<p>My son will be attending Lynchburg College this fall. His stats are lower than your son's. He is receiving some merit aid, at least first semester (Needs a 2.5 to keep it) He was also accepted at Ohio Wesleyan and McDaniel. He has processing difficulties similar to what you described. Received extra time for his SAT but didn't use it. We visited Lynchburg twice and just attended an orientation session and we are thrilled with the overall environment and support that will be available to him there. We have several friends who sent their kids to Lynchburg and loved it. (Lynchburg doesn't have a pool!!!)</p>
<p>Support services for LD students is very dependent on the individual(s) that run that department. These people do move, and change jobs. (Our college consultant made this point) So rather than depending on a school's reputation for providing services it is crucial to meet the people who run the program. </p>
<p>It is often difficult to guage a school's selectivity based on an admissions presentation. Many schools try to portray themselves as being very selective thinking that this will attract more qualified students. My son was immediately turned off at several schools because they made him feel that he wouldn't get in. Unless they give you hard stats and cutoff levels the only way to find out for sure is to apply. You mentioned you did not like McDaniel, but that was one school where the dean of admissions made a point of saying they had not increased selectivity after being included in CTCL.</p>
<p>Check out Mitchell College in New London CT. It is small, with tiered LD and academic support services. They do have a criminal justice major. Their administrative staff is warm and helpful.</p>
<p>Orangeblossom - I wil also tag-team on Mominva's excellent advice to get your 504 documentation prepared (by your local school district). My wife is actually an "educational diagnostician" (which in Texas means a former special ed teacher that is certified to test kids for learning disabilities) who regularly tests children for her school district that are either home-schooled or in private schools. And due to federal guidelines the school district pays for this testing and development with the parent(s) and teachers of an individual educational development plan (iep). You and your son are owed this from your school district (even a rural one), especially if your district receives any federal funds. (However, be sure to have outside medical documentation supporting the fact that your son needs testing. Otherwise, the school district may/will turn you down flat.) Once you have the iep documentation from the district, you are "good to go" with taking a copy in hand to any academic support staff at colleges/universities you visit.</p>
<p>Be sure to check out Alfred University (In rural New York). A lovely school, known for supportive, engaging faculty. Has Criminal justice & swimming.</p>
<p>Orangeblossom - Check out Wheeling Jesuit University, we made several trips there this past year and spent significant time with a variety of the staff. It has criminal justice, big on community service, seems on target academically for you, lots of academic support nets in place, many opportunities for scholarship$. </p>
<p>Also, I would look at McDaniel again, that is another one we visited several times and I felt my ADD/LD child would be supported in every way. </p>
<p>Lastly, I agree with a previous post, you will need to get those accommodations in place this year if you have any expectation to get formal accommodations in college otherwise just look for a school that offers good support services to the general population.</p>
<p>Good luck in your quest but remember your child will have to be willing to advocate for himself in the college world.</p>
<p>Orangeblossom, please do not base decisions as to whether a school is a "reach" based on SAT scores for those schools that admit more than half of their applicants. The problem is that many schools do not look primarily to SATs in the selection process. They do require them - but it is simply not the most important part of the application process. What starts to get very important, the farther down the "selectivity" list that you go, is whether or not the student is a reasonably good fit and is likely to attend. </p>
<p>That is, there are a lot of schools that would rather admit a student with lower test scores who is likely to enroll - than one with higher test scores who is likely to go elsewhere. The higher the test scores, the more likely that school is being used as a safety for something else -- so demonstration of interest becomes very important.</p>
<p>I suggested Earlham because of your comment about community service: I know that a strong commitment to community service would be a big PLUS from an applicant. I have no idea whether Earlham would admit your son - but I do know that they admit about 70% of applicants - so it would be mistake to cross it off your list of possibles because of the fact that your son's test scores are low. It is just premature to make that decision -- you would need to know more about what they are looking for in applicants, and more about what services & support they might offer your son. But I am quite sure that a school like that would not deny admission to a candidate who fit the profile of what they are looking for merely because of low SATs... especially if they were informed that you had requested and been denied accommodations in the form of extended time. </p>
<p>Just in case anyone is unclear about the point I am making: I am NOT saying this would the same for more selective colleges, which clearly use SAT's as a way to weed out candidates; nor do my comments apply to large state universities, which clearly are very numbers driven. But when you start looking at small private colleges which admit two-thirds or more of their applicants, you have to keep in mind that their admissions process is going to be far more foregiving and more personalized. So the lower SATs would be a factor against your son -- but he has a lot going in his favor - and you have to look at the whole picture. </p>
