A suggestion. Your son may end up much happier and more confident if he forgoes his reaches. Having a lot of academic success in college can do wonders for our kid’s self esteem and frankly it is better for job hunting too if one is closer to the top of the class. He hasnt been so far- why not give him a chance to do so in college?
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i think it is a great suggestion because one semester of college foreign language is likely to feel overwhelming compared to the HS pace (2 years of HS Spanish are covered in just 1 semester in college). The immersion program is experience-based and gives students confidence. It may not make them skip 1 semester but does allow them to do better in that one semester typically required before a student can go abroad (generally, the student must reach college level 2 or 3 before going abroad).
At colleges that don’t have a FL graduation requirement, it may still be required to study one semester of FL before going abroad, and it’d be really sad if OP’s son was blocked because of it.
Lafayette is way less Greek than Bucknell but a bit more so than Dickinson. Dickinson has fantastic study abroad (and “professional focus in the liberal arts” for those interested) but its foreign language requirement is fairly onerous.
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Has anyone mentioned Skidmore yet?
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Not at all! Concordia sounds like a great option for anyone, but especially for a person with dyslexia. My son struggles mightily to memorize vocabulary lists in Spanish, and he can only confidently cognate in the present and present progressive, but he has a good accent and can make himself understood in simple conversation. Actually, I do think he should consider it, especially if he decides to study abroad in a Spanish speaking country. He could go to Concordia ahead of time.
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Another vote for Concordia. My dyslexic daughter attended their 4-week camp for 2 summers and learned a ton. She loved it so much that she is now planning a gap year abroad. (She picked one of the less common languages and didn’t do the session for high school credit.)
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That’s what I was afraid of but we could go in the fall, or after (if this happens) an acceptance. What got Wheaton on our radar was a letter to the Wheaton from a professor there. His 18 year old son died of a fentanyl overdose, and his family was paralyzed by grief. The college community and leaders responded with so much care. His former students, from the 90’s to recent graduates, came to the funeral, flew across the country to give support, and then organized to bring dinner, provide company, and check in three nights a week for months. What really got me was that the cajoled him into joining their online Dungeons and Dragons game, and played with his dogs.
“In the rare moments when I can get myself to think objectively about all this, I realize that I am not truly surprised. Over a quarter-century of teaching Wheaton students, I have learned what kind of people they are and what is in their hearts. But I am still utterly astounded that so many would give so much—much more than I ever gave to them.”
S24 would do very well in a community like that.
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My D24 decided to attend a 2 week session (non-credit) last summer before junior year. She says she was one of the oldest kids, but there were a few rising seniors doing “el credito” program (for HS credit). She went to camp with decent not great, Spanish skills, probably a B+ student. She returned home very confident in her speaking skills, having made friends from around the country (and with counselors from around the world), loves to give presentations in her current Spanish 3 class (focus at her school is on speaking) and is a solid A student. We had no idea how much it would help her confidence as well as love of the language and the many different Spanish-speaking cultures. She now wants to live in a Spanish-speaking theme house in college and study abroad as well.
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That is amazing, and lines up with what the staff, faculty, and students all said when we toured last summer.
By the way, we went to one of their open house events in… I think it was August? I know they had one in July we were signed up for, but then my son had a terrible stomach bug! And we had to reschedule. Anyway, I thought it showed very well at the open house! There was a lot of energy. I’m sure not as busy as during the school year, but I thought it was pretty cute and liked the size.
I was very impressed with their academic programs and the academic culture. We did not feel like it was a great social/campus fit for my son for a few probably specific to him reasons. (Didn’t like the campus traditions or the pets allowed in the dorms, for example.)
The college is definitely in a small rural-ish town. We live pretty close nearby, and I think students could get to lots of off-campus places outside the little town if they wanted, but our tour guide said it was rare that they did.
But I thought the academic possibilities and the connections with the faculty were amazing and something that is rare to find.
