<p>In a nutshell, my daughter is currently at a boarding school (college prep) for struggling teens who are recovering from drug addiction/psychological issues. She spent what would be her junior year doing haphazard home schooling, a Drug Rehab an Intensive Outpatient Program and nine weeks in a Wilderness program. She has been at her boarding school since 6/1 (year round school) and is doing exceptionally well, academically and emotionally. She is taking her Junior and Senior year concurrently and so far has a 3.9 despite the heavy load and will graduate in June. She has been sober for over a year. Her GPA for for Freshman and Sophmore year was around 3.6 at a very highly ranked private school and she scored in the top 10% on her PSAT's. Unfortunately she bombed on her SAT II and scored approximately 1500 twice. She was a talented ballerina and accepted at a Dance Company where her problems started. She had wanted to go to NC School of the Arts or Julliard, but she has not danced enough in the last year to qualify for these schools now and frankly the atmosphere of having to be 90 lbs is what got her into trouble in the first place. She journals, is an excellent writer and has interest in art and clothing design. She does not have any internet access at her school so the search is up to me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently looking at University of North Carolina's Greensboro, Wilmington, Asheville, University of Colorado Denver and for the reach of all reaches Skidmore. Extras are teaching dance classes to kids, started the first Latin Club (three years of Latin) at her old school which is still going on (although she got a C on year in the class), mentoring younger kids during wilderness program and now mentoring students at her current school. I would appreciate any recommendations!</p>
<p>Forgot to say that she has always been an A student in Math/Trig/Calculus, Chemistry and Physics however doesn't seem particularly interested in these fields although she has a natural gift for them.</p>
<p>First, the important stuff. Congratulations to your daughter from pulling through a tough stretch and getting back on track. </p>
<p>Second, could you clarify your sentence on the test scores? The SAT II tests are individual tests in particular subjects (Chemistry, MathIIc, etc.). The SAT I is now a three-part test (Critical Reading, Math, and Writing). Do you mean that she got a 1500 combined for the three-part SAT I test?</p>
<p>One to the recommendations. It seems to me that you and your daughter need to start with some discussion/thought as to the kind of environment where she would remain stable and blossom. That might be one of the small liberal arts colleges with tight-knit communities and a supportive environment. There are some that kind of specialize in unique kids. An example in North Carolina might be Elon College. Or, that kind of environment might drive her batty and she might do better in a larger university setting where she is independent, looking out for herself, and doing her own thing.</p>
<p>I have no idea which is the right answer. However, I suspect your daughter will go to college with a very different set of experiences and frame of mind that most 18 year olds. If I were in your shoes, I'd be trying to figure out, generically, what kind of environment and support is going to best fit her needs -- be it structured, unstructured, or whatever. I'm not sure any of us can really offer an opinion because it is going depend on so many personal issues. An additional consideration has to be what kind of continuing recovery programs she wants/needs. For example, it could be that a convenient campus 12-step program group is a key criteria.</p>
<p>However, if you can start to pin down those really-big picture preferences, then it would be easier to maybe recommend some options. </p>
<p>She may not know. In which case, maybe visit to a couple of representative sample schools would make sense. Also, I would want to find out what kind of college counseling expertise is available at her current boarding school. It would be great if there is some, not only to find the right school, but to navigate the process for what will be a somewhat atypical applicant.</p>
<p>She does not want a recovery based 12 step program. Her drug problem was more due to weight loss than getting high and I think she's sick of the 12 step stuff. Drinking does not bother her (now at least)Yes, a supportive atmosphere would be ideal, she seems more immature than her peers. On campus housing is a must. Her current school is unfortunately too busy with a huge influx of new students so I am the designated college finding expert in the family right now which is really overwhelming to me. I think a smaller but not too small school would be good for her. ::off to check out Elon College:: Thank you so much! I have a feeling this forum will be the most helpful part of the search for me and I thank you!</p>
<p>I'm sorry. I had a brain freeze and gave you the wrong name. Elon is not really a small college.</p>
<p>The N. Carolina school I meant to suggest is Guilford College. It's a small Quaker liberal arts college. Most likely a very tight-knit, supportive environment. About 2500 students. I think it's probably a school that would be receptive to your daughter's story and progress. I think that it would be a very good bet from an admissions standpoint. </p>
<p>There are more like it around the country. I'm not sure I have good handle on properly targeting schools from an admissions standpoint. See if Carolyn chimes in. I think she is going have a lot more suggestions than I will and I would be more confident in her judgement about admissions.</p>
<p>I also would check out the various NC public campuses. UNC-Asheville could be a viable option if she wants something a little bigger, but on-campus housing gets to be problematic at some of those as they are less of a self-contained community.</p>
<p>Too late LOL! I already checked out Elon and I like it (on college chances it's listed as a high maybe). The chance calculator says a maybe but it's worth a try. ::off to check out Guilford:: You have fabulous knowledge of colleges and I appreciate your sharing your knowledge.</p>
<p>Just checked out Guilford and I think my d's shamrock tattoo on her forearm might set her apart :( On our visit to her next weekend I'm going to ask her to have it removed (good luck right?) But I think it makes her a target for bad influences. Oh wait! What colleges have shamrocks as their logo? I'm half way kidding of course but the college search has rendered me senseless.</p>
