<p>Thanks Klogon - I just thought it would be helpful 'cause I'll bet there are jst as many kids like my son as there are high/over achievers....and even more average" kids...it can get depressing to read about all the "perfect" kids...</p>
<p>OP wanted to bump this up to give people encouragement. Let me try. My son had high SAT's and mediocre grades, the latter being a combination of refusal to do busywork homework, being the poster child for disorganization, undiagnosed (in high school) ADD and a pretty large dose of teenage boy laziness combined with lack of motivation. I feared his high SAT's would make his mediocre grades seem even worse. He is, however, bright and engaging , writes spectacularly well and the kind of kid colleges were willing to take a chance on probably because of his interviews and essay. He was admitted to each of the schools to which he applied (a triumph for careful research and selective applications). I am happy to report he is thriving at a wonderful college in the midwest where is he intellectually challenged, engaged in his education and the school's activities, and learning to compensate for his now diagnosed ADD. IF ckr1147 or anyone else could benefit from our experience, feel free to pm or email me.</p>
<p>For those of you that fit the above and are planning to go to college you probably should take a look at these publications from the US Department of Education:</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>Just wondering...how is the diagnoses of ADD obtained? What distinguishes say a person with mild ADD from someone who is just kind of disorganized and distractable?</p>
<p>I have a 3.3 and a 1460. The difference isn't too extreme, but it does seem a bit out of proportion to some people. </p>
<p>Currently, the only results I have as of now is an acceptance to UCI and a deferral from UMich. I'll be sure to post in this thread once i've been accepted/rejected from my remaining colleges. I'm also curious to see how the 'high SAT, low GPA' thing works out</p>
<p>A diagnosis for a learning disability can be made by an educational psychologist, preferably with a doctorate, after substantial, and expensive, testing. This person will also obtain observational reports from teachers and parents and will talk at length with the student. These tests need to be normed for an adult. A psychiatrist can also make the diagnosis. A regular MD can make the diagnosis but because they rarely do the necessary testing it may not stand up to scrutiny by a college. Make sure that the person who does the testing also make it clear how the disability interferes with a major life function, and that the proposed accommodations relate to that disability. </p>
<p>If you are lucky you can get your school district to do the testing and write the reports. Federal law doesn't require them to do new testing for purposes of college attendance so expect to be turned down. However, if you are early in your hs career, and you suspect you have some kind of learning disability, parents can request an evaluation, which the school may or may not do depending on whether they have a reason to believe you might have a disability.</p>
<p>If you want to obtain accommodations in college, check with the office of disability services at the colleges you are interested in. Find out what their requirements are. Do not expect that having had an IEP will mean much to colleges.</p>
<p>To add to what tsdad said, if your child is diagnosed with ADD, he/she is entitled to accommodations at school. However, it is my understanding that, for college students, the diagnosis has to be within three years. My S was diagnosed in 8th grade so we will have to have another test done before he starts college if he is going to be entitled to accommodations.</p>
<p>To answer jeunger, the testing to determine ADD is extensive, but one of the signs is that the symptoms started early in childhood and were/are significant enough to interfere with daily life...everyone has times when he/she is distracted, forgetful, disorganized...but the person with ADD has a brain that works differently...extremely hard to relate to for us more "normal" brains...one example...my S never finished any in class work as early as 1st grade...his reason "people were distracting me" - there was just no way he could concentrate on his work when there were so many people around doing other things...of course, we thought he was making excuses and just wanted to socialize...told him he needed to buckle down and concentrate...of course, he was phuysically not able to do it...this went on for years until we had a complete evaluation done...</p>
<p>A couple of things: just having a diagnosis doesn't mean that you are disabled for purposes of Section 504/ADA. This is true both at the school and college level. You have to be able to demonstrate how the disability interferes with a major life activity and, therefore, requires accommodations. The three year thing is not set in stone, but to be sure do have a current evaluation. They are very costly, but worth it if the student needs accommodations to level the playing field.</p>
<p>As a parent be prepared for two things when you send you child with a disability off to college. First, unless your 18-year old gives the college permission, the disability service center will not provide you with any information about your child. Secondly, your child may decide that they do not want any accomodations and decline to ask for them.</p>
<p>Thanks tsdad for the clarification</p>
<p>THANK YOU FOR THIS THREAD!
