LD and Instate Admissions

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
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<p>UNC CCers,</p>

<p>I was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of last semester, and am planning to have my professional write to colleges. I'm also planning to apply RD, so I can send my first-semester grades.</p>

<p>Is there anything else I can do; do I really still have a chance? UNC is my first choice.</p>

<p>Instate, Public School (No AP/IB)
ACT: 30 (Retaking)
WGPA: 4.3
UWGPA: 3.3
Rank: ~10/60
Direct Descendant of Hinton James
Low Income; white</p>

<p>I'm concerned with two dual-enrollment courses and online AP classes, which is what brought my GPA way down:</p>

<p>[9th Grade: AP Art History, 94, 3 on Exam]
10th Grade: AP Calculus BC, 70, 1; AP Physics B, 65, 2
11th Grade: AP English Lit, 73, 4; AP U.S. History, 70, 3; Calculus II, C; Gen. Chemistry II, C</p>

<p>I did well in APAH because we had papers to write, but I was so overwhelmed with the huge workload in the other online APs, I just couldn't get the work done. </p>

<p>As for Calculus II, I had an A in the class, then I freaked on the final. I just couldn't focus to get the webassign stuff done in Chem, nor could I focus in the lab, and ended up 1 point from a B.</p>

<p>~Thanks for your responses! :)~</p>

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<p>Hmmmm, for an instate student with a GPA of 4.0+, I would normally recommend that you apply 1st deadline, so you can find out early.</p>

<p>However, with 1 F, 3 Ds and 2 Cs, I would definitely try to impress with 1st semester grades. </p>

<p>Let them know about your learning disability in the optional essay, but do not use it as an excuse. Whining and excuses is a big turn off for everyone, admissions committees included.</p>

<p>In cases like this, where there are outside circumstances (such as ADHD) it is really tough to chance. Colleges like success stories where children overcome obstacles, but at the same time, they do not like taking a risk on a child it does not seem will be likely to succeed because of an LD, which using yours as an excuse for every bad grade might do. Try to find a positive way to spin your ADHD, and it could help you in the process.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the response! I was really helpful.</p>

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<p>For the bad grades I made, 3 were due to the same issue with the immense quantity of work in online AP classes. The other 2 (Calc II and Chem II) occurred suddenly at the end of the semester, which I think was due to the adjustment of my medicine, and which led to less significant drops in other classes.</p>

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<p>I’m honestly still working out life with ADHD, but I’m hoping that my few decent AP scores, future ACT scores (hoped to exceed the 75th percentile mark at Carolina), and a strong performance this coming semester might provide some creditability to my ability to be successful at UNC.</p>

<p>When I was younger, I could never understand why other people didn’t do as well in classes as me. I thought that were all stupid, but ADHD has really helped me identify with and understand the challenges that each person has. I hope I can explain what I’ve learned and the experience of having ADHD.</p>

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<p>In addition to everything Tony said, aigiqinf, coming from someone who had major GPA hurdles for UNC admissions, I’d try to boost that ACT score as much as possible. Get it in that upper 75% percentile (31+) and it’ll definitely help your chances. If you’re test scores are outstanding, it’ll definitely help counterbalance those grades.</p>

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<p>I stayed up the entire night before the ACT and guessed on the last 5 science questions without having a chance to read them, and ended up with a 30: 32 E, 30 M, 29 W, 29 S. So I know I can pull a 31, but I’m aiming for a 32 or 33 with a bit of prep.</p>

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<p>^ Good to hear! Your scores are a bit scattered (i.e. you’d think that the English and Writing would be a little closer, as would Science and Math), but if you can pull up to a 33, I think your chances at UNC would be drastically better. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I think your case is definitely unique, I doubt there’s even a previous student that the admissions committee, let alone this forum, can base the decision off of. I wish you the best of luck, and I’m interested to see if you get in! That being said, I do recommend that wherever you go to college, you make sure you have a good grasp of the intro. material and not try to work your way up too fast, because that can end up doing more harm than good. Once you step off the “traditional” path that your school has laid out for you, you really can get burned if you put yourself under too much.</p>

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<p>I hope we both get in. =) Still interested in linguistics? </p>

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<p>I’ll certainly try!</p>

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Path? I almost laughed out loud.</p>