if i have add, should i put that on my college app? would it be detrimental or helpful? considering i’d be applying to harvard
<p>let your guidance counselor or one of your recommendors write that you have been able to thrive and do well despite haveing been diagnosed and treated for ADD. Then you won't sound if you are whining/ making excuses if you write about it.</p>
<p>My son was advised not to mention.</p>
<p>I never received any type of medication or special treatment for ADD. No one other than my parents (not even siblings) knows about it. I opened up with my guidance councelor one day and told her the situation. She told me if I wanted to receive treatment in college i would have to write and send the med. documents to the LD office for that school, but i didnt want treatment. she told me to just add that in the "is there anything else we should know" part.</p>
<p>i mean im salutatorian of my class, and doing pretty well on my "records", my sats suck, and my life sucks afterschool because i try so hard to concentrate and get the work done. but i dont know if t his would help me or hurt me to add</p>
<p>Hurt. The implication is that in a less structured environment like college, you could have problems.</p>
<p>If you do put it, it should definitely be accompanied by a description of how well you're doing despite it.</p>
<p>its too late, i'm just wondering if ishould regret not putting so</p>
<p>Oh, no regrets there, lol. It's something that could potentially hurt you so unless you have inexplicably bad grades, it's fine not to mention it.</p>
<p>geese, some people can be real jerks</p>
<p>I guess I'm the minority view here.... My daughter mentioned her ADD in her essay. She realizes that those who attach a stigma to having ADD are simply uninformed about the intricacies of brain chemistry. </p>
<p>The reason that ADD is considered a learning disability is -- duh! -- because it is a learning disability. This also is the reason why the College Board allows those with ADD extra time to complete their SATs (although my daughter did not request special accommodations.) That you have done well in school even tho' you have ADD speaks well because school is harder for you than for most kids. I certainly would not be ashamed for an Adcom to know this -- and I would have grave, second thoughts about attending any school that would hold having a learning disability against you.</p>
<p>By the way, you should not rule out the possibility of taking medication. It really helps with focus/concentration if you indeed have ADD. (You need to be tested by a specialist to know for certain.) An analogy would be having a vitamin deficiency: If you lack a specific vitamin, taking a dosage that has been specifically prescribed for your condition will help you. If you don't have a vitamin deficiency and take extra doses of that vitamin, it will not help you at all and could even prove detrimental. (That is, contrary to popular belief, taking Ritalin and other ADD meds is not the least bit helpful if you don't need them -- and kiddies, they won't get you high, either. Popular misconception, sadly repeated too often by the popular press....)</p>