My ds22 disclosed his adhd diagnosis in the additional info section of the common app. He had a significant upward trend after a horrible freshman year, and this section allowed him to explain the reason and the steps he had taken to get treatment and understand himself better as a learner. I do think that if his academic performance had been all over the place from the start and he was still in midst of struggling, we probably would have had him hold off.
PS he did really well in terms of acceptances (10/12 schools), so it didn’t hurt him. I think it probably depends on your kiddo’s overall profile and if disclosing it helps to paint a clearer picture. Otherwise I would wait until acceptance.
eta @ububumble said it better than I could as always!
I think it is important to explain a drop in grades rather than to leave that mysterious, if that’s part of what happened. My S23 struggled during sophomore year because of all remote “learning” and those grades are much worse than either freshman year or this year so far. His counselor advised making a simple statement on his applications that sophomore year does not reflect his abilities and was affected by pandemic teaching.
I agree that the school options are going to be more limited for my son. He’s the youngest of three and the search will have quite different parameters than the older two! We are definitely focused on finding the best school for him, not the “BEST” school. Actually the “best” option might not even be college at this point. Still a lot to work out. Keeping all options open so far but realizing that his path may not be as direct as the older kids’.
At our house, we are all about keeping options open and being flexible on what path is/becomes best. As our kids have grown up we have been reminded frequently, “Man plans, and God laughs”.
It is so clear in your posts the care and thought you are putting in to help your son find his path. That, ultimately, is what will help your son more than anything.