<p>I think that there are things you can do that will minimize the impact of your less than stellar freshman year in your college applications. In this case, I think I would go with the parents who recommend disclosing your LD. Then I would take a three-pronged approach. </p>
<p>First, in the section of college applications that asks about whether you have anything else to add, I would very matter of factly explain -- be sure to have your GC or an English teacher take a look at this and make sure it doesn't come across as whiny or bitter -- that you have an LD that was not fully diagnosed and that you hadn't really addressed in freshman year. Then you can let the colleges know that by sophomore year, you were determined to succeed academically so you could pursue your interests in ABC successfully and become an effective DEF as an adult. If you like, you can be specific about how you began to cope with your LD better, and to become a better student (your grades will bear out the fact that you did improve) but I don't think you have to be too specific if you don't want to. </p>
<p>Second, if your parents agree that this is the way to go since you have the legal right to have your school keep your LD secret, I would sit down with your GC and give your GC something in writing explaining your LD and your improvement once you began to face it and deal with it, with permission to reveal your LD in his statment with a glowing description of how you have worked to improve, and indicating that this continuing improvement is reflected in your grades, the difficulty of the courses you've taken, etc. Having a GC more or less explain that your freshman year does not reflect your abilities or motivation as a student should be helpful, especially if your transcript backs him up. </p>
<p>If you have a teacher who taught you in freshman year, when you were not doing so well, and more recently, when you are doing much better, you might consider having that teacher write a college recommendation that makes it clear to colleges that the problems you experienced in your freshman year are behind you and that you are now functioning at the intellectual and academic level of students at their college. (Again, the teacher would need specific permission from you and your parents, if you're not yet 18, to reveal that you have an LD.)</p>
<p>Finally -- and this is the most important -- do everything you can to find ways to work around the LD issues that still make it difficult for you to succeed at the level of your potential and knowledge RIGHT NOW. In one of your early posts, you said that certain things seemed to be getting harder or getting worse. Please get some help to work on those issues. Remember, once you get to college -- and I hope it will be a very good one -- you will want to be a successful student there. Colleges offer all sorts of support for LD students, and if you learn to use support now to do even better, as well as to show colleges an even more dramatic upward trajectory, the transition to college level work will be a lot smoother for you.</p>
<p>The third part of this advice, which you are also getting from other parents, seems to be the least compelling for you. Please listen. Getting help in dealing with your LD now is going to make the biggest difference both in giving you a better life in high school, AND in helping you get into the best possible college. So, make sure that your accommodations are in place this year from the first day of school. If there's a problem with some of your teachers or the school in general not respecting your plan, have your parents involved and get meetings set up at school asap so the problems can be addressed. If your school has not applied for your accommodations on SAT, ACT and AP exams, make sure that happens right away. (If your accommodations were not in place for your standardized tests, your scores might have been negatively impacted. The ETS is reluctant to grant accommodations after a student has already taken SAT's etc. and received an average score. But if you've never taken the ACT, maybe give it a try with accommodation, and don't give up on the Education Testing Service/College Board until your school gives it a try.) Do the thing with the calendar and speaking with each and every one of your teachers on a scheduled, regular basis. See if you can sit down with a learning specialist or educational psychologist to work out a plan to help you succeed in school at the level of your intelligence. </p>
<p>Your freshman year and rank will matter a whole lot less if colleges understand why it happened, and can see that once you came to grips with your LD, things got a lot better. If you do well this year, they will see that you are capable of doing the work at their colleges, and I suspect that a rotten freshman year will be a lot less harmful to you than it would be for a student with a less compelling explanation and less dramatic improvement.</p>