And what state do you live in? What is your budget? Does he want to stay close to home or is he excited about moving farther away and experiencing a different part of the country? Are you interested in a school that might have a bit of religious element like a Jesuit school?
His grades are very good and he has lots of options. Has he already applied anywhere or is he only doing RD?
A properly documented diagnosis of ADHD is eligible for accomodations under Section 504 OHI (other health impaired). It has nothing to do with grades and ACT scores. Did he have a neuropsych evaluation? To receive accomodations in college, he will need such medical documentation. Regardless of which college he selects, executive functioning will be a concern that can potentially be assisted by any collegeâs accessibility/disability dept.
Yes he has had a neuropsychologist evaluation just a few months ago with diagnosis and recommended accommodations included. Apparently the rules for requiring accommodation say there needs to be a demonstrated impact on his ability to learn. âThe illness/disability must cause a substantial limitation on the studentâs ability to learn or another major life activity.â I think they are arguing if his grades/scores are decent that he is able to learn well without accommodation. It is not as straight forward as I had hoped.
We live in Colorado. Our budget is flexible (obviously we would like to spend less and get him a great education). He is very interested in exploring outside of CO and getting away from home. We are Jewish and he is certainly interested in a lively and active Jewish community at the school (Hillel organization). He has not applied as he is a junior but we are trying to get a list together so we can figure out what he needs to be doing now to qualify for those schools but also start to visit if he determines that somewhere is a good ED option for him.
Have you signed up for the Hillel top 60 list ? Will give you lots of schools.
I think kids have to be self motivated and it can happen in college. For large, cheap schools with strong Jewish life, you can go for really cheap to Alabama. Yes. Alabama. 1000 Jews. Heâll need an act for great merit. Arizona. FSU and Florida State. More expensive but great are Pitt and Miami Ohio. Kansas another to look at closer to home with yes, a huge Jewish population.
Medium, my daughter goes to College of Charleston and is having a wonderful Jewish experience. She had to travel for that experience growing up. Lots of mid size great privatesâŠfrom Syracuse to Miami to Emory to âŠjust so many.
Lots of small schools too.
Thatâs just for starters. You can narrow down size, geography, big sports or no sports, etc and can find u a school.
Hereâs what Alabama and Arizona offer $ wise. Itâs y they have so much geographic diversity. But check out bloom Hillel at Bama.
https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/out-of-state/
https://financialaid.arizona.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/incoming-transfer
Iâm sorry to hear this and shame on your district! If your son was younger, an educational attorney would be able to help, but for now, the neuropsychologistâs report should be useful in securing college accommodations.
There is a Facebook group, âCollege Transition and Accommodations Information for Parents,â run by a college disability services director. It is a wealth of information that you might want to consider. Best of luck!
I realize whether to medicate is an intensely personal choice, but the right medication made a world of difference for my 2E kid (adhd/gifted). They went from being disorganized with lots of late/missing assignments to nearly perfect grades and better time management. Like your child, my kid could easily do the work and did not qualify for accommodations, but just needed that neural spark to help with executive functioning. Aside from medication, a good therapist and an executive function coach will be necessary to help your child with time management and creating organizational systems that will work for him now and throughout college.
Your child has a good academic profile and will have lots of options. 2E kids with high potential and varied interests can be easily overwhelmed by all the available choices in college. To relieve the stress and anxiety of having to make too many choices, I would focus on colleges that have distribution requirements. I would also focus on small to medium sized colleges with excellent advisors who can help your child stay on track to graduate. Smaller colleges also have an added benefit of being supportive, close-knit communities where itâs harder for a kid to fall through the cracks. Many LACs will fit here as well as smaller research universities like Lehigh or William and Mary. An open curriculum school with an excellent advisement team, like Brown, could also be a good fit. If you can afford it, a college consultant can create a targeted list for your student.
He sounds like my 23 year old. He started medication in 6th grade which helped very much, but the executive functioning issues popped up in HS with papers and projects. I had never even heard of executive functioning, but found out about it after he described his issues to me. We got his guidance counselor involved and he met with her once a week to map out a plan of attack. We never got a 504 because he was fine with tests and short term projects, he never needed extra time.
He graduated college with a finance degree, works 12 hour days and is completely on top of things. Executive functioning can be learned, I wish I had realized what was going on earlier and gotten him a coach.
Thanks so much for sharing about your son. We are starting with an executive functioning coach now and hoping he can learn a lot of these skills over the next year or so before he leaves for college. I know it could make a huge difference for him! We are focusing right now on also finding the right fit for him so that he can continue to be supported in the big independent world of college!! Where did your son go? Did he get support through his school?
@mountainsoul - I tried to PM you but couldnât figure out how. Hope it is ok to ask here which medicine you found help on the organizational front. We have found medication helpful, but doesnât seem to have touched the disorganization piece.
I sent you a message.
We are in NJ, he attended TCNJ, a regional college with about 7500 students. For financial reasons public in state was his only option (couldnât risk losing merit if he went that route), and Rutgers (where his sister graduated) was way to big, he needed more support. I donât know what resources he took advantage of, after 4 years of high school, checking the parent portal regularly after realizing he handed everything in late, fighting, I decided I wasnât going to even ask how he was doing (he used to lie in high school), and pray for the best. Honestly until graduation I wouldnât have been that surprised if he had flunked out (well, except for the bills). S o glad those days are over. Good luck to your son, I believe he will be very successful.
Our family history suggests the âgifted underachieverâ is not much wanted at colleges. Theyâd much rather see a hard working and motivated students. And a kid who is not motivated rarely finds it living apart with challenging work.
You might consider a community college to see if you can get him back in the rhythm before you shell out big dollars for an indifferent performance and attitude.
I think that working with an executive functioning coach as soon as possible and seeing how much is learned and how much additional support is needed is crucial. The next 9 months will hopefully give a pretty good indicator of that, as that may sway the decision as to which colleges to apply to (or whether to take a gap year or two). If little to no additional support is needed then that may end up being totally different list of schools than if he needs intense, continued support. Additionally, it may also give a clue as to whether itâs an executive functioning issue (quite possible) or if itâs a motivational issue that goes beyond executive functioning. At that point, your son may do best not going straight to college.
Here is the Hillel list which lists top 60 private schools (# of Jewish students), top 60 public schools, and top 60 schools by percentage of Jewish students.
How would one find a good executive functioning coach? I am looking online and cannot choose the right one at all 
First, it depends if youâre looking for in-person or remote. If remote, from a quick search on the FB page I mentioned, people have recommended:
Evolve Coaching (Pittsburgh)
Thrive Emerge (MD)
Access to Achieve
Focus Collegiate
New Frontiers for Learning (NYC)
Ruth Bomar, coach
Thank you so much, this is very helpful! I liked his blog, so will dive in deeper on it.
You may also want to check out/google resources for adults with ADHD. Many of the suggestions are helpful for anyone. (Always put your keys in the same place, for example.) The book âthat crumpled piece of paper was due last weekâ (??),has some good strategies for students.
You might also want to view âTake your Pillsâ. Itâs another angle on meds, which are a very personal decision and one that merits a bit of consideration.
Hoping you have success with the exec coach!
Since the OP has come back to add that her son was diagnosed with adhd with executive functioning issues, I want to say that this can cause one to appear lazy and unmotivated, but that isnât always the case, and with medication and coping strategies, students with these diagnoses can do very well at college. I have sons in each category, night and day.
Me too @Mjkacmom ! Itâs very stressful for these kids.