<p>I'm a junior who was diagnosed with ADD (inattentive) in December of this year. My grades/basic functioning have improved a lot since going on meds, but obviously not everything is perfect. I seem to be seeing a lot of posts about support for LDs at small liberal arts colleges, and I'm definitely applying to some of those schools, but I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the support available at top universities/highly competitive liberal arts colleges? I'm not looking for a whole comprehensive program, just for awareness in the administration/some sort of service that helps students negotiate stuff like extended time or a different testing location. </p>
<p>Specifically, anyone know about UChicago, Oberlin, Tufts, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, or Brown? My mother requires that, for Chicago in particular, I make sure I'll feel comfortable asking for the support I need. What kind of stuff do most schools offer? Anyone have anything to say about having a LD at a competitive/pressured school?</p>
<p>If you have been supported with an individualized learning plan due to a diagnosed learning disability, you should be able to get help at many schools, as you have discovered.</p>
<p>Also, many schools have excellent tutoring centers that can help with organization, time management, test taking skills and specific topics like writing, math, and various sciences and foreign languages. In my investigation, the smaller LACs (less than 4000 students) had better support systems in place, and more staffed learning centers.</p>
<p>I’m sure others will have specific feedback on the schools you listed.</p>
<p>When you talk to schools before you have applied, most schools will only talk to you in general terms, in platitudes. They all give lip service “We will review your tests and offer you the accommodations that fit you.” In general, they will say all the right-sounding things, because they are in selling mode (they want to get kids to apply regardless of whether there is much of a fit). But, they typically won’t review your documents or commit to anything. It is after acceptance that you can say, “I can’t attend unless I know precisely what accommodations you will and won’t offer me based upon my test results.” At that point, you’ll discover some schools that are accommodating and others that feel like any accommodation is unfair to the other students. My impression: Wesleyan and Amherst seem very good; Brown and Dartmouth middling.</p>
<p>You should also think about what kind of curriculum the schools have. Schools with heavy-duty core curricula like Columbia (or Chicago?) and schools with very hard to evade distribution requirements like Princeton (or Yale?) will be tougher for many kids with LDs than schools with no or negligible distribution requirements like Brown and Amherst.</p>