<p>My son is applying to several highly selective schools and has Asperger's Syndrome. He has excellent all around credentials, but I am worried that if we reveal it will hurt his chances of admittance. Could it help though, because schools will be impressed with the fact that he has overcome his disability and performed to such a high level?</p>
<p>I have mixed feelings about it. I had one school flip on me, and other tell me I had too many B's for them to accept me. The B's were all a product of LD, so who knows how it would have changed things if I had told them. Its very much a mixed bag, some schools flip, some dont. My first hint was asking about LD services, that tested the water. You might try that and see how the school reacts. However, my best thing is go with your gut, if you feel like the school will take it well, go for it. If you think they'll flip, dont.</p>
<p>Yea I'm in a similar situation. I have NLD. I'm an African American male and have a 3.04 uw GPA (haha...too many B's!) top 40% at competitive public and I have a 1450 (old scale)/2090 (new scale) SAT and I am applying to some selective top 25 schools. I hesitated to write the essay but I think its totally worth writing if your situation is close to mine. I mean theres no way I'm getting in if I don't talk about it.</p>
<p>I suggest you also post on the Parents Forum (state that you've posted on this forum.) You will probably get more responses from parents.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to pose this question to some of the college admissions officers on CC. I'm thinking of Dean J from UVA and the very hepful person from Johns Hopkins. So many colleges offer support and accomodation for LD students, but I often wonder if there might be a disconnect between the support services and the admissions officers. And now that standardized tests taken with accomodations are no longer earmarked when results are sent to colleges, the option of not revealing is more viable. My kid isn't a senior yet, and I'm not sure how we're going to handle revealing/not revealing when the time comes.</p>
<p>My son's school was adament that we NOT disclose his ADD and narcolepsy. Now that the apps are in, and he got his first rejection, from his 1st-choice school (yours, btw, Tomboy), I am now really regretting following that advice.</p>
<p>My son's record is inconsistent, and looks problematic if you don't know the circumstances. Every B he has was given by teachers who were not in the loop as to his needs, and did not give the proper accomodations. The rest of his record (other grades, achievements, awards, sports, interests, comm service etc) is outstanding, including his celestial scores, and comments by teachers. The teachers all readily admit he is the brightest in the school, and their favorite student to teach. The school admin has dragged their feet for 4 yrs, and of course won't admit their failures/lapses in communicating with us and helping him. A disclosure from us parents would have sounded like finger pointing, and my son was hesitant to write an essay about his painful experiences, trying to forget much of it and move forward.</p>
<p>Hindsight now is that the school just didn't want to deal with or admit the ups&downs we had squeezing accomodations from them, fighting all the way. I honestly believe if the colleges knew what my son was up against, and still was able to perform at the level he did considering those obstacles, they absolutely would want him.</p>
<p>Now we are holding our breath for the other decision letters. Truth is, however, he really needs to be at a very small school, one where he won't fall through the cracks, and, of the rest of the schools he applied to (where we were steered to), only one other might be good for him. The rest are way too big, and he really doesn't want to go to them anyway. Whatever does come through, we have decided to defer a year, in order to make sure he is independent, on track, and hopefully leveled off in his med changes. Had he gotten into his first choice college, we would definitely disclose why were were deferring.</p>
<p>(The extremely competitive college he was rejected from -- I was so hopeful that he would make it past their cutoff, because I know in my heart once he got there and met them, they would realize he was a great fit, and could thrive there, due to the unique environment. Even if he got in, we were planning on asking for a deferral anyway.) Now we are not sure what to do next however-- reapplying next year gets more difficult as he will not be a typical applicant - having already graduated. I feel somewhat helpless as if we are wasting his incredible capabilities and preventing/discouraging him from moving forward. I don't want him to feel worthless, get depressed, but I see that easily happening without a plan for the future. His future was so bright, and we trusted the school advisors, but now the idea of him going off to the community college and getting a parttime job just to pass the time until re-applying seems such a huge waste.</p>
<p>did you consider having him write to your lst choice school to appeal the decision? Say that you followed your h.s. advice not to disclose in the college app (and don't lambaste the h.s.'s history of being tough to cooperate re: accommodations, please, in your appeal letter. When I read that part, I kind of shut down on you...so just be more sincere, that you followed their advice (without characterizing it as ill-informed advice).<br>
Also, figure the college if willing to reconsider would surely call your school and youdon't want to alienate the h.s. for the sake of that app and others pending.</p>
<p>What have you got to lose? </p>
<p>Also, consider doing something during a gap year that lets him SHINE. OK, maybe some community college courses if he wants to, or wants to show he can make A's in them...BUT, isn't it even more exciting to do something excellent, putting the lie to the idea that he was at fault in h.s.
B's shouldn't kill him in a college admissions process. There are also essays he can write about something excellent he's done with his gap year. Community service, volunteer work, etc. Might be much more appreciated if/when he reapplies in a year. And it won't undignify his learning by attending classes that interest/enthuse him hardly at all next year. you want to keep his spirits up and enlarge his application for the following year.</p>
<p>Just some ideas, offered sympathetically to your situation.</p>
<p>If the school that rejected him offers appeals, then I would suggest doing so and using the "new" info about his LD as the basis for the appeal. You have nothing to lose.</p>
<p>If you tell them and they reject him then contact the schools office of disability services, they have more power than the president of the school at times. Because of the law, anything can happen.</p>
<p>My son did disclose his LD and ADD. I felt that it helped explain his all over the map grades. I am not sure how it affected his admissions. It has been mixed so far. Deferral at two schools, admittance at another with merit aid that is supposedly a higher ranked school.