<p>Most of the advice you find on this board is geared to those very selective schools, which are very numbers driven. All I am saying is that the higher the percentage of admitted students, the more flexible the admissions process is likely to be.</p>
<p>Another question - which I hate to ask, but it is important for admissions in your situation: is your family going to need financial aid? As you probably know, most of the less-selective private colleges are NOT need-blind. That means that if you are able to bear the full cost of college, you may be able to increase your son's chances of admissions at many private colleges. So that will also tend to skew the picture somewhat.</p>
<p>I am not by any means suggesting that a school like Earlham could be a safety for your son -- I just think it may be a possibility. Carolyn would know more - so I'd tend to value her opinion highly. All I am saying is that you shouldn't rule these types of schools out without getting more information abou the admissions process.</p>
<p>I wanted to add that you should PM Likes2draw, a mother here has a son with learning disabilities who will be attending Earlham next year. She was a bit concerned about accomodations, but decided that Earlham would be a good fit for her son after they talked with numerous Earlham students.</p>
<p>Will look into Goshen, as your suggested. Thanks for your kind post!</p>
<p>CATHYMEE -</p>
<p>ODU does have a great reputation. One of my son's swim coaches graduated from there and felt it was very supportive and had CJ and swimming. Will explore it anew. Thanks!</p>
<p>NORTHEASTMOM -</p>
<p>I agree that we want a teaching school, not a research facility. Thanks for the added note about a more flexible core; I'll keep that in mind. DS loves math, but is not too keen on heaving writing and foreign language...the former is not an easy skill for him, and the latter's vocabulary barrage really challenges his problems with converting masses of bits of data from short-term to indexable long-term memory. His expressive language disorder makes it difficult to quickly index words to engage in spontaneous demand speech. Sometimes it all sounds so overwhelming, but he really is coming along. Thanks for your terrific post!</p>
<p>TAHOE -</p>
<p>Thanks for your recommendations of John Jay and Monmouth. I'm familier with JJ, great program, but DS doesn't want to be in NYC. I'll look into Monmouth (tho another poster mentioned housing problems). I'd prefer my DS to live on campus if possible both for the proximity to classes, professors, and resources, and so that he remains in the swing of campus activities.</p>
<p>MOMINVA -</p>
<p>Thanks for suggesting Cabrini; I will followup with it. Best wishes.</p>
<p>EMERALDLKITY4 -</p>
<p>I believe I've heard of Warren Wilson...isn't that the school that requires a set number of volunteer work hours as part of the curriculum? I promise I'll revisit it. Thanks very much!</p>
<p>PATTYK -</p>
<p>JMU is a wonderful school; many of my DS's friends go there and he's competed in swim meets there. I was initially kind of put off by it's being a larger state school, but I will look into the Alvin Baird Attn & LD Ctr. I'm glad your niece is happy there. Thanks so much for your post.</p>
<p>more to follow...............................................................</p>
<p>Interesting name...when I was in college, the name of my first dear doggie was Riley (as in "my dog has the life of Riley" as in the, and this will certainly date me, the old Wm. Bendix TV show "Life of Riley).</p>
<p>Will definitely look into St. Anselm's and Curry.</p>
<p>Also, thanks for your insights into the application and disability services process. It will be very helpful! Also, I will take to heart the recommendation to collect updated support documentation. Since we are part of an umbrella homeschool, will it be a problem not to have a formal 504? I was under the impression that all we really needed to approach college disability services departments was the support documentation. For several reasons, we have chosen to have our DS's documentation updated by a highly regarded professional team that is associated with a major children's hospital. The team lead has a national reputation in the field, so I hope that the evaluation will carry some gravity and authority.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information regarding the flexibility of ACT reporting...I had no idea. We've been so swamped with life this past year, that I haven't had nearly as much time as I'll need to absorb the vagueries of college selection and admission process. Thanks for giving me a boost.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for your tremendous insights into college admissions. I feel so naive. Can I ask you one thing? When you said smaller private institutions are NOT need blind, does that mean that only a petition for need money would hurt our son's chances or that even consideration for merit money would hurt him? I know I've seen lots of small LACs that offer really good money. Does that mean that we can't even let him be considered for merit money? Since my DH is now unemployed (love govt contract work), money is somewhat more of an issue. While I'm optimistic about the outcome, I have to admit that I feel that we have a bit too many circumstances to deal with. Thanks so much for your post. It was an education. :O)</p>
<p>I've heard very positive things about Earlham...but I think that it would not be a good fit for my son. While he has great potential, his skill levels need some work. I think he is just timid about his abilities, and that a nurturing and supportive environment will bring out his strengths.</p>
