the U.S.; it was compiled by the GOW school, which is a private school that only serves students with LDs:
www.gow.org/page.cfm?p=235

[jisp]

Shawbridge,
Rejected:
Bowdoin (I have my own personal superstitious irrational reasons for avoiding this choice....but also I don't think it is right for him)
Trinity (too preppy and not the right social scene for him)
Sarah Lawrence (Our son would not even consider it because he feels like it is not socially right....his sister has friends there)
Pitzer (isn't that in CA? that is definitely out)

Considering:
Bates (Tutor recommended this to him)
Kenyon (I have a neighbor whose son has done extremely well there...but I do think it is too far)
Swarthmore (The IEP team has brought this up as a very good match for him because of how their classes are structured....he is a legacy there through his Grandfather and Aunt so that might help with admissions)

I will have to look into the others that you mentioned. Right now DS is looking into work colleges like Warren Wilson. College of the Atlantic is also appealing to our son. I personally think that would be a great fit because it would allow him to easily do interdisciplinary work, which is something I suspect he will want as he matures. And in fact that is one criteria I am using as a serious elimination tool. Because dh and I have been at large Universities and trying to get something interdisciplinary done can be next to impossible.

For searching we are using Fast-Web (which is great if you are also looking for scholarships).

BTW, If you are dealing with Sarah Lawrence admissions I would be very thorough in your paperwork and also follow through with them on the phone. My daughter was transferring and was offered a scholarship by another college which she had to respond to within a certain time frame. My daughter tried desperately to contact Sarah Lawrence so they could give her a decision about her transfer application and they never got back to her. They had sent her a letter saying they would let her know by August. At that point she really didn't care if she got in or not as she had options she was happy with, but the fact that nobody ever got back to us either way did not leave us feeling very good about the school. I know that the admissions office has little to do with the undergraduate education, but if the admissions office is disorganized it makes me wonder what other departments are not being well managed.

[shawbridge]

I know someone whose ADD son is having a great time at Kenyon.

[empeg1]

Jisp:
Your young man has a list of what he wants. He may find out that what he wants and reality might not quite match. I hate to be the grinch, but your ds might find that he will choose by what is most important to him. I am not saying, Jisp, that your boy is not very bright; it is that his record and lack of test scores may scare off some schools.
In the meantine, here are some suggestions:
(Also, know that many of the good, small schools are the midwest).
1)Juanita College in Pennsylvania: sends the highest percentage of students to medical school of any college in the country. Check the Lauren Pope book, "Colleges that Change Lives".
2) Beloit College: one of the very best liberal arts schools in the country, just outside of Chicago, in Illinois. Has a very, very good science program as well.
3)Clark University in Worchester, Mass.
4)Hiram College in eastern Ohio, does not require the SAT or ACT.
5)Lewis and Clark, Portland Oregon, again does not require ACT or SAT and is a very good school.
6)If your young man is a intellectual..Reed College, a school that is very well known, in Portland. If your ds is an intellectual and a thinker please consider Reed as it is in a class by itself! There are flights to the East.
7) Dennison College, in eastern Ohio. Does require college entrance exams.
8) Ursinus College in Pennsylvania- a very good school
9) St John's College in Maryland, again a school for a reader and intellectual.
Quite few of the above schools have a freshman orientation program that takes place prior to the start of term, which I think could be really helpful to your ds. They are all small schools that have a great deal of professor-student interaction and strong community.
Tell your ds that his application essay will be most likely the deciding factor in his applications. I know one young woman who was accepted to Beloit, a very, very well thought of school and a wonderful program, because of her essay. This young lady was in my dd therapeutc school. She wrote a college essay about herself and the evolution of herself through this program. Beloit contacted her, saying that she had to have her as part of their community. Her academic record was also non-traditional.

[sisdparent]

We started by looking at what they wanted to study and which Universities offered those programs and how they ranked. We then looked at what "really fit" them as well as services.
Of course we are restricted to public Texas Universities based on their scholarships. Our family does have a rule about leaving home (not something that would work for everyone).

Oldest chose a small public in a small town near (but not in the same town) family. Funny story, she's doing great in all of her classes except Anatomy. She knows she's struggling because of the close similarity of all the names she has to remember. (In other words, a dyslexic nightmare.) She meets with the teacher 3 times a week who has been a huge help and really encouraged her to stick with it. Her boss is also very flexible and allows her to study at work in between waiting on customers. 4 of her regular customers have also been "helping" to..... one of them told her that it was the hardest class he ever took, but it was the best class he ever took.

Next child haa been more difficult since only 5 universities in Texas offer the program she wants. 4 are very large schools, however 1 is smaller and also near (but not in the same town) family. The town is a little larger, but still not a major city and it looks like where she'll end up at. So, we'll see how that one goes!

[sisdparent]

Just another thought:

If your child is set on going to a major university, for example Texas A&M. The freshman class is huge, it's tough to get into and then stay in. For lower classmen, the class sizes are huge (some lectures run 200 students) and frequently taught by associate professors or graduate assistants.

The better route might be to attend a smaller school within that University's "system" for 1-2 years and then transfer. A&M for example has 10 system schools, several of them outstanding in their own right

[hsmom]

jisp,

Have you looked into Goucher College in MD? I don't remember what Loren Pope says about Goucher in his book, but I'm certain it's one he talks about.

From my perusal of the website, it seems to meet all the requirements your son has stated: physics, pre-med, art, and music programs, plus they do not require submission of standardized test scores. Also, they do have a disability support service.

www.goucher.edu/x4575.xml