<p>She got a SAT score of 1600 on the SAT II. She never took the SAT I. She will be retaking it in December, although I think either there is a self defeating factor in her test taking now? or she has possibly lost some brain cells due to her few months of Crystal Meth use over a year ago. Note to students reading this, how damaging this horrible drug is. She was being recruited by several schools after her PSAT's. They dropped out after her SAT II scores came in and the lack of her Junior year.</p>
<p>I would be very surprised if she had the only tattoo at Guilford! In any case, you guys could probably do a quick survey visit to Guilford, Elon, and UNC-Greensboro in a day.</p>
<p>BTW, a book called, "Forty Colleges that Change Lives" by Loren Pope would probably be worth a read. The book features a bunch of colleges, some of which are not hard to get into, that produce excellent educational outcomes. I think, as a group, these colleges probably have above average willingness to consider an application that is somewhat out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>On the SATs, I think a period out of school, and especially a rather stressful period out of school, could easily hurt test-taking skills. I took a bunch of practice tests with my daughter (we made it kind of a family competition) and the things really killed me at first. There's a bit of an arcane knack.</p>
<p>SAT II subject test scores can't be over 800. Perhaps you meant SAT I as the old sat and the SAT II as the new SAT?</p>
<p>As you seek out appropriate colleges you might want totake into account what services she will require for her "weight loss" problem. for students who have struggled with eating problems, the first year of college is extremely stressful and can lead to relapses resulting in poor performance, medical withdrawl, etc. If she is currently in treatment is there a college close enough so she can return to her current therapist every other week or so. If this is not feasible some colleges offer specialized services that might be helpful. For example, Skidmore has a dedicated consultant who works with eating disordered students on campus. Of course much depends upon your daughters current condition, but if she is now thriving in the close knit community of her boarding school I would look to duplicate that environment as much as possible for the first years of college.</p>
<p>kyedor- I sent you a private message.</p>
<p>A lot of years ago now, when one of my kids was in 8th grade, a classmate got "into" crystal meth. He was kicked out of the school. Nobody at school heard from him again. </p>
<p>Fast forward a couple of years. An old classmate goes to visit UCal Berkeley. There she sees C. striding across the campus. He looks great. She runs up and says hello. Asks if he too is doing the college visit tour. No. He's a Berkeley student. She's surprised. "You're a college freshman already? How did you skip TWO years?!!!" Actually, I'm a junior here."</p>
<p>He told her his story. He spent the rest of 8th grade and all of 9th as a patient in a residential program for kids with drug problems. Most of the other patients weren't college bound, so the educational emphasis was on having them get a GED. At the end of 9th grade, he took and passed the GED. When he was released, his family moved to California. May seem a weird choice, but his dad was offered a job there and they wanted to make sure he didn't go back to his old circle of friends. </p>
<p>It turned out that the truant officer showed up at the door when he moved to California. It didn't matter if he had a GED. He was 15. Now, this kid didn't want to go back to high school and his parents were worried about what might happen if he did. So, he lived at home and enrolled in a community college. He knew nobody when they first moved there, so he had no social life. He was too young to get a job. He decided to take a double load at the community college, so that he'd have an associate's degree when he turned 16 and could quit school. So, while his old classmates were in 10th grade, he took two years worth of community college courses. Got As in all of them. Funny thing was, he enjoyed the courses much more than he had enjoyed middle school and decided to go to college after all. </p>
<p>Pursuant to the articulation agreements in California public schools, he had a right to automatic admission to one of the 4 year universities. He took whatever tests he was supposed to, got rave LORs from the community college faculty, and was accepted at Berkeley. He was really a second semester Berkeley junior while his old classmates were high school juniors! Needless to say, the old classmate told everyone who had ever wondered what C was doing now about her encounter with him.</p>
<p>One reason to tell you this story is that I personally think that in this situation, it might actually be wise for your D to live at home for a year and go to community college. You've said yourself she's immature. An alternative, if you can afford it, is to go to one of the "PG" programs at a regular boarding school. These are post-high school programs. Some of the students are stellar athletes, looking to boost their "academic index" so they qualify for Ivies. Some are international students seeking to improve their English skills before enrolling in a US college. There are a variety of reasons to attend one. Often, you can get so much AP credit at one of these schools, that it might not even cost extra time, if she goes to a college which is liberal with AP credit. There's a LOT more supervision than there is at a typical college. </p>
<p>Congrats to your daughter. I wish her much success...but, if I were you..I'd be reluctant to put her into a regular college experience next fall. A little more recovery time without the stress of adjusting to college life seems in order to me. My apologies if this comes off as "preaching." I'm not in your shoes. But as threads on this board prove, there's a lot of drinking and some drugging at almost every college. If it were my kid, I'd be reluctant to put her into such a situation so quickly. Additionally, after a year of a boarding school PG program with a chance to retake tests or a year of community college, I think she'd probably look like a better candidate to colleges and might have better options.</p>
<p>I would look for schools that are in an area that she could find good off campus mental health care. Also some schools aside from substance free housing have living and learning communities. Univ of Denver has several living and learning communities. One is a Wellness one which is for anyone looking to live a heatlhful life and includes some who are going into fitness or heatlh related fields so it is wider in population then sub-free. They have communities with focus on other areas. International, enviromental, leadership, creative. They form a community and I would think that for someone like you D it might be helpful. I am not suggesting U of Denver specifically but you might look at their web site and learn about the communities and find other schools that have such programs.
