My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of last semester. She started to spiral downward half way through and could not recover. She continued to go to classes but did not complete work. As a consequence, she failed every class. She completed paperwork for a medical withdrawal but we received the letter today saying she was denied.
This was her second year at this university, but she was in her senior year since she received her AA in high school. She has always received good grades so this is very upsetting for her. She is going to appeal the decision, but I am hoping someone out there has been through this before.
Currently, she is taking the semester off to get on meds and get her ADHD under control. She wants to transfer to a university closer to home but with her failed semester I’m not sure how that will be possible. Any assistance or words of advise would be greatly appreciated.
As the mom of an college grad with ADHD, I want to throw out a few thoughts. While your D’s diagnosis may be new, ADHD doesn’t suddenly pop up in someone of college age. If the diagnosis is valid, she’s had it for a very long time. So how to explain her sudden descent from good grades to not completing work and failing every class? I can see how the school would have some skepticism about the situation. I suppose it’s possible that she was taking significantly more challenging courses this past semester and was unable to skate by despite her ADHD when she had been able to do so in the past–but that’s not a likely scenario unless the courses were truly in a whole different league. It sounds to me like a lot more was going on with your daughter–perhaps depression was involved. I can only suggest neuropsych and psychiatric evaluations to sort out exactly what the problem(s) is(are) before considering an appeal or a transfer. Best of luck to her.
I was going to say the exact same thing. ADHD isn’t a sudden onset kind of thing like certain other mental health diagnoses that pop up at this age. Is there any chance she was depressed, which causes concentration problems, or developed bipolar disorder, which is strongly correlated with ADHD? Any medical issues, such as low thyroid?
Is there a reason she suddenly couldn’t finish her work? And she didn’t finish in any of her classes? There may be some other far more legitimate reason for a medical withdrawal. I second the idea of a neuropsych and psychiatrist getting involved, and a physical too.
If she knew she was failing, why didn’t she address it with someone, teachers, dean, you? Because a medical withdrawal is harder to get once grades are in: it can look like an attempt to overturn them just to preserve the record. But it is not impossible if you have professionals and documentation supporting her.
Has she asked if she could have extensions and finish the work? That is another avenue. She could get incompletes and finish that way too.
ADHD is a good reason for accommodations but less of a reason for withdrawal, though her appeal may have a chance, again, if supported adequately by professionals.
Yes, I agree. It is unlikely that ADHD would hit all at once like a ton of bricks. It is important to find out if something else was going on concurrently. I would talk to your D and her doctors about it, perhaps get more detailed assessments, and appeal if appropriate. Sorry this happened and hopefully you D can get back on track soon.
PS Unsolicited advice – it might be hard to transfer senior year as most colleges require that a student attend for 2 years before they will give a diploma – I don’t think this is a hard and fast rule but it is something to ask about as you explore college transfer options closer to home.