Mentioning disability in essay == auto reject pile in Ivy League schools?

College Essays
1

DD has multiple disabilities, including Aspergers. Her life was no walk in the park. Her performance was wildly inconsistent before she got a diagnosis. However, DD was blessed with a very supportive therapist. DD was also placed in a very small high school. DD learned how to manage her conditions. She is now doing dual enrollment classes at the local university and quite successfully with all "A"s so far. Her GPA is 4.5 and SAT is 2330 (including a perfect essay score). She desires to apply to several Ivy league schools

She is a bright kid, and it is quite a miracle all what she could accomplish. DD is quite scared about mentioning disabilities in her essay. She is afraid her essay would place her in some auto-reject pile. However, nobody would fully understand this amazing kid without knowing all these challenges she needs to face.every single day of her life.

Is there any good recommendation in how DD should address this dilemma?

2

you need to repost this on the Parents Forum , and retitle it to something like- “bright Aspy wants to apply to Ivys- mention disability in essay?”.
There are lots of parents there who have been in your shoes and will offer great advise, suggestions and support.

3

Thanks. I will do so!

4

I think it’s fine to discuss - she certainly wouldn’t be the only person with Asperger’s in that setting. But she needs to be careful about how to present it and talk about how she has had to learn to function (and remarkably well) in spite of her challenges. It could make for a fascinating essay if she were to describe something about how she experiences things differently than others…but it needs to be more about what she DOES with it. That said, given how well she blossomed in a small school, might she not want to consider an LAC rather than an ivy?

5

As suggested moved topic to this location: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1779479-bright-asperger-kid-wants-to-apply-to-ivys-mention-disability-in-essay.html