<p>My S was diagnosed with ADD (The executive function type) late iis sophore year. In his junior year, he deided to ttaless demanding courses so he could better manage his workload and not put too much pressure on himself. We are thinking about making a brief reference of this in the special circumstances section of the Common App. to that the schools will not think he was "slacking" off in his junior year. Should we mention the ADD issue or just ignore it altogether?</p>
<p>Very interested to hear the responses to this. Thanks for posted your question.</p>
<p>Parents mentioned it over daughter’s objection. It seemed obvious to us; it was a reason for poor high school grades. Once she was admitted, we alerted advisor to keep credit load light (at least for first year) and to make sure schedule was good: back-to-back classes aren’t good with these kids. They need free time between to deal with inevitable forgotten/lost/procrastinated assignments. Daughter was annoyed; she wanted her classes all jammed together so she could sleep in more. I can’t count the number of times we heard about her running back to room to get something…And now she’s doing fine.</p>
<p>S is not sure how to deal with the ADD issue because he is receiving different advice from parents, guidance counselors and professional counselor. I wonder how admissions officers view a reference to ADD as a reason for lower grades or less stressful course selection in high school.</p>
<p>Is he applying to reaches? </p>
<p>ADD is common and in some people’s view, over-diagnosed. Is there a way to say it without it sounding like an excuse? Did he do very well once he took less demanding courses? </p>
<p>You don’t want to give the admissions officer a reason to think your son won’t succeed at a particular school.</p>
<p>He did a bit better after beginning to take the meds for ADD and a mild case of depression. Now in his senior year, he is taking some AP classes and holding his own. His organiztion and prioritization are still a work in progress, but he is gradually improving.</p>
<p>Son’s GPA is 3.6 with an SAT of 1960. Since he is in the arts (music and theater), he is focusing on schools that are strong in the arts – Emerson College, Oberlin, Ithaca, Rochester and Muhlenberg. Ssafety schools are Pitt and Indiana. Reach schools are CMU and Wesleyan.</p>
<p>I have ADD and so do my two sons. I won’t bore anyone with the details but I resisted the whole diagnostic steps my wife wanted to do when my son was struggling. After he improved tremendously after medication, I decided to be tested myself. The medication has significantly helped me as well.</p>
<p>That said, I would not mention ADD. Unfortunately, every boy that has trouble concentrating ‘must’ have ADD these days. The net effect is that colleges must be so tired of reading the ‘under-performing until being treated’ essay (or the like). Just my two cent’s worth.</p>
<p>Hmmm-maybe they would like my sons “underperforming in spite of treatment for twelve years” story…</p>
<p>My son’s supplemental essay to the Common App was about his dyslexia, how it explained his unusual high school record (partial homeschooling, no foreign language), what he had learned from it and how it had influenced who he was as a person. He did explain that without the dyslexia he would have had additional extra-curriculars, but he didn’t have to apologize in any way for his performance in school.</p>
<p>As supervisor of the homeschool part of his education, I had to write a philosophy of homeschooling and for some schools a recommendation. He wasn’t underperforming, but I did have to explain why we did what we did and did not do. We did English outside of school for example, rather than take the English courses for “bright kids” because they were all about reading tons of material when what he needed was to work intensively on how to write expository essays. In his case, I thought disclosing the LD was essential.</p>
<p>Dave Barry advised us not to, and we didn’t. As some background, DS was diagnosed in fifth grade and continues to use medication at times.</p>
<p>Dave thought DS’s performance did not need “explanation.” </p>
<p>Your son’s looks good for the school’s he’s interested in, so it may not be necessary.</p>
<p>I really recommend a consultation with Dave. He services by the hour were very reasonable and it gave us someone to consult with all our straggling questions.</p>
<p>DS had wonderful choices when it came time to decide on which school to attend. This is a shout out to Dave.</p>