<p>I'm a junior with SATs in the 2200's, but awful grades. At the end of first term this year I was treated for symptoms of ADD, and the effects were dramatic. My low-70's marks rose to the mid 90's. However, this still means I have lots of low marks on my transcript. What do I do? Although I was prescribed medication, I'm not sure if my diagnosis is official. Should I mention this in the essay, get a letter from my physician, or do something else entirely? And do I have a chance of getting into a decent college with C's and D's in my freshman year?</p>
<p>what's your GPA?
I think that you put any LDs you have on the college application.</p>
<p>3.40 w/o my junior marks, 3.51 with.</p>
<p>I hope you are not being prescribed medication without some sort of "real" diagnosis! I agree that you may want to disclose your LD on your applications in order to explain poor grades in the past. You might also have your GC at school mention this as well.</p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation. I went through all of high school and was never diagnosed with an LD. Granted, I made it under the radar because I was maintaining B+/A- grades and making honor roll - but my SAT scores were abysmal, I barely got out with a B- in an advanced math class, and I put in soooooo much effort to achieve what I did. I was diagnosed within the last month of senior year, and now I'm in college and have 200% time on exams as well as a few other accommodations. </p>
<p>In college, I'm earning all A's at a school known for grade deflation. I plan to transfer, and I keep thinking the same thing. Will the adcoms look at my high school record and think I was slacking or not working up to my potential? (<-- we both know this was NOT the case). Will I be a weaker applicant if I reveal my LD and let them know that I am now taking extra time on exams? </p>
<p>I ultimately decided not to mention the LD in my applications and asked my recommenders not do mention it either. I figure that the recs will illustrate how I am a hard worker, and that should be enough for the adcoms to realize that I was not a slacker. If you do decide to disclose the LD, I'd ask your guidance counselor to incorporate it in "your story" somehow. I always feared that mentioning it myself would seem like a bunch of excuses. </p>
<p>A 3.40 is an accomplishment with or without an LD, and I believe that wherever you end up in college, you will do brilliantly! You must be pretty smart to have made it this far, so keep working hard. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I'm Canadian so my school doesn't give GPAs, so I probably messed up the first GPA thing... but my freshman + sophmore average is 79.9%, which isn't an accomplishment at all. On the other hand, right now I am getting above 90% in all but one of my courses, and taking a heavy courseload (one grade 11 course, four grade 12 courses, 2 APs).</p>
<p>The thing is, I was pretty much a slacker in my first two years. I had difficulty getting assignments done and performing basic calculations, and I would space out and "lose" hours of time. When I started taking the medication, the effects were huge... first term marks of 67% and 70% became 93% and 90% second term, which is weighted a lot heavier than first term. I'm afraid that if I don't disclose my LD, it'll still be clear that something weird is going on from my transcript.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. All of you have been very encouraging!</p>
<p>I didn't know that colleges granted time extensions on tests.</p>
<p>Pistolen -- Colleges offer all kinds of support for LD students, some more than others. There are laws that require them to accommodate disabilities. Go to the websites of the colleges that interest you and search for "learning disabilities" or "learning differences" though the search function. You'll be amazed. </p>
<p>Also wanted to mention a UC Berkeley student who was on this board a couple of years ago. Berkeley offers big time support to LD students; apparently she did reveal her LD and its impact on pre-diagnosis, pre-treatment and pre-accommodation grades, and it was her impression that the admissions office gave special consideration to people in her situation as a matter of policy. I'd check and make sure this is still in force before making decisions, but it certainly does offer some hope.</p>
<p>As AnonyMom said, colleges and universities are required to provide support services for the disabled. When it comes to an LD, enrolling students submit their documentation and it is evaluated by qualified professionals that work for whichever office deals with disability services. The documentation has to be up-to-date. For example, if you were diagnosed with ADD in 5th grade and have not been reevaluated since, you need to re-test. I have friends who were entitled to extended time on the SAT's and in high school, but were deemed ineligible for accommodations in college. Everything is case-by-case.</p>
<p>wow your case totally sounds just like my case, except my grades are still pretty bad. That's what I was wondering about, too. Unfortunately my mom doesn't want to pay $200 a month for medication so currently I'm on none.. I live in Canada, too.</p>
<p>did you get diagnosed by your family doctor or did a test with a psychologist? Is it still 'official' even if your family doctor diagnosed you? if you just tell family doctors "i can't concentrate", they will just prescribe you meds right away after asking few questions.. it's that simple. So is that still "official"? It costs like 700 dollars to get a test with a psych...</p>
<p>I don't think you should worry too much, because colleges don't look at freshmen year that much...</p>
<p>I don't think internal medicine doctors can provide a valid documented diagnosis. I'm fairly sure they need to have some certification with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, like a residency or fellowship. I could be wrong though.</p>