Curry College? Hillyer (UHart)? New Eng College? Other suggetions for ADD student?

<p>D is a hs senior with ADD (inattentive) who: has rec'd minimal accommodations, has close to a B average, weak/average SATs (950 cr/m; 1500/2400) and is in the process of applying to college. We have a list of 8-9 private, primarily SAT optional LACs and 3-4 SUNY schools on her list -- all of which offer services to LD students through their respective disability offices. </p>

<p>I'm thinking of having her also visit/consider schools with more formal LD programs, including: Curry College (extra fee for LD prgm), New England College, Alfred U and Hillyer College (Univ of Hartford). (We looked at Manhattanville last year, but it didn't appear to be a fit for D.) </p>

<p>Any info on these schools?</p>

<p>Any other schools to suggest (D wants to stay on the east coast, w/i 4-5 hours of NYC, more than 2% black enrollment, not a lot of geneds or distribution requirements)?</p>

<p>Iā€™ve heard that University of Vermont has a good program and that University of Arizona does as well (but it does not meet the geographic requirement). My general tendency is that smaller is better, but both schools have very specific directed programs, IIRC.</p>

<p>Iā€™ve heard about Curry but have no first-hand knowledge.</p>

<p>D loved UVM - - especially the fact that the campus is just a short walk from dā€™town Burlington, but UVM is a reach school and Iā€™m focusing on adding match/safety schools to her list.</p>

<p>Arizona is great, but too big and too far away for D.</p>

<p>I also believe that smaller (1200-2800) is usually better - - thus my focus on LACs (Alfred is a small uni and Hillyer is a small program is a relatively small uni). Good to know Iā€™m on the right track and that I havenā€™t overlooked any obvious choices.</p>

<p>Stay away from traditional ā€œdisability schoolsā€ such as Landmark, Curry, Mitchell as they have low admissions standards to accomodate students so they attract a low caliber student body and has low academic standards and does not attract more studious students and bad behavior is often the norm. If your daughter can get accepted to a more prestigious school with a reputable disability program. Donā€™t shy away from big schools with strong disability programs, they provide more academic rigor and a studious atmosphere that disability schools can not.</p>

<p>Take a look at reviews from traditional disability schools
<a href="http://www..com/MA/CC_comments.html?type=negative%5B/url%5D">http://www..com/MA/CC_comments.html?type=negative</a>
<a href="http://www..com/CT/MC_comments.html?page=3&type=negative&d_school=Mitchell%5B/url%5D">http://www..com/CT/MC_comments.html?page=3&type=negative&d_school=Mitchell</a> College
<a href="http://www..com/VT/LC_comments.html?type=negative%5B/url%5D">http://www..com/VT/LC_comments.html?type=negative</a></p>

<p>A facebook group about Curry
[Don't</a> Go to Curry College | Facebook](<a href=ā€œFacebook Public Group | Facebookā€>Facebook Public Group | Facebook)</p>

<p>Sorry if those links didnā€™t show up. Just google each college and look up student reviews I hate to be blunt but if your daughter is not accepted to a college with a decent reputation, she would be better off going to community college than to a ā€œdisability school.ā€ Landmark, Curry, and Mitchell have a high rate of substance abuse and promiscuity at these schools and do not provide a rigorous academic atmosphere that would be necessry for your daughter to succeed, as they attract a very low caliber student due to low admissions criteria.</p>

<p>EthelLives ā€“ Your response was right on target. Weā€™ve decided NOT to send our son to Landmark for Exec. Functioning study skills this summer for that very reason. Just desperate for finding the right place for my juniorā€¦anyone have feedback?</p>