<p>Using Carolyn's criteria to judge fit, DS is moderate, not conservative (+); DS is NOT into heavy writing, but needs confidence and growth in this area (-), and DS definitely has a highly developed and witty sense of humor (+). Unfortunately, I believe the one negative is a significant one. I see DS as using undergraduate experience to grow confidence, independence, and skills. Graduate school will be his time to shine.</p>
<p>Also, DS needs more than ad hoc services. DS is a fine, noble, highly community service driven child who hasn't found his voice yet. He's promising but wobbly. I don't mind aiming a little low so that we can build his confidence and have him grow into his "John Wayne" boots.</p>
<p>Altho Earlham probably isn't the one, I have learned so much about the college admissions process that it will certainly help me to help our DS find a wonderful school. Thank you.</p>
<p>ONE FINAL QUESTION: Earlier in the thread Calmom, I believe, indicated that smaller LACs would not be need blind to my son, possibly because of his stats. Does that nix merit money too? or just need money? When DS stopped swimming we lost a lot of scholarship potential because he was s-o-o-o talented, so we were hoping for some relief. Any thoughts? Thanks!</p>
<p>OB - if you need financial aid, apply for it.</p>
<p>Since most less selective colleges do NOT promise to meet full need, it doesn't hurt to ask for aid. What I was saying is that it can be a plus to be full pay, but that doesn't mean that applicants should refrain from asking for aid.</p>
<p>Think of it like a "hook" -- it can also be a plus in admissions to be an athlete or a minority -- but no one has ever been rejected from college simply because they were a non white-athlete. It's just that in a competitive environment, it helps to have as many hooks as possible. In fact, if you are going to be making choices, your son's decision to quit swimming is probably more of a detriment to the college admissions process than a request for aid would be. But that doesn't mean he should take up swimming again if he doesn't want to - just that swimming would have opened some doors for him. </p>
<p>If your personal financial situation is precarious, then it would be a very big mistake to refrain from seeking aid -- because what good is it for your son to get into college if you can't afford to send him? But of course merit aid generally goes to the top of the applicant pool, further limiting options - although some schools do offer some nice scholarships in recognition of community service. </p>
<p>I wish I knew where to direct you to get more of a sense of the admissions process among less selective schools. My own knowledge is limited because I live in California, so our tiered state university system provides a safety net. I honestly think that the best thing you can do is to research colleges you might be interested in, and then contact admissions staff from those colleges to get a sense of your son's chances there. The Princeton Review site does have information as to what each college values in the admission process, and in my experience that is very accurate: if the college says it values essays over test scores, it does; if it says class rank is important, it is - etc.</p>
<p>OrangeBlossom, I found this site yesterday - The National Clearinghouse on Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Disabilities -<br>
and thought it might be useful for you. It is an entire site dedicated to college-learning disabilities issues. If you click on the publications tab you will find a great deal of information, including a research report on financial aid for students with learning disabilities. There is even a list of colleges that offer summer programs for learning disabled students. The list includes schools that offer a pre-summer program to help LD students adjust to the academics of college. There are many other resources and links here as well --- hope you find it helpful: <a href="http://www.heath.gwu.edu/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.heath.gwu.edu/index.htm</a></p>
<p>You should also check out Curry College in Mass. One of the first colleges to have LD services for students. They also have a summer program for students right before they start to get them ready. IONA in NY is a small catholic college which also has very good services for these type of students.</p>
<p>I have not read positive things about Curry, but have heard a few positive things about Iona. I would also like to suggest Muskinghum College. I know is not in the NE, but I have read wonderful things about this school for students with Lds.</p>
<p>I want to follow-up on what Lonestardad said above because it is misleading. School districts are only legally obliged under Section 504/ADA to provide testing for elementary/secondary school purposes, e.g., to determine if a student has a disability and then recommend appropriate accommodations at the elementary or secondary setting. They are not required to provide testing that you can provide to colleges. They may choose to do so, but they do not have to.</p>
<p>Much of the testing of LD students done at the elementary or high school level cannot be used for obtaining accommodations in college because it is too old and/or the student was evaluated using tests normed for children, not adults. Colleges usually want to see tests normed for adults. </p>
<p>It is imperative that you read the disability website for any particular college you are interested in. They provide the guidance on how to obtain accommodations and the type of medical/testing documentation that is need at that particular college. If their rules are reasonable you must follow them in order to get needed accommodations. And remember, colleges have much less responsibility for meeting the needs of disabled students than elementary and secondary schools.</p>
<p>There was a great program on NPR/PBS last week, about adults with ADHD and ADD...the author of a book talked about college, etc...it may not have all the answers, but it really was a great piece</p>