<p>My D has been accepted at U of C and several other top colleges. U of C is her top choice, although she is waiting until after accepted student visits to confirm this and send in her deposit.</p>
<p>One thing that she and I both have questions about is that she was diagnosed with a learning disability a few years ago. First actually observed in some testing in 2nd grade, but not fully diagnosed until testing in 9th grade. She had been a good student before that, but took off like a rocket once she got appropriate accommodations for her disability.</p>
<p>Her accommodations include extra time on tests in math or sciences that are math-intensive, either extra "white space" between problems on test or at least extra scratch paper during the test, and using a laptop for note taking (which wasn't really an accommodation at her high school, as they all had school-issued laptops and were expected to use them in that way).</p>
<p>My questions aren't about how to request the accommodations (found that website). But more about the culture around this at U of C. Does anyone have any personal experience with this (student or parent)? Were needed (and previously used) accommodations granted without a huge hassle? They say on the website that the testing has to have taken place in the last 3 years -- hers is four years old, are we going to have to spend another thousand on testing again? (Yes, I know the disabilities office will ultimately have to tell us, just wondering if anyone else bumped into this.) When you/your student needed to use the accommodations (say, in a physics class), were the professors accepting and professional about handing it? She knows she needs to talk to her profs/TAs at the beginning of the quarter, and has been handling her own conversations with high school teachers for the past two years, so she will make sure that is taken care of right at the beginning of each quarter.</p>
<p>My kid is brilliant, and loves ideas and intellectual activities with all of her heart. She works very hard, and can advocate for herself on this as long as she has the support of the disabilities office behind her (appropriate documentation in hand from them for a professor/TA). But I still have some concerns... U of C seems like a pretty "Darwinian" place, and I am worried about that aspect of the culture in this regard. Would like to hear from others about their experience with this if possible.</p>
<p>Oh, I am going to be away from my computer today, so can respond to questions and comments tonight. Thanks for info on any experiences anyone has had! Ah… and I see I spelled “accommodations” incorrectly in the post heading and can’t change it…</p>
<p>Bump… nobody has any experience with this? We just spent two days on campus for accepted student days. I am certain on a campus of 5,000 undergrads of the type we met there are a fair number on some kind of medication for things like ADHD — as my D said, “I am sure there is plenty of on-label and off-label use of Adderall and Ritalin here.”. Assume that there are a reasonable number of kids who have some kind of accommodations as well. Any parents or students?</p>
<p>I helped a student w/ disabilities with her application to UChicago last year. Unlike your daughter, she actually wasn’t a very strong student and doesn’t consider herself an intellectual or a reader (B average w/ some Cs, never took an AP or honors class, 29 ACT after tons of very expensive tutoring, didn’t do much after school but worked in one of her dad’s 4 McDonalds during the summer and did service trips to South America) but had legacy and is an URM. (She was turned down by all the comparable schools to which she applied, including Dartmouth ED, Tufts ED2, UMichigan, Middlebury, Macalester, Tulane and JHU. In addition to Chicago, she was accepted by GW, AU, Dickinson and Northeastern. Needless to say, she and her family were thrilled by her acceptance to Uchicago.)</p>
<p>She had no trouble getting accommodations. Her testing was 4 years old; while her mom was told that the university would prefer that she get retested before first quarter, her mom told them she couldn’t afford the few thousand dollars (her parents are divorced; she lives with her mom who doesn’t earn a lot but her dad, a Uchicago grad, is a millionaire). She got all accommodations beginning the first quarter, among them extra time on tests and a note taker (an undergrad student who attends the class with her to take her notes and is paid by the university). All her profs were very understanding. The university tested her before the second quarter and directly handled negotiations with her mom’s health insurance. The insurance, for the first time in the family’s experience, fully paid for the testing. Not sure how the university managed that but the mom is terribly grateful.</p>
<p>She only took 3 courses her first quarter, among them a Spanish class and her first calculus course (she finished high school with pre-cal). Not sure what her 3rd class was but she performed better at the Uchicago than in her regular classes in high school: Bs and B+s (no Cs). Her mom was very worried about her academically before the start of the year but she’s doing well, has had plenty of time to socialize and has made many friends. I believe she is taking 4 courses this quarter. In general, she’s very happy there. And the university couldn’t have been more helpful with her accommodations. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Oh, i’ve edited this to include that she has been on meds for ADHD since early childhood. I have a vague memory that her mom told me that her daughter was specifically told by the disability office to keep her meds locked up and that she’s not to sell or give her medication to anyone.</p>
<p>RM, thanks for the response. Can’t reply to your PM because I don’t have enough posts. Glad to hear that her experience was good. I think my D is leaning away from U of C now, and not really because of the disability issues. She didn’t have a great visit at accepted students week and also has a couple of other good choices. Although she hasn’t taken it off her list entirely.</p>