i'm so sick of hearing A+ students all complaining about not getting into harvard, and acting like a few B's = a lifetime of failure. I also have ADD, and it makes it so difficult, even though i'm on medication. people at my school take the meds even though they ARENT diagnosed, which just makes for superhuman study-fiends quite similar to CCers. Not that i dont love this site and most of the people on it, but its really frusterating to be a B+ student (NMSF though since i got 99th percentile on the PSATS..so i guess i fall into this category too) and have to listen to people acting like that takes away all hope. i for one dont want to go to an Ivy anyway, but i KNOW that i will still get into a great school and be very happy and have a fabulous life, even though i'm far from perfect. :)</p>
<p>oh and getting B's does not a slacker make... it just means you have a life!</p>
<p>Amen, hilary!</p>
<p>I went to a "gifted" middle school where everyone was overachievers. Now in high school, most of the people I went to middle school with get straight A's and little social life, not many friends, etc. Some of them I know are very unhappy with high school, but it is not always the case. Not that that's a bad thing, of course.</p>
<p>I'm a B- student with two sports, lots of EC's, I try and keep a pretty good social life (but not so much my grades are completely awful), and I have a great relationship with my teachers. </p>
<p>I just think there a lot of worse things that could happen besides getting a few lower grades than what we're comfortable with.</p>
<p>I was glad to see this thread come up again. My GPA was below a 3.00 coming into senior year (I have since raised it to about a 3.1 thanks to straight As first semester). I have good SATs--though not compared to most other people on CC. (very high verbal score and middling math). I'm going to a moderately selective LAC next year and couldn't be happier. Best of luck to all rising seniors in a similar situation. Be realistic, but don't be afraid to go for a few reaches. According to Princeton Review, 99% of the people attending my college were ranked in the top half of their class. (I am not.) Sure it's a longshot, but if you have other things working for you an adcom just might decide to take a chance on you. :)</p>
<p>Hey, I just found this thread- great idea. Anyway, I suppose I qualify with my glorious 3.0 GPA (unweighted with a pretty rigorous curriculum) am not in the top 50% of my class (the average gpa is 3.5..madness) and my sat scores were 1410, 750,740, 720- not stellar but not bad. I got into UCDavis, UCSanta Cruz, St. John's College, Hampshire College with a pretty big merit scholarship and got waitlisted at Reed, Chicago and Smith. Rejected at Berkeley, Macalester and Oberlin (though there was a huge glitch in my oberlin app..so complicated.) There's hope =)</p>
<p>I'm attending St. John's college but I do have that worry that I too will join the ranks of those who flunk out of college..especially horrible after the huge debt i am sure ti incur from St. John's but I'm really happy with the type of education there. I encourage similar unmotivated or hs hating kids to look into the school and Hampshire as well. it might be your type.</p>
<p>i had a 2.5 sophmore year and a 3.0 jr year at a very competitive school and a 2050 sat, do i have a good chance of getting into u of a, boulder, u of o, or uconn?</p>
<p>I had a 3.2 and a 1480. I got into Cal Poly SLO, UCD, and UCI. I was just really lazy in high school, but I'm trying to room with some overachievers who will motivate me. Hopefully that happens instead of me dragging them down.</p>
<p>I had a 3.5 when I applied along with 1600/800x4 and got into Penn, Rice and CalTech.</p>
<p>newsnm: by u of a, u mean u of arizona? cuz that's really easy to get into</p>
<p>D1 2.9 GPA, NMSF, 34 ACT -- in ED at Oxy with no merit aid -- had international volunteer service as a hook</p>
<p>D2 3.0 GPA, NM Commended, 1400 SAT, 32 ACT In at Denver, Puget Sound, UC Boulder, Chapman and Eckerd. Merit money from 3 of the schools. Submitted extra writing samples.</p>
<p>freps: your daughter has really good SATs... if she tried she couldve had a stellar GPA and gotten into schools way better than those above.</p>
<p>3.0 would mean for every A there comes a C.... and a whole bunch of Bs??</p>