Looking for a small school for my son who has tremendous executive functioning issues and attentional issues. ACT scores 28-31. He really needs to be at a school with a really kind and accepting student body. Interests include neuroscience, psychology, philosophy and writing. He plays tennis, probably club level. We are looking for a school where we can build in some supports through the school for him and or outside the school if need be. MacDaniels, Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Clark, Ithaca, Ursinus, St. Lawrence, and Goucher have been suggested. Any thoughts most appreciated.
Emory & Henry
Lynn University
Curry College
Also Landmark College if you really want specialized.
Try midwest LACs like Beloit, Knox, Lawrence, and also look at the Colleges that Change Lives book/website.
I’m looking for the same thing for my D. Check out Marist, and surprisingly UCONN- even though it is a big state school, they have an excellent program for L.D.s where the kids can get up to three meetings per week with an executive function coach who will help them with managing their lives. You have to pay for it, but it sounds like it is worth every penny.
I don’t always think smaller is better. If he’s at a small school in the middle of nowhere (McDaniel, Kenyon) and doesn’t find a group to click with, what will he do? If a professor isn’t understanding of his issues, is there another to teach that same class?
I admit I like a larger school for lots of reasons, but have read a lot of stories about kids not fitting in and when the pool of available friends is small to begin with, what do you do?
We really don’t know how well he does in school. Since he has academic interests, it would seem he might do well despite challenges. Without a little more information I would not feel comfortable making recommendations, though you already have a great list. And Colleges that Change Lives is a good resource.
Did he have accommodations on the ACT?
If he is a bright motivated kid who does well in school, here is a list of test-optional or test- flexible schools, many of which are excellent.
Landmark, Curry and New England College are good recourses for a kid with learning disabilities, but many kids with ADHD can function well at several schools if their high school experience was good.
Accommodations only go so far, and are offered at a lower level at college than duding high school. You might want to make a list yourself after doing research, and then have an MD or neuropsych. sign. Single room, note-taking, extensions on papers, exam by himself, are examples.
The Disabilities Office will give him letters for all his professors which may or may not state the accommodations specifically requested, and most likely won’t mention the actual disability (though the prof.'s can access the file).
It is up to the student to discuss accommodations with the professor.
Often deans, advisors, doctors, counselors and others are more helpful than the disabilities office. He will need to figure out the system.
Some parents, who can afford it, hire a coach who can help with time management and other tasks, in person, by phone or online.
I am not sure about the kind and understanding student body! There will be kind and understanding individuals at many schools but it takes time to find them.
It does sound like your son has authentic academic interests and a priority might be a campus that is engaging intellectually. Again, I think you have a great list already.
When I was looking at the lists of schools that are good for LD, I came across some of the ones you have listed. I also saw Marist and UConn as stated above. I think Quinnipiac was also on one of those lists. Ask your college counselor to give you a list of colleges that are known for good LD support and start there.
Beware admissions at UConn…it’s pretty tough to get into these days. I had several high-stats kids rejected this year.
@twoinanddone have you visited McDaniel? It’s hardly in the middle of nowhere! Not far at all from Baltimore or Frederick…I guess it depends on your definition of “nowhere”!
Any ideas?
I have been to McDaniel (used to live near there when it was still Westminster, although closer to Goucher) and Lawrence and many small towns in Iowa although not to Grinnell. If an 18 year old is at McDaniel and having trouble fitting in or finding a counselor, it’s not a quick trip to Baltimore like it would be for an adult with a car.
These schools have 1500 students. There is no where to find more friends if the ones the admissions officer accepts aren’t your type. Even Goucher has more outlets, a bus to downtown or professionals outside the school (as OP said she’s looking for).
I admitted I have a prejudice against the smaller schools in the small towns. I felt claustrophobic but let my kids look at them (until they came around to my way of thinking)
Some colleges have special fee based programs for LD kids – a few examples are Adelphi (Bridges), Marist (learning support program), Hofstra (PALS)) and I’m sure there are others as well. Consider if something like those programs might be good options for your S to help with the transition to college.
You shouldn’t automatically choose small schools – visit some large schools for comparison. If you have any concerns about him not being ready to be away from family support, don’t be afraid to check out your local community college, too.
