<p>Likes2Draw, Thanks for the heads up on Earlham. My daughter is getting more and more excited about visiting the week after next. Much of this is because the kids she has connected with there seem so welcoming and interesting. Several have actually offered to have lunch with her or invited her to visit their dorm rooms when she arrives. I hope it will all live up to her expectations. If she likes it, she will either do the Explore-a-college program or we will go back for one of the preview days.</p>
<p>Mini, you might be interested in knowing (if you don't already) that Earlham is currently thinking about moving from being need-blind in admissions to need-sensitive. Jeff Rickey sounds like he is having some conflicts about the whole issue - on the one hand he knows need-blind fits with Earlham's mission BUT he says they can't afford to meet the financial need of all of the kids who are accepted and doesn't think that is fair either.</p>
<p>Mini- I guess I would have to say, so far, not directly. I have had some wonderful phone conversations with former students (early 90s) and parents who have friends of friends of friends whose kids attended and loved it, and I have been talking with friends who have been helping their kids advocate for accommodations at other schools, to get a sense of what to expect. An Earlham student who called my son the other night said, "It's not necessary to go through the support office; the professors ask on the first day of class who needs special stuff and you just work it out." A former student said, "I don't know about LD, but there are a lot of ... weird kids there, so the faculty is used to being flexible with more extreme issues than LD." (He used the word 'weird" in an affectionate way, fyi.)
At the other end, I've reserved spots for the admitted students weekend at Guilford and have an appt with the head of the support office there. They clearly have made a major commitment to learning differences there; you can tell immediately from the website. A friend referred me to a family of a freshman with learning issues and they raved about the services and the school. This student also had a tough transition and dangerously low grades but both student and parents got a warning letter mid-semester and were able to avert the disaster that befell our fellow listserv member. We shall see.
My best friend, a therapist who has advocated for and with her daughter for 4 yrs at an Ivy that offers only minimal support wrote to me yesterday,"Our experience at ___ Univ was bad with LD.* But ____ fought for proper accomodations right up to the top and we got it.* Also individual profs were very understanding.* If they have a shopping period then he just needs to choose his profs<em>carefully and talk to them before he takes the course to see how flexible they are.</em>It is good to investigate thoroughly, but bottom line is if the kid is happy at the campus and likes his profs and friends and they are willing to give accomodations needed, one can always manage. I would go for too hard vs too soft."
So we are going to visit Guilford, but more and more I am thinking that if my kid really flipped for Earlham and vice versa, then let him take on the challenge....</p>
<p>I can't wait to hear about your visit to Guilford. And, I do think that sometimes we have to kind of let our kids figure out their paths for themselves, even if it's going to be a harder row to hoe.</p>
<p>Sorry I've been pretty busy with "work work" (as opposed to that other fulltime job: college admissions and general childrearing!) and haven't had time to write and update the board. I'm posting my response here but obviously have been enjoying Carolyn's spring visit thread enormously.
My son has decided to go to Earlham and thus pass on the visit to Guilford. One factor in his decision seems to be the time he spent on the Live Journal blog for each school; he posted his concerns about academics, LD support, drug use and whatever else on both and received about ten responses on each. He felt that the Earlham students' responses were more articulate and thoughtful.<br>
My son says that he has been at the top for most of his school career and wants to be in a situation where "failure is an option" -- he wants to be tested, I suppose, by a true community of peers. We are pleased with his desire to challenge himself and follow through on his initial "love at first sight" impression of Earlham.
So that's the story! Thanks to all who helped us make this BIG decision. I am writing the check this morning and last night we threw away several cartons of college viewbooks. It felt great. (Of course my 9th grader takes PSATS next year and we start over......</p>
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