I would urge you to put “solid SAS office/support” on his list of top items to consider. Finding a school that is the best fit is IMO more important than rank for students with special educational needs. He can call prospective school Student Accessibility Services and Student Success offices and speak with them about possible services and accommodations. Does he have an IEP or a 504? Does he have a transition plan in place?
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There will be plenty of schools for your S24! I have a D23 and S25 and both fall into the CC “average good student” category. D23 has a 3.6 UW GPA and applied to 11 schools. She has heard back from 6 so far. Admitted at 4 (one of which is a top choice for her) and deferred at 2.
She is a hard working student at a competitive public HS. We have worked hard as a family to prioritize mental health (she is an anxious kid who previously got very hung up on perfection) over perfect grades and taking the most demanding classes available. She has taken 2 APs, which are only available starting junior year, and several honors classes. It’s no easy task to balance school work, her sport, volunteer commitments, and still enjoy the high school experience.
It seems like every kid on CC is an academic superstar, but I assure you, there are many kids in the 3.0-3.8 range that end up with great options! Check out the 3.0-3.4 and 3.5-3.8 threads.
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One other thing to consider: the high school is providing relatively easy opportunities to game one’s grades / GPA (one extra paper = 1.5 grade points, which seems large for extra credit). Students who play the game end up with exaggerated GPAs and ranks and may help themselves in college admissions… but when they get to college and the easy extra credit is much less available, are they more at risk of a bigger than typical drop in college versus high school apparent (as measured by GPA) academic performance?
S24 was in special ed from age 3 until the end of his freshman year in high school. At that point, he was declassified. The only accommodation he receives at school is extra time. He often goes in before school for help from teachers, but this is available to all students. He uses audiobooks, text-to-speech, and speech-to-text.
Every college we’ve looked at has an office for accommodations (Student Accessibility Services, etc). However, it’s hard to find out about the culture and practices surrounding disabilities unless you know a student at the school. For example, D19’s college is not known for LD support, and is not on any lists of schools that kids with disabilities should look at, yet the professors are remarkably understanding. It is not difficult to register with SAS, and there are free writing centers and readily available student tutoring. It is common for even the top students to use these resources. But, this school is too selective and academically demanding for S24. He’s looking for a place where he can learn and do reasonably well in his classes, but also have a full and balanced life.
I think I will start a thread about S24’s journey sometime next week. It seems like there are people out there with knowledge and suggestions, as well as other non-typical CC students who could benefit.
Once the thread is up, I’ll post a link to it here. Thanks to all for being willing to engage and help!
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These colleges usually go out of their way to help students.
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Hi, all! I wrote that I would post a link if I made a Journey thread for S24. Here it is:
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