Larger universities may have a bigger and more qualified staff to assist students with learning disabilities. Public universities and community colleges take American with Disabilities Act very seriously, while some private schools may be doing the minimum not to get sued. My daughter had student jobs with learning support departments in both her community college and her LAC. She feels sorry for the kids at the LAC because she knows what a well-staffed disability support department should look like. It’s a caring place, but they really don’t offer much. My guess is because it’s a small school, they don’t have the numbers of students to justify creating the wider variety of services offered at the community college.
Google “college transitions dataverse” and pick the link titled “data and research” and from there pick the link titled “colleges with strong learning support services.” Notice how many large schools are on the list. When you click on each university name, it goes directly to the home page for their learning support department to make it easy to research.
OP,
Are there other parameters we should know about? Location geographically? Location in terms of size of city or proximity to anything (large city, hospital, etc.)? Cost? Will your son qualify for accommodations?
Lawrence in Wisconsin, different than St Lawrence in New York State. Would be excellent fit for those scores, those interests, that need.
Lesley University in Cambridge MA is a possibility (one of mine with similar issues landed there).
He is an intelligent kid. Current average will be between 86-88. ACT scores not in yet. Probably will be between 29-32. He is a good writer, very interested in neuroscience and philosophy. He has made no friends in high school which is a source of a lot of concern. He has a lot of executive functioning difficulties and will need some scaffolding. I am most worried about him socially as he will retreat into the computer if no one talks to him. He is an anxious kid. I think he needs a community of welcoming and kind kids.
A few things.
Even if the community is welcoming and kind, that does not mean a student will feel drawn in, want to be drawn in and/or take advantage of it.
I’d ask the following. Does it bother him that he has no friends in HS? Is it you who are concerned or your S, or both? What causes the anxiety, if you know? Is he in any kind of therapy right now? A 504? Any kind of accommodations now? Any EC’s? No right answer here, just data points.
Our kids struggle with a mix of these things and various LD’s and we are fleshing out the last college list of our four, bearing many of these items in mind. Knowing a bit more will help to provide some suggestions.
IDK if it will apply to your situation, I have a kid with her own challenges and one thing we have done is look for schools with more flexibility in their curriculum. She has some specific learning issues covered by 504 and she felt better knowing that she could have more choice in her classes.
Another thing we did is look at the housing really hard. She doesn’t have any interest in greek stuff or party atmosphere so we looked at schools that create groups in housing either through living learning communities or theme houses or residential colleges.
A somewhat silly suggestion is to send him treats to share regularly. I have a friend who sent her socially awkward son (on the scale) to college with a little flag thing that he hung on his door when mom sent individually wrapped home made cookies. Kids that knew what it meant would stop by his dorm for a cookie. It meant that he had social interaction and he made some friends that way. Sure, some kids just stopped in for a cookie and moved on quickly, but it was social interaction and it was worth that for mom. He made several good friends in his dorm this way.
I don’t see how she could know this if she’s never been exposed to it before. She’s not interested in meeting a group of women who want to do public service, do activities together, raise money for a philanthropy? It is a way to have a group of friends who won’t abandon you just because you are a little quirky.
We just had a 40th reunion and one woman came back who was very unique (bi-polar long before that was commonly diagnosed). She was really delightful as an almost 60 year old, and although she’d never been a ‘cool kid’ in college, she had fond memories of doing the activities, living in the house, enjoying more of college than if she’d just lived in an apartment (only freshmen lived in the dorm). People always say that you can form the same group of friends with dorm roommates, with people from your major, but do you? Will some organization give you a list of where these people are living 40 years later, how to contact them, what their current names are? She’s now reconnected with the group because her name was on our list.
My daughter’s friend did the recruitment process because I suggested it after her mother died the summer before school started. She is a very shy kid, was very lonely and didn’t really like her roommate. She loved it. Not a party girl at all (neither is my daughter) but liked the community of a sorority.
At some schools, the sorority house is a great place to live. I’ve liked it because there is no lease and daughter had somewhere to return to after taking the spring semester off for an internship and semester abroad. Easy.
Not what you asked for but has Spectrum Support: https://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/ssp/