Can/Should a parent call the college to ask about disabilities?

Parents Forum
1

Hey All,

Our daughter has an IEP with ADHD/ASD and has a lower GPA and had lower PSAT scores. She is well rounded, involved in leadership activities, volunteering, track (even if she finishes last she tries), gets A/B’s in all classes except for Chem and Algebra which she gets C’s but not from lack of trying. She excels in art, has an art portfolio, website, has been hired to do a mural, commissioned and in art shows at school. People have suggested before we go to a school that I call to find out if she has a chance of getting in before even going. I know that many MA public chools won’t even look at a student with below a 3.0. Has anyone here ever talked to someone in admissions to ask about their disability policy? The high school told the students to handle everything on their own and I’d like to honor that. We’d like to take a tour of a local state school which has the exact major and program she wants. They also have help for ASD and are considered on the top 20 in the nation for that. The scattergrams show she is unlikely to get in though we did talk to someone else recently who got in with a lower GPA. A friend suggested we call the school ahead of touring…do I do this? We are definitely looking at art schools but the in state school would be in our budget even if it took her longer. Thanks in advance.

2

I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking. You want the admissions office to take her disability into account when considering her for admissions, ie, lower their academic standards? Or you want to ask the admissions office how the school handles disabilities and accommodations for students at the school?

If a school has an actual, hard minimum for grades or scores, I would think it would say so on their website. If not, if they do holistic admisssions and you call and ask if your daughter has a chance, I assume you’ll get the same answer everyone would get, something to the effect of “We read every application and we can’t comment on your child’s chances.” Along with looking at the scatter gram, you should look at each school’s Common Data Set (google the name of the school and “common data set”). Section C has information about the average GPA and the mid 50% range of scores for admitted students. Assume you want to be in at least that mid 50% for a decent shot at admissions.

What does your daughter’s GC say about all this?

I’m a mom with a kid who is a senior in high school, so I don’t know everything, but my guess would be that schools aren’t going to relax their standards for admissions because of a disability. I would think they would assume the kid has been getting appropriate accommodations and that their grades and scores reasonably reflect their abilities.

Now, if I completely misunderstood and you want to know how to find out what the school’s policies etc are with respect to students with disabilities, that I can definitely tell you about, because my son has disabilities and needs accommodations and I’ve had meetings at two school and exchanged emails with a third. On a school’s website poke around the section on campus life or student life, you’ll find the section for something like the Office of Student Disabilities or some such name. It will tell you a bit about them. I promise, they have already seen a million kids with ADHD and they know the drill. You or your daughter can call and speak to someone on the phone or arrange a meeting if you’re visiting the school. Tell them what the diagnosis is, what accommodations she gets in high school and what you think she’ll need in college. And then ask any questions you have about the process for getting accommodations, how things work at the school, if there should be any problem getting what she needs assuming appropriate documentation and anything else you want to know. Thhbbbt on making your daughter handle everything on her own if she doesn’t feel like she’s ready. IME, they will emphasize to you that once she’s there, she will be the person to deal with them and, of course, if there’s a meeting, she should take the lead. If she’s not ready to handle it all on her own (and she may be, but if not) think of this as part of the process of getting her ready.

I found the disabilities people at all three school pleasant, reasonable and happy to help.

3

Colleges, for the most part, would rather talk to a student than a parent.

So, here’s what I suggest:

  1. Take a look at the school website. Enter “ADHD” into the search bar and see what comes up. Then try “disability services” or something along those lines.
  1. Talk to the guidance counselor. If you're from MA, he or she is likely to have some insight into the MA university system. I do know that there is a very nice range of public universities in MA, so that should help.
  2. Attend an open house, and ask the question during the Q&A section, or ask it privately during the day. That's a perfect platform for parents to ask questions.
4

Thank you Millie210, it’s probably a little of both. She goes to each school with enthusiasm and tries to picture herself there. I know life is full of disappointment but I’d at least like to go to schools where she has some chance of getting in. And, we’ve looked at schools with support so far. She’s had a long journey with IEP’s and teams and really came into her own last year and decided instead of hating it (which she did) to embrace it. She seeks support and uses it and then works really well on her own after. I’m very proud of her. I haven’t gone into detail with her G.C. because I wanted to talk to her alone about this. Not that our daughter shouldn’t hear but I will get distracted if she’s there asking questions that might not relate to this. We went in for our junior meeting, I will definitely ask soon.

5

Thank you bjkmom, I’ll definitely do that. The college came to our school (that we want to tour) and our daughter was sitting next to us in an auditorium. I didn’t want to out her so I didn’t ask there, will definitely do a private talk…our college consultant says that she will probably not get into the school we’re looking at but it’s instate and she’s an art major and very talented and has all the recs etc. Her GPA and scores are not desirable but they are backed up with documentation that she tried and she A/B’s in core classes and C’s in Math/Science. She’s going for her BFA. Yes, we will apply to art schools too but this school is in state and has her major and we’d like to tour it. It would be reasonable money wise and has supports for ASD. Thank you so much, I will keep you updated.