<p>So here is the situation:
Six months ago I started having nonstop headache and dizziness. It has been a huge pain: I have trouble reading, cannot watch TV/movies/videos, have trouble concentrating, feel extremely nauseous when in a car, etc. I have been to many doctors, even one at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and no one was able to diagnose my strange illness. Because of that, I may have to assume that I will be stuck with my constant headache/dizziness for a long time.</p>
<p>Since I am a junior, I am starting to look at which colleges may interest me. Due to my illness, I do not want to over-stress myself, but as my counselor says, I am "too smart" not to go to a prestigious school. I can definitely handle learning difficult subjects, but I will need accomodations such as time extensions, enlarged text, etc. And also, because of my illness, I do not want to go too far away from home. I live in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, so I am looking for schools in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and southern Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>Can anyone recommend me any colleges that would fit me?</p>
<p>Also, something else that may be difficult to accomodate is that I am completely unable to take the SAT/ACT while having my illness, so are there any colleges that can waive the SAT/ACT requirement due to medical concerns?</p>
<p>If you’re a jr they won’t care about your SATs, just your frosh/soph grades. American Univ. is manageable-- not a haven of high stress; Gettysburg too is not overly demanding; UMBC has come a long way quickly and you might find something of interest there; UM Eastern Shore for the truly stress free environs.</p>
<p>George Mason? I’m not sure if they’ll waive the SAT’s but people with a 1.0 GPA and a score of 800 can get in there. There’s also NOVA…
I have something like your condition, the doctors diagnosed it as stress even though I was never really stressed about anything? Funky stuff…</p>
<p>Thanks, but those schools are not the type that I am interested in. Even with my illness, I am one of the top students at my school, and can easily make it to top universities such as Johns Hopkins or Georgetown. But the environments at these schools may be too stressful for me due to my illness, so I am wondering if they can provide any medical accomodations. And of course, it would be best if they possibly can waive the SAT requirement.</p>
<p>So can anyone provide any information that can help me? Thanks!</p>
<p>Nothing to do with college, but have you tried a regimen of regular exercise, natural foods with no preservatives, and staying away from any substance that might be causing allergic reactions? Just a suggestion, sometimes bad nutrition can cause symptoms like yours.</p>
<p>amb3r:
Trust me, this isn’t a BS medical condition. I have had nonstop headache and dizziness for the past six months. It’s pure hell. But sorry, I did sound pompous, so let me rephrase that: “My teachers and guidance counselor regard me as a stellar student and would expect me to go to a prestigious school such as Johns Hopkins or Georgetown.” And my headache and dizziness does not adversely affect my intelligence, it just impairs my reading ability and would make it improbable for me to attempt a four-hour-long standardized test in one sitting.</p>
<p>Muffy333:
Yes, I get daily exercise and eat very healthy.</p>
<p>Theresa CPA:
I have been to several neurologists, an ear doctor, an eye doctor, an allergy doctor, done a crapload of testing, and none of the doctors were able to diagnose my symptoms. Not even at Johns Hopkins, one of the best hospitals in the world. They do have a theory that it may be an unusual case of vestibular migraine, but haven’t confirmed it yet.</p>
<p>MD_Mom:
My dizziness causes me to become very nauseous when riding in the car, so I avoid it as much as possible. (Thank god my high school is only 10 minutes away…) But if a friend happens to visit one of those schools, hopefully I can ask him/her to fetch some answers for me!</p>
<p>I would suggest taking a look at the following SAT optional schools: </p>
<p>George Mason
Goucher
Gettysburg
Franklin & Marshall
Dickinson</p>
<p>Also, if you think that you could take an SAT II test (only an hour), you might consider Hamilton. It is SAT optional if you have taken SAT subject tests and although it is farther than you would like to be from home, I think it would be a “prestigious” school that might not be too stressful.</p>
<p>Not to compare you to my dog, but she just recently was diagnosed with Geriatric Vestibular Disease. She had symptoms very similar to yours – althought I obviously don’t know if she had a headache. Couldn’t walk straight (due to diziness), her eyes were all twitchy, and she wouldn’t eat. So the Vestibular Migrane lead sounds promising.</p>
<p>On another note, couldn’t the SAT accomidate you with larger text or someone to read the questions and answers to you?</p>
<p>soakupthesun:
Yes, I plan to contact them in the future.</p>
<p>sammielue21:
Hopefully I can get these options on the SAT, in fact I’ve already filled out a form to request them. But Collegeboard has a reputation of being a ***** when it comes to these requests, and I have a bad chance because I do not actually have any formally documented accomodations for school (I’m getting by with informal accomodations requested by me from individual teachers). So I don’t think there’s a good chance that Collegeboard will let me have SAT accomodations if I don’t even have “formal” accomodations at school…</p>