Role of parents' inputs in college admission process?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>My D has had health issues and she has kind of talked about it in her essay for college admissions. I was wondering if there is any process that parents need to follow (like writing to the admissions office in various colleges and provide more details if they require and things like that). My worry is that if they are trying to verify what she has written in the essay, how would they do it? Is there anything we have to do during the application process or will there be a time after the admission is granted for parents to provide some sort of documentation?</p>

<p>I would appreciate if other parents who have been through such situations can let me know if there is anything I have to do as a parent.</p>

<p>FYI: she is applying to UCs, UMich, USC, BU, Brandeis, NYU, USD, Pepperdine, Amherst.</p>

<p>Best regards</p>

<p>RS</p>

2

<p>No, parents do not write to the admissions office. If this is something notable, perhaps the school counselor can address this on the counselors report.</p>

<p>If your child continues to have health issues and needs accommodations to ATTEND any of these colleges, you will need to provide documentation at that time.</p>

3

<p>I agree with Thumper. The counselor would have an opportunity to talk about it in more detail. The other option would be for your child to write an explanation in the “additional information” section of the CA. This would not be an essay–would just be a factual description of the health issue and implications on education during that time.</p>

4

<p>Thank you thumper1 and SJTH. </p>

<p>Yes, she has written her “actual problem and symptoms” in the “Additional Information” section of the UC applications. What sucks about UC is that they do not take anything from the counselor – the counselor could have talked about my D’s 504 plan and her numerous absences from school. Wish the UCs could have at least got an attendance report from school along with some comments from the counselor explaining the absences whereas now, it is all left to the student to convince the decision makers!</p>

<p>I am sorry if I sound too annoying/desperate. </p>

<p>I feel, since I have seen her for these 4 years struggling with absences/doc appts/surgery/apprehensions/disappointments, am just hoping the colleges will be able to see how she has worked through all these distractions to be where she is today…</p>

<p>This application time has proven to be more stressful to me than my D…:)</p>

<p>Thanks again</p>

<p>RS</p>

5

<p>The big thing the parents need to do is inform the student of the cost constraints, so that the student can make an appropriate application list and not be disappointed when all of the acceptances in April are too expensive. The parents and student need to run the net price calculators on all of the colleges’ web sites, unless the parents know that they can comfortably pay list price.</p>

6

<p>Can she enter the same information in the “Additional Comments” section of the CommonApp application?</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

7

<p>Keep that 504 active. If your student will need accommodations or help from the disabilities office once she has matriculated, you will need current documentation of this issues and accommodations needed.</p>

<p>Many colleges have disabilities offices…for this reason. there are students who will find more success with supports.</p>

<p>Do keep in mind that college is not like high school. There will be no case manager chasing your child down to provide help. Your student will need to be a good self advocate.</p>

<p>Another important thing…after acceptances are in, you might want to inquire regarding how extended absences are treated by each college. Some are more accommodating regarding this than others. In some cases, if absences are extended for a time, regardless of the reason, the student could be asked to withdraw. Just check.</p>

8

<p>Research tuition insurance for the schools mentioned</p>

9

<p>If the admissions office needs additional information, it will ask the applicant. If your D hears from them, you can help her gather the information if she can’t find it.</p>

10

<p>Echoing what others have said - if they need additional information, the admissions office will request it. It’s really important that your daughter be the one responding if asked although of course, you can help her gather anything she needs. </p>

<p>My boys both chose to write about their condition in their essay and were not asked for additional information. Both my boys were on 504 plans in HS. We had them re-evaluated their senior year and a report sent to the colleges they ultimately decided to attend. In your daughter’s case, it sounds like it should be from her physician (in our case, it was from a neuropsychologist who specializes in deaf/hoh kids). We also needed to include a recent report from their audiologist. All this was done after they were accepted. It’s really important to make sure she has current documentation so that she’ll qualify for services, etc. in her college. </p>

<p>As an aside, speaking for Amherst College, they’re part of the 5 college consortium in Amherst/Northampton/Holyoke and all five colleges have great accommodations. If there’s something the specific college can’t provide, UMass usually has it and shares with the other schools. My older son is at Hampshire (one of the consortium colleges) and has taken most of his classes at Amherst and has been very pleased. It’s been pretty seamless.</p>

11

<p>I can’t imagine admissions would ask for additional info. Wouldn’t it be discrimination to consider health or accommodations when considering admissions?</p>

<p>But yes…the school will need documentation if the student expects to need accommodations in college.</p>

12

<p>My kids had chronic health issues which resulted in frequent and prolonged absences from their private HS. They had no 504 plan but did get College Board accommodations for the SAT. The counselor mentioned S overcoming adversity in passing in his letter of rec for S (who was older than D) due to chronic health issues which caused him limited stamina and fewer ECs. He was admitted to several great Us, several with significant merit awards. </p>