At one of his deferred schools he recently did a visit. He requested a meeting with the Director of Student Disabilities. The person was great. She mentioned that just by looking at his SAT scores they could see he probably has LD. Almost a 200 point gap between math and verbal.
In hindsight I should have had my son visit school's earlier and interview. I had no idea at how well he would interview. I think it might have made a difference.</p>
<p>That is an interesting comment about the point difference between math and verbal. My son, who wasn't diagnosed until he was in college, had a 200 point difference between math and verbal (verbal being lower). At the time, no one mentioned to us that that was a red flag---I just thought that he was strong in math and didn't like reading much. Sure wish we had know his disabilities before he chose his school, probably would have guided him in a different direction.</p>
<p>mkm- in my son's case the verbal also was lower. He didn't learn to read even simple words till age 10. Since he took the new SAT his writing score was even lower then the reading. 230 points lower then the math.
I think if my son has concentrated on tech schools and large state universities his acceptances would be greater. He applied mainly to liberal arts colleges where the low writing and reading scores stand out.</p>
<p>It's funny how things come full circle. My D, not diagnosed with an LD until college, had a 200-point spread, with Math lower.
She did say that one of the great moments in her academic life was understanding why, no matter how hard she "tried", the maths wouldn't come into place for her. Being so strong in verbal skills, the elementary teachers told her she was "bright" so she should get it (if only she tried...),
She described the diagnosis as solving the deep mystery and what she called a healing of the cognitive dissonance she felt about her own skill-set.
It has been a journey, often painful for her, as readers of this site best understand.
Now, ready to graduate college, she's applying to teachers' college, with ultimate goal to become a Literacy Specialist for elementary school students. This entails much remedial reading work with kids around ages 7-9.
In her teachers college grad school app essay, she's identified (disclosed?) her struggles in this area of academic weakness, reduced to tears over multiplication tables, year after year... Now, it motivates her to help kids who feel frustrated and struggling in her strength area (reading, writing), but I know she'll understand the child's heart as she works with each one.
I'm sure she'll never tell a child he "should" be reading better since he's "so smart in math..."</p>
<p>This thread is very interesting to me because my DD has a disability and she will be applying to tomboy's school, too, which will be a tremendous reach for her because every year she has a problem with one subject. Never the same subject, though! Last year math, this year English. Pieceofcake's post is especially relevant. </p>
<p>A problem that our DD has that I don't see discussed much is ECs. She has done some ECs but they're not stellar--basically there's just enough there to show she did something other than school at most times. She got a lead in the school play last fall and her grades plummeted. She didn't audition for the spring play because obviously she struggles with time management. At the moment, she just can't handle serious ECs plus her school work. </p>
<p>Has anyone found a way to get around this? Do you just list the activities and hope they don't look too thin? Do you pump them up (within the boundaries of truth)? If you acknowledge the disability, do you mention the ECs in connection with it?</p>
<p>Paying3tuitions im the opposite of ur daughter I have adhd and i have bad reading comprehension and my math is good my freshman and 8th grade math wasnt good b/c i wasnt getting the help i needed now that im at private school im excelling in math...i enjoy doing math problems a lot..the difference between my cr and writing scores and my math on the psat is crazy</p>
<p>Lesmizzie, are there any scholarships for girls who want to go into math-related fields? Maybe you can ask your private school to show you how to keep a lookout for them, now that you have found a strength area.
If you ever needed a job, I'd think you could find it as a tutor in math. So many people have trouble with it. Girls have this "mathphobia" thing and maybe you could really help somebody with it someday. Good luck and thanks for sharing that.</p>
<p>I Love math my problem is my bad freshman grades...and my spanish grades from last yr...i like the fact that my school doesnt give every quater grade for classes just overall b/c my spanish first quater was better then the second and the 3rd was only ok and 4th was good..in 10th grade..i could get it then not and when i took bio for a second time(b/c i could not b/c i had to...it was a choice i chose to do b/c my whole grade at my new school was taking it) i did really well during quaters but my final wasnt so good..i had spring fever...</p>
<p>Wackymom,
I, too, have wondered about the EC question. A kid with an LD who takes much longer than a non-LD student to get his homework done can ill afford to take on too many extracurricular activities. Also, founding and organizing and running said activities can be a huge challenge for a kid who is desperately trying to be competitive in today's high GPA admissions world. If anyone has addressed this in their college essays or interviews, I would love to hear about your experience.</p>
<p>Well, I'll certainly watch this thread--I'm another Aspie (female, though) approaching the application process and hoping to shoot for some very competitive schools, and I have no idea whether or not saying so is a good idea either. (My mother is against it, but I don't know...) My personal school record isn't terribly spotty with all A's and B's on a very tough schedule, but my extra-curriculars are definitely so (though happily I've managed to extend myself socially and find a few things I love this year) and I wonder whether knowing that might make a difference in the admissions process. I'm worried that my dislike of dealing with people when I'm already emotionally tired from school, which caused me to avoid joining many things my freshman and sophomore years, will hinder me there. It didn't help any that I moved between my freshman and sophomore years and thus knew no one and needed the year to get my bearings...</p>
<p>Have you checked out the schools forum on Wrongplanet? That might be another way to get an (Asperger's-centered) viewpoint on the admissions process. </p>
<p>Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to help you any, since I'm clueless myself, but I'm definitely sticking around to see what others have to say. I'll be showing this thread to my parents as well.</p>