Hi! I was accepted at Mount Holyoke and I scheduled calls with the disability offices at my top schools. I still have some questions after the calls and was hoping to get a student/parent/alumna perspective. Can anyone speak as to how their disability needs were handled? I will specify that I don’t have a mobility need or a learning disability, I don’t want to get too into it but you can think of it as being similar to Lupus. Other schools mentioned medical singles, increased attendance flexibility, extensions, being able to take fewer than required classes if necessary, etc.
I feel that MHC may be the best fit for me - especially socially - but they weren’t as concrete and I worry the unwavering rigor may be too much for me physically. Any help would be appreciated:)
Thank you so much!
This experience goes back many, many years. I was a junior at Mount Holyoke and was taking a seminar in international relations from a legendary professor in the political science department (my major). The professor, for whom there is now a named professorship at the College, was (I thought) very demanding, somewhat stern and unapproachable. When I went home for Christmas vacation, I had planned to write a paper during that time that was due shortly thereafter. My mother had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized and the entire household was thrown into turmoil. I was unable to work on the paper. I was terrified. I could not seem to come up with a good solution to the issue of how I should handle this awful deadline problem. I finally screwed up my courage and explained the situation to the professor who could not have been nicer. She gave me several extra weeks to complete the paper which I did. Later on, when I was an alumna, I was honored to be included among the alumnae invited to the professor’s home for a special reception during a reunion. I have never forgotten her kindness.
Today there are numerous avenues available to students to seek accommodations for disabilities. I would suggest that if you decide to enroll at Mount Holyoke that you make an appointment with the appropriate person and ask for guidance and suggestions. If your situation is one that may predictably give you deadline problems, I would suggest making your professors aware of it early in the semester. Just a thought.
Hey! I know this is very late, but I am a prospective transfer student & MHC is my top choice. Did you end up attending, and if so, could you speak to your experiences so far with disability services as well as the general environment (i.e. in terms of rigor)? I have a similar type of condition to yours (if you’re well-versed in chronic illness, you may be able to guess it from my username lol) and my serious issues with my current college’s disability services department are a large factor in my decision to transfer, so I want to make sure that the college I transfer to will be able to support me in the way I need. Thank you!!