In my sons case they were open to all accommodations BUT he needs to do self advocating and notify his teachers at the beginning of each semester. He can not request accommodations for his LD just when the class gets tough. And after all the time I spent researching and calling different colleges he has rarely used his services. He was a huge advocate of extra help in high school but in college not so much.
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Thank you, @aquapt for sharing your dyslexic nephewâs ASL story. Itâs a great example of how much teaching methods matter. Accommodations are often thought of as making the class easier, but they are more like alterations to make the teaching methods match the student better. I think we could use more teachers and professors who are dyslexic because they would instinctively know how to teach to a wider range of brains!
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We specifically asked at Elon and were told that ASL will NOT fulfill the FL requirement, but it was the tour guide that we asked. Did you hear from the administration that it would? My DD is very close to depositing at Elon and would be thrilled fi she could take ASL instead. She has already taken 4 years of ASL and really enjoys it.
Sorry! I see you posed above that it does not qualify for the world language requirement.
Iâm sorry if I misled you! I got this from the website:
Elon offers ASL, but specifically says that ASL does not meet the World Language Requirement. Students can apply for an exception to the requirement.
Two of my closest friends have daughterâs at Elon. They both love it. One transferred from a bigger school with a more competitive academic culture, and is thankfully much happier at Elon. I think they both fulfilled the language requirement with high school classes, but I will ask whether they know of kids with exceptions.
The tour guide was not encouraging about an exception, but she is not the disability services department. We will ask. Itâs âonlyâ 2 semesters. She was considering St. Olaf, but they require 4 semesters of FL and that would be tough. She has done quite a bit od dyslexia remediation since she last tried Spanish in 6th grade, so it may be a better experience now. Itâs just a shame because she loves ASL and has 4 years under her belt. It would be nice to continue.
It seems like it would be easier to get a substitution of ASL approved than an exemption. I would ask!
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Hi, all! I wanted to give an update after S24 and I visited Lafayette yesterday. The school definitely shot up the list for him. I was also pleasantly surprisedâI havenât been there since 1988, and both the town and the college were very different from what I remembered! Iâll split our impressions in half, and post about the location first, and the college itself second.
We drove from NYC, and for the last 45 minutes, S24 kept commenting that he had no idea New Jersey could be so pretty and outdoorsy. I was vindicated because Iâve been telling my kids for years that there are beautiful parts of NJ! All they had ever experienced was Newark, I-95, and traffic. (FYI, Newarkâs Airport is much nicer and more efficient than either LaGuardia or JFK.)
To me, Easton PA felt like one of the classic small CT or NY towns weâve been to, with some historic buildings, town square, appealing restaurants, library, and an antique shop. They even have an outdoor store (S24 likes hiking, biking, cross country skiing). The downtown was packed with people enjoying the spring day, despite several periods of rain. From 30+ years ago, I remember feeling like the town was kind of run down and not that walkable from campus, but now it felt vibrant, and they are renovating the steps down the hill from the college.
They are also putting in a new biking/walking trail with lighting, seating areas, and places to display artwork: Multimodal trail, historic step project on schedule · News · Lafayette College Apparently, it will connect to the Karl Stirner Arts trail, which is about a mile long along the river. Sounds nice!
In addition to the downtown, there are several restaurants and shops on the hill steps from campus, such as Wawa, sushi, pizza, and a coffee shop. The one thing Easton lacks from S24âs point of view is a train station for when he wants to get out of Dodge. However, our tour guide said she went to an off-Broadway show with the college in vans for $36. Also, the Lafayette Outdoors Society takes students to places like the Delaware Water Gap (1 hour drive).
Lafayette got big points from S24 for being so easy to get to. Itâs a two hour drive, as long as you can chose the day and time to do it. Otherwise, prepare to be thwarted by public enemy number 1, the George Washington Bridge 
.
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Did you look into their support services? What were your thoughts?
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Secondly, the college itself: S24 loved the classic feel of the campus, the quad, the buildings, and the statue of the Marquis de Lafayette.
Our tour guide was a great match for himâa humanities person who felt a bit intimidated about taking a lab science and math at Lafayette. She ended up loving her geology class. She said the small department is so welcoming, and the professors are so willing to help students. Plus, they take fun field trips. She also loved her freshman writing seminar which was âI Canât Live Without Books,â a study of the history and cultural impact of the book. After the tour, S24 went straight to the library because he wanted to see the books they studied in the school archives, but unfortunately rare books is not open on the weekends. (He also wanted to see Lafayetteâs letters and sword, which are apparently in the same section.)
Now, our tour guide is taking calculus, and attends free peer tutoring through a program called Calculus Calvary. S24 liked that although our guide was clearly strong student, seeking help was no big deal for her. For some courses, students are assigned to study groups facilitated by tutors who work closely with the professor (Mentored Study Groups). Our guide talked about her study group for economics, and going to the writing center. All of this was presented as a normal way to approach college, and not as something extra, or just for kids with learning disabilities. The academic resource department also offers help with study skills, note taking, reading strategies, test taking, time management, etc. This is for any student who needs the resource. I got the feeling that S24 would be able to easily access support so he could take classes outside his comfort zone and be successful. He wants to take at least intro classes in geology, psychology and computer science, and he wants to feel like nothing is off limits for him to try.
As far as student life, the activities our tour guide talked about reminded S24 of his sisters and their life at college: cooking an Easter dinner in the dorm kitchen with friends, volunteering at a women and childrenâs shelter, playing club lacrosse, attending the performances and games of hall mates, etc. Sheâs also part of a campus group that advocates for womenâs reproductive rights.
We came away from the tour feeling like Lafayette has an especially supportive community where S24 would feel at home. When I visited as a high school junior, the campus felt very preppy, sporty, and Greek. I got a very different impression this time. There were about 15 tour guides, at least 2/3 women, and only one was wearing any make-up. All were dressed for comfort and practicality, and none had on Greek letters. I didnât see anyone else on campus in Greek letters either, which was definitely not my experience last time. When we ate lunch in the dining hall, we saw a group of women who looked like they were doing some kind of sorority event because one had flowers, and they were all in sundress type outfits, but they could have been any group of friends. The Greek system just didnât feel dominant. Of course it may feel more dominant to a student on a Friday/Saturday night.
Note that I donât mean to stereotype the Greek system. My parents, husband and I all joined in college and so have S24âs two sisters. I know there are a lot of positives. However, depending on the culture of the campus and the chapter, there can also be a lot of negatives. S24 doesnât drink for several reasons, and although he may drink in college, I know him well enough to know that binge drinking, or a social life centered around drinking will not be his thing. I imagine Lafayette will be similar to his high schoolâthere are plenty of kids who party hard every weekend, but there are also plenty of kids who S24 clicks with.
I had actually been kind of hoping that S24 wouldnât like Lafayette since it has one of the lowest acceptance rates on his list, and I suggested going to a different school instead, but he was sure he wanted to make this visit. Now, he says that Conn, Lafayette and American are his top three. I think what he likes most about American is the location