<p>AFTER he received his acceptances, I called and spoke with each disabilities office about whether they would work with him if he continued to have frequent and prolonged absences. One U was surprisingly and sadly unwilling, but the others said they had worked with other students with similar health issues and would happily work with S. He chose one of the schools who promised to work with him and threw out the unwilling one–I called to tell them why. </p>

<p>D chose to apply to join her brother as a transfer. She wrote a bit in an essay about overcoming adversity, but didn’t dwell on it. No one corroborated in her app. She wS accepted. </p>

<p>In hindsight, we should have paid for tuition refund insurance as we would have been able to claim one term. Oh well. </p>

<p>For both kids, we registered with disabilities office and net the head a week before school commenced. We also had both kids seen by several family med MDs at nearby campus hospital in case they needed more attention than U could provide at health center. </p>

<p>Both kids graduated. S has been working at career for 2.5 years and D is looking for job/internship.</p>

13

<p>I am sorry, I don’t think I was very clear. Thank you for all of your valuable inputs, really appreciate them. However, my question was: the common app has an identical portion to the uc’s where you can explain grades. I wanted to know if replicating the UC information on to the common app, would be okay for my D to do. Again, thank you so much.</p>

14

<p>dibs. We were responding to your OP which asked about parent involvement in the application process as it relates to the health concerns, and verifying or documenting them.</p>

<p>If the schools using the common application have a counselor statement, I would let the counselor explain the health/grades/absences.</p>

15

<p>Thumper1: </p>

<h2>Below (between the dashed lines) is what the common app asks and this is where my daughter wants to mention specifically the health issues that have impacted her academic discrepancies and we were wondering if it is OK to mention it here:</h2>

<h2>Please provide an answer below if you wish to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the application.</h2>

<p>Thank you so much!!</p>

16

<p>HImom:
Thank you for such an informative msg.
The counselor has said that she will be writing about my D’s health/surgery having affected her grades but the issue with UCs is that they make their decisions solely based on the students’ self reporting and so nothing from counselor will be seen by the UCs until admission decision is made which is why we are so worried…</p>

<p>Like you said, hopefully the other private colleges will see what the counselor wrote and that could help my D.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

17

<p>OP - You sound like a good researcher. Do make sure your D’s list includes schools that will be good about accommodations. My advise (learned the hard way) is to err toward less challenging schools in April if you anticipate college issues and/or frequent absences.</p>

18

<p>I was asked by our guidance counselor to write a short note about my daughter’s health issues. I kept it very matter of fact. My daughter had incredible challenges but they did not affect her grades, so the note did not explain away a dip in grades, just the absences, which were sometimes extended. The note I wrote was included in the package sent to the schools, including transcript and so on.</p>

<p>I think you could call admissions and say your daughter had health issues that affected attendance and performance and what is the best way to indicate that, or can the counselor write something they will see before deciding. Admissions folks are human beings and helpful. You can do this anonymously too.</p>

<p>I think your daughter needs to avoid overfocusing on this issue in her application, and avoid the appearance of using it as an excuse. Explanations are different from excuses. If the problem is chronic, and she was receiving accommodations, then her performance at high school may indicate how she will perform in college, which is unfair cosmically, so to speak, but not unfair on the school’s part. In their eyes, the extent to which she has been able to “overcome” may be reflected in her grades, who knows.</p>

<p>If her essay is about her condition, that is enough. If her essay is about something else, then a matter of fact note under the section provided for explanations should be fine.</p>

<p>You do not need to disclose conditions at all prior to admission. It is up to the student, and if your daughter thinks it will help her application, and help them get to know her, then it is really helpful for her to provide some information on the condition and how she has handled it.</p>

<p>Once accepted, you meet with the disabilities office (they will want to deal with your daughter). Colleges have a different standard for accommodations. Accommodations cannot cause undue financial or administrative burdens for the school, legally, and cannot change the academic program. There is a lot of discretion on the part of individual professors. The student gets a letter from the disabilities office and takes it to professors and reveals whatever he or she is comfortable with. They may be met with skepticism, or with understanding. Deans can help negotiate this, so the kid is not entirely on her own.</p>

<p>I personally feel it is important to go to the school that best fits your child in other ways. My daughter did not choose a school based on how well they accommodate or understand. She is at a top school that had a great program for her major, and has perhaps been a bit of a trailblazer. She has earned respect by never seeking help or accommodations unless in dire circumstances, and has taken leaves when she cannot meet the school’s- and her own- expectations. I like to think she may have helped students who come in the future.</p>

<p>And get tuition refund insurance. We have used it three times.</p>

<p>My daughter is going to graduate in three weeks after almost 6 long years. It is a tough road for these kids but they really do have character. HiMom, I am glad to hear your kids have graduated as well!</p>