<p>i just got diagnosed with ADD, its not very severe, and now under control without medication, but my freshmen grades got affected by this. i have since improved ALOT and plan on applying to ivy's, what should i do? if i tell them will they think i cant handle the work?</p>
<p>I would only tell them if:
1. You need to explain your academic performance during 9th grade or you need to explain some other aspect of your application which you think was negatively affected by the ADD.
2. You will need some type of accomodation for your disability such as untimed tests, less distracting examination environments, etc.
I don't think they will automatically put a negative mark against your application if you tell them, but if it is not an issue as noted above, why would you tell them.</p>
<p>yes i do need to explain my 9th grade grades, and i do not need any special accomodation or such. but i am very worried that they will deem me incapable of handling the work, when i am not.</p>
<p>Again I doubt they will determine that just by letting them know about the problem. You can probably turn this into a strength by showing them how you have overcome the effects of the ADD to perform better at school after the diagnosis was made and the steps you took to improve things. Could be a good essay topic for your admission essay.</p>
<p>thanks.. anyone else? please help parents if our child has also gone through this</p>
<p>I wouldn't hide this fact, but wouldn't emphasize it either. However, You may need support services in college to help you deal with your ADD. Therefore, I would not focus on any particular set of colleges just yet: it may be that your needs will be better served elsewhere, so it is important to keep an open mind and look at a full range of college options.</p>
<p>So your medication alone is enough without needing some kind of test accomodations?</p>
<p>i was actually just diagnosed when by accident i stumbled upon the symptoms and then got tested, and then i realized how this explains why i had some problems my freshmen year, lack of energy, poor concentration, and over the yrs i have learnt how to work around it. i have really good ecs and will get very good recs but my only problem is how the colleges will view this.</p>
<p>Apply to Princeton, they don't count freshman year.</p>
<p>they dont?! wow... but i am more interested in yale and harvard (long shots I know..) also stanford, but i do have some safeties.. no worries</p>
<p>What year are you in, and when were you diagnosed? If you did well soph. yr even before diagnosis, there may be some other issues at hand that affected freshman yr performance. How badly will your fresh. grades hurt your GPA and class ranking? You can potentially talk about "personal" or "family" issues that affected your fresh. yr grades without going into detail in your application.</p>
<p>I don't think that Stanford looks at freshman year, either.</p>
<p>it did have a significant impact but not that bad, i mean i still have alot of things to back up my intellectual capabilities (ecs, recs, essays) but when colleges ask for an explanaition for this, i dont want to have the 'pity me' attitude and seem incapable.</p>
<p>I think ADD is far too common for colleges to take a "pity me" attitude." You'll need to be honest with yourself as to whether you have what ivies demand for admission. Otherwise, there are many great colleges that are much more understnding about B's and other issues.</p>