My high school senior is looking at primarily small, liberal arts schools. He has ADHD and will really benefit from going to a school that has great support and services for kids with ADHD. However, I’m not sure how to help him research this. He already has a list of schools that he is very interested in, so I would appreciate 1) any general recommendations for how to research counseling and support services at colleges for students with ADHD, and 2) any individualized information about levels of support at his specific schools. His top schools: Macalester, Grinnell, Carleton, St. Olaf, Middlebury, Colgate, Hamilton, Holy Cross, Boston College (the only larger school on his list). Thanks!
Generally, search on each school’s site for “academic support” and/or “disability services” to identify the official resources. Beyond that, perhaps the individual school’s boards here on CC, to ask about student experiences.
Some schools will have academic support resources available to everyone, others may focus specifically on disability and accommodations. For instance, at my kid’s LAC, there was an optional, academic “boot camp” for 1st years which had workshops and small group meetings and other resources to help students transition from the rigid high school schedule to the more fluid college academic environment. That was a “stigma-free” structure for kids to figure out time management and organization.
Thanks, Midwestmom. I have looked at some of these colleges’ websites for info on academic support, but I’m honestly having trouble distinguishing between schools. They all seem to offer some type of academic support, but my guess is that some school’s support is more robust than others. I’m not really sure what I should be looking for in terms of types of offerings.
I do appreciate your example of an academic bootcamp, which sounds great. I’d love to hear more about others’ experiences about types of services that are helpful for ADHD kids, and what type of support is most helpful.
Consider adding the Oxford campus of Emory to your list. My son who went there has pretty bad ADHD, and he thrived there. By the time he got to college he did not need tutoring so much, but our theory was that dealing with the transition to college and all the things he would have to juggle (not even so much the academics) but things like setting up accounts, making meetings, figuring out where things were etc. might be harder for him than other kids. We thought that the smaller Oxford campus would be easier to manage, and provide a gentler introduction to college. Then, after two years, he would be ready for a bigger setting, having already figured out how to manage classes etc. This has proven to be the case for him. He did get some accomodations his freshman year, but I don’t know if he ever used them.
The other college my son was interested in was Colorado College, he, and we, thought that he would do well with only one class at a time to manage. However, they rejected him, so Oxford/Emory was an easy decision.
I hope your son has a similar experience to my son’s, which was that in terms of ADHD, college was easier for him. There are fewer assignments/less busy work. My son struggled with getting his homework done, and then turned in, in high school, and college has much less of that.
Good luck, it is a journey!
Cinnamon1212, I just saw this reply, super late. Thanks, this is all very helpful information. I really hope that your last paragraph is true for my son. I agree that a big part of the difficulty is all of the “busy work” for eight separate classes. That being said, his ADHD is pretty severe, and I certainly don’t want to assume that everything will just automatically be easier once he’s in college with only four classes. I really appreciate your helpful advice and perspective. Interestingly, I also thought that Colorado College might be a great place for him for the exact reason you suggested, but my son in not interested in being in that area of the country. I couldn’t get him to apply. Crossing fingers that some of the schools that he interested in will have some great support.
College Consensus gives Middlebury its top spot in the general area of support for students with learning differences:
https://www.collegeconsensus.com/rankings/best-colleges-for-students-with-learning-disabilities/