<p>Hi, my daughter went from an ed plan to a 504 this year. She is smart with a language based LD and works very hard. Some required classes, such as foreign language, really are impossible. Her school is a high ranking public school which is respected. She studies to midnight most nights. She gets extended time, but that is about all. Anything with rote memorizing, she tanks on tests. Her gpa is just below 3. On the other hand, she received extra time on the SAT, and scored a 2060 (CR 670, Math 660, writing 730.) Her school really drills "how to write" and she is succeeding beyond our wildest dreams. She wants to be an animator.</p>
<p>I am concerned about two things; </p>
<p>1) a high SAT with low gpa makes her appear to be lazy, but the opposite is true. Also, she will be applying to art schools, and especially ones which specialize in animation. She has tremendous patience and stick-to-it-ness and is very creative - she would be an excellent animator. HOWEVER, many of the top animation schools also look at grades. They want to make sure that they can do the work. My dd is at Ringling for a pre-college program, and absolutely can do the work. (Art, by the way, is not factored into the high school gpa).</p>
<p>2) any scholarship opportunities appear to have a 3.0 cut off. She has been involved in various volunteer opportunities, and would have a good shot at them without her ld impacting her so much. We cannot afford a better art school without some outside aid. While I know that merit is portfolio based, there are a lot of other scholarships out there - should she not even be looking at outside scholarships considering her (just) below 3.0 gpa status?</p>
<p>I guess the question is, should she talk about her ld, to make the gpa/SAT disparity make more sense? Should she even send her SAT scores - many art schools do not require them - would that help or hinder? Will scholarship programs take into account her ld, or just the gpa?</p>
<p>Send the SATs, by all means. Arts schools love high test scores, if the student also passes the portfolio review or audition. They can also help in scholarship awards. Do any of your state’s public colleges have good art/animation programs? There are some excellent ones out there. Also, look at Columbia College of Chicago - it has near-open admissions, and isn’t much more expensive than a lot of public colleges.</p>
<p>Thank you! That is good to hear, about the test scores. My dd is considering Columbia College of Chicago. Would you please tell me which state public schools have good animation programs? I know that VCU Arts has a pretty ok Kinetic Arts program - my daughter is leaning towards Motion Design or stop motion animation. While Mass Art, is ok, I haven’t heard a lot about their animation program. Thank you so much for taking the time to write back!</p>
<p>OP–there are several threads on the Learning Differences and Challenges–LD,ADHD forum on whether or not to disclose a disability that are worth looking at. In your D’s case I think it is worth considering disclosing her disability as it will explain the discrepancy between grades and scores, and sounds like it won’t get in the way of her becoming a great animator. Not sure about whether it will make a difference for scholarships. Good luck!</p>
<p>Art schools often don’t require SATs and only take a cursory look at GPA – I would have your daughter check out Cal Arts, they have a top notch animation program. Also I would encourage your daughter to use her essay to talk about her struggles with school and how she overcomes her LD – colleges are looking for kids like this who work hard despite obstacles. </p>
<p>You are MUCH better off disclosing her disability than hiding it. It is very awkward, and sometimes impossible, to retake anything that was taken with no accommodations, over again with accommodations.</p>
<p>However - don’t necessarily disclose it in the application. Just make sure once she is admitted, she contacts the campus office of disability services or whatever they have. You can also go on that college’s or art school’s forums (here or elsewhere) and ask how accommodating they are.</p>
<p>As for scholarships - there are some based solely on artistic, or musical, or other abilities that are nothing to do with GPA. Best to look into it just in case, it’s not just institution-specific.</p>