and congrats to your D.
I agree that for some the community college route is the best. But others find it extremely difficult being back in their home community and running into the so called friends who they used to do drugs with. I have heard of several kids who find it easier to stay clean by staying away from home.</p>
<p>Kyedor-
You should be proud of your daughter's progress! That is wonderful!
When you narrow down your search, contact the disability services dept. at the schools and ask them about their programs for recovering students. Almost all schools have 'substance-free" dorms, but may not have more structured recovery programs. Some schools, like Case Western, Earlham, St. Olaf and Hamline U. have programs for recovering students. </p>
<p>As an aside, which calculator program did you use to assess her likelihood of admission?</p>
<p>Thank you for all your thoughtful responses. Munkee, her total on the SAT II in all three areas was approx 1,600. I don't know the break down because I was too upset to write them down when she called me with the results. I will find out this weekend when we visit her. Jonri, that's a wonderful story. Mol10e, I am looking for a small controlled environment. Too bad she doesn't have the grades/test scores for Skidmore. Skidmore came up as a perfect match for her needs and interests. Jonri, I am hesitant to send her into a traditional college situation. I don't want to set her up to fail. What exactly is a PG program? Mom60, we are going to visit Denver and check out the Wellness dorm. I am going to have a long talk with her about what she feels she needs in terms of environment at a school. She's turning 18 in a few weeks but seems more like a 15 yo. The impulse controls are just not there. Unfortunately coming home is not an option, there are too many negative influences where we live. I would move but my son is thriving at his HS. I'm happy I found this board. This is so hard...</p>
<p>Argh! Just realized the confusion. I meant the new SAT, not SAT II. She will be taking the SAT II at the next sitting. Sorry.</p>
<p>I bet she could bring up those scores quite a bit with some prep, which would offer a lot more choices.
A PG year would be a great idea. There are two boys from my son's prior EG school at his current prep school doing a PG year. One just turned 18 and needed a year to mature and sharpen up his academics. The other is using the PG year for athletics and academics. Both are thriving. There are PG programs at schools where your daughter could dance, too. A PG (post-grad) year is a 5th high school year at a prep boarding school (usually). The kids are treated as seniors, and fit right into the community. My son's prep school has about 23 PGs. They get the benefit of excellent college counseling and find that they have a lot more options for college as a result of the PG year.</p>
<p>::off to check out post-grad boarding schools::</p>
<p>Earlham is another college like Guilford. Also Quaker. Artsy and officially a "dry" school so though there surely is some substance use, it is probably pretty minor. If you are Christian, there are quite a few dry Christian colleges, and most do not have extremely high admission standards.</p>
<p>I can't believe the school that your D attends does not have better college counseling. There ought to be some well-beaten paths to environments that can suport kids in recovery.</p>
<p>I could see your D profit from working for a year; perhaps joining a service program in a third world country--? There are programs all over at orphanages, agricultural projects, etc that rely on US volunteers. Many are staffed principally by US retirees, new college grads, and people taking gap years. This is something that would surround her with mature adults in a safe environment with no drug access-- and also it would allow her to do something for others. This sort of experience can really build self esteem and maturity. </p>
<p>Or, perhaps a family member in another community would pitch in for her to live and work there? I understand you want to get her away from the old peers. </p>
<p>Crystal Meth is evil. I have a family member whose child got into this. I recently read it can take over two years of being clean for the after-effects of the drug to dissipate. I am so glad you got your D into treatment and that she has succeeded in getting clean!</p>