<p>My son is a junior in HS in Montclair, NJ. Heā€™s very bright in Math, 750 Math SAT score (will take again in June) with 2050 combined score. His grade average is 3.6. No APā€™s because the work load gave his too much stress. He wants to major in CompSc in Game Programming for a BS ā€“ a competitive field ā€“ but we figure that at least heā€™ll stay interested long enough to get through college and have programing skills to take into the work force. He has NO sports (private Martial Arts), no extracurricular HS, a little volunteering, not much. He went to ID Tech Summer Camp for 2-week sessions the last three years in a row so he knows some programming and is starting to try creating his own games. Has Executive Functioning challenges, organization etc. Heā€™d like a tech college best, I think, but afraid WPI & Stevens would be too rigorous, NJIT no student life, wouldnā€™t be admitted to RIT or RPI. Champlain and Becker Colleges are small and have great game design programs but those departments are VERY competitive. </p>

<p>Iā€™m wondering if a bigger college w an organized, effective ADD support program wouldnā€™t be better for him. Heā€™s so sick of being ā€œdumbed downā€ (no AP classes in HS due to stress and speed of class) but is really bright. Feedback?</p>

<p>@AubreyRoad131, Beckerā€™s game design dept is excellent and you donā€™t apply specifically to the department but for admission to the school as a wholeā€“and then admission into the major is first come first serve. They have rolling admissions so apply as early as possible. They seemed to have decent disability support which we would have explored further, but D chose another program.
@foolishpleasure, You may want to look at Lesley Universityā€“their disability services are fantastic.</p>

<p>@aubreyroad131ā€¦</p>

<p>Wow, I could have written this myself with my son, who is a senior. Same statistics and interests, it is eerie. Math SATā€™s 780, combined 2040. No sports, but yes, Martial Arts and he just received Eagle Scout. </p>

<p>He is ADD / Borderline Aspergers. Very much into computers and gaming.<br>
He applied to WPI, Stevens, RPI, RIT, Northeastern, Drexel and Wentworth (as well as URI and UMASS). He got accepted everywhere, except WPI and Northeastern. (Sad, as WPI was his first choice).</p>

<p>AP Classes were a nightmare. He FAILED AP History - couldnā€™t keep up with the work load. But>>> got a 4 on the exam, go figure. So, he will get the college credits, but had to repeat the class in his Senior Year in HS. </p>

<p>He will be attending RPI in the fall, majoring in Game Simulation Arts and Scienceā€¦ with a computer science discipline. We choise that school based on the program and yes, money. Yes, I am very nervous about the course load and the competitive nature of the students. He is not competitive at all, and tends to fall behind in most class assignments. BUT the good thing about RPI, is there is an academic counseling department - they will have his IEP from high school and will assign councilors and peer councilors immediately.<br>
Becker and Champlain are great programs, but are more designed base. He knew he wanted Computer Science based and can always have the option about either double majoring or transferring his major to Comp Sci if that is more appropriate. </p>

<p>good Luck!</p>

1 Like

<p>

In passing, I note that EthelLivesā€™ quote was from December 2010, AubreyRoadā€™s from May 2013. That said ā€¦ .On the other hand ā€¦</p>

<p>Last summer (2012), our son attended the 3-week Landmark summer program for high school students. Heā€™s been characterized as having an alphabet soup of LDs, is relatively math-challenged (680R/550M/600W), and has strengths in politics & history (780 World History SAT).</p>

<p>The program was wonderfully worthwhile. For (mostly) the first time, our son encountered instructors who ā€˜got himā€™ and was working with a ā€˜non-threateningā€™ peer group. He returned home with greater self-awareness, was able to acknowledge and discuss (albeit grudgingly) his LD and the potential benefits of accommodations, began to understand the need for self-advocacy, and had an improved self-image.</p>

<p>And his grade 11 marks (and his attitude) were an improvement over grade 10.</p>

<p>We couldnā€™t have asked for much more.</p>

<p>That said, he (and I) are intent on him continuing to study at academically rigorous educational institutions for (mostly) neurotypical students, as long as solid supports are in place. </p>

<p>And while smaller is preferable, better an environment with programs which heā€™s keen on which have those supports, than a smaller place about which heā€™s not enthusiastic.</p>