ADHD and college: Tips for success, navigating college

<p>My daughter will be attending college in the fall. She was diagnosed with ADHD in high school. Her grades have improved (but not like most kids here on CC)- She uses 2 tutors and gets extended time only.</p>

<p>But would appreciate ideas and suggestions for making a smooth transition in college. What are the do's and don't (if you are a student or a parent). How do you know if you should consider from the start to take 5 yrs to get through college?</p>

<p>What specific services are usually available? Which ones have been most helpful. If you or your child has used them, let me know how they went. </p>

<p>My daughter wants her college years academically to be much stronger than high school.</p>

<p>Any suggestions, resources, website links, etc would be appreciated.</p>

<p>Maybe consider having her spend the first year at home so she can become accostumed to the workload? I don't know how severe your daughter's ADHD is, so I apologize if it's a less intense situation.</p>

<p>I would see how she does.</p>

<p>Send her to a school where she can get a lot of personal attention and help (that means a small LAC with strong personal development programs, great community, a free individual tutoring program, small classes, understanding instructors, personable TAs, possibly some flexible restrictions on living areas, understanding and cooperative administrators...)</p>

<p>As far as the 5-yr plan goes, I would try to avoid that via summer school if necessary, since a 5th yr will be quite expensive no matter where you go (summer school is oftentimes cheaper at any school since there is generally less demand for those classes).
If it's necessary, she'll know soon enough as 15-18 units will be too difficult. I would start her w/ 15 units for the first semester and see how she does. If she ends up dropping a class, you'll know she needs to take things a bit more slowly, but if she can keep up, then you'll know she's doing well and will likely only need 4 yrs.</p>

<p>As far as services go, it really depends on the university.
We offer a free writing center, free individual tutoring, CLEP testing, special adapations and accomodations of subjects/requirements/syllabi for learning disabilities (with a dr's note brought into the Learning Enrichment Center, the LEC will write a letter to all of your professors asking them to make changes in requirements, give extensions, etc. as needed; specifically, one student I had in a class I TA was given several additional weeks for assignments, including the final exam), personal mentoring, support through multiple offices that directly target students like your daughter (the Learning Enrichment Center, the Office of Student Success, the Office of Student Life, the Office of Career Services, to name a few)</p>

<p>As far as do's and don't's are concerned, I'm not entirely sure what you mean...
Do seek help
Don't be arrogant or unapproachable
Do be gracious when people ask questions
Don't turn away those who want to help you
Do show people who you are</p>

<p>I'm not really sure what you're asking! If you're a little more specific, I'd be more than happy to give you better suggestions!</p>

<p>I am personally a tutor in our LEC as well as a TA, so I know the tutoring works well. Students who've been tutored (and not just by me) have said it's gone well and helped them. I will probably be getting some tutoring soon to help get my Spanish back up to the fluency level I need in order to CLEP out of my foreign language requirement.</p>

<p>You might want to call a few colleges' learning enrichment offices and get some ideas for resources to try. After calling a few of them, I'm sure you'll start to catch some common threads!</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the last comments...very practical. She is very pro active...so I hope that she will quickly get started with the counselors right from the beginning.</p>

<p>Yes, it is easy to say a small LAC (that's what I wanted)...but either her personality coupled with ADHD wanted a big city...and that is what she got. So I hope that she can use her hyperactivity and need for stimulation (during study breaks) and get back to studies without too much distraction. I hope that the professors are helpful too. Your comments were so practical.</p>