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Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD - College Confidential Forums read this forum - lots of great info/advice
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Thanks for making the suggestion. I agree that it’s best to encourage kids to set themselves up for success. Even though my son isn’t at the top of his high school class, he feels like a good student. He’s one of the most engaged students—he participates the most in all his classes, and his teachers love him. His close circle of friends is all in the top 10% of the class, and yet you would never know that he’s different if you hung out with them. There’s no difference in his ability to converse, joke, debate, and relate with them. Although he would not succeed in Calculus or AP Physics, in understanding and responding to people, he’s gifted.
However, he would not want too much academic pressure. (Too much would have to be beyond what he has now, which is very manageable. He seeks extra help when needed and has a full family life and EC’s he loves). Maybe we should encourage him to go to a school where his ACT would be above the 75% mark. But, who’s to say he wouldn’t be, for example, a top student in Gettysburg’s history department? We spent two days biking all over the battlefield and he’d love to research the origins of the Lost Cause myth, or the evolutions of songs like Dixie through history, or the Carlisle Indian School at Dickinson…
We will spend some time checking out the suggestions on this thread of colleges that would be less competitive to get into. However, I do want to give him the chance to have an alma mater that will be around his whole life and not in financial difficulties. There are some small LAC’s that do not get great financial ratings. We also visited some colleges that he took off the list because the percentage of commuters felt too high to him, so he would definitely prefer a residential campus.
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He has visited a lot of schools. Applying early might help his chances, but if he doesnt want to commit, that is ok. You seem to have a range of schools.
He might very well be the top student in history at Gettysburg. With an ACT average of about 30, you would know how rigorous that college should be compared to your curent high school.
Our high school reports the mean ACT to be 27. Gettysburg is test optional and has been since 2006, so I don’t think 30 is the actual average of the students there. (With math excluded, S24 would be at 30 for what it’s worth.) But I also think standardized tests are only a rough measure of what level of rigor the student likes/wants/can succeed at.
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That is fine. Just pointing out that it is not always in everyone’s interest to attend the reach school even if admitted; sometimes better overall results can be obtained elsewhere less competitive. Good luck.
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I understand your point but some kids thrive when they are engaged and challenged by a strong peer group.
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Some do. And some are stressed and unhappy. No one enters college expecting to be in the bottom half the class, but obviously half are. There are lots of adjustments to college living and adapting to academic requirements is only one.
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I’m sure this depends on the student, and my S21 is something of a homebody and doesn’t venture off campus as frequently as others. There’s not a ton right there, but it didn’t feel as isolated for us as Kenyon where my D spent a few weeks for a summer program or Hamilton when we visited there. Within easy walking distance of campus, there’s a good Thai place, a good and popular bagel/coffee place, a 24 hour Cumberland Farms, CVS, Walgreens, and a few other spots. Lots of kids do have cars, and there is also a free bus/shuttle service, so S21 finds it easy to get to Target, Dunkin’, a grocery store, and an ethnic food store. It’s easy to get to the train that goes every hour or two to Providence, RI or to Boston, but he’s never used the train (we have used it to get to see him both from Boston and from Providence). He has, however, gone with friends to Providence, RI for WaterFire, to the beach, and to a Stevie Nicks concert at the very-nearby Xfinity Center (outdoor concert venue). It’s a quiet town and doesn’t have a charming Main Street (we like the campus itself, but Mansfield ~10 minutes away has a nicer town center), so it’s a better match for some than for others. There’s always a lot going on on campus, and since there are things in walking distance and Providence and the beach in reach, it’s less isolated than some (but certainly not a place with clubs/nightlife down the street)!
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Agreed…but it sounds to me that the OP has an excellent and realistic view of her son and his abilities.
Anyway both of our points have been made and it seems time to move on and let the OP and S determine their plan of action.
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While you would need to do a bit closer investigating into what support services are available for your son, given his interest in history/politics, and a small school, has he considered Goucher?
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Exactly.
@nichols51 What is the closest train station to Wheaton? I can’t tell if there is one right in Norton, or if there used to be. S24 won’t want clubs/bars, but he likes coffee shops, international food, the beach (all seasons), museums, shows, concerts, anything historic, and just exploring different places.
Thanks! How did I not know there was a forum for threads about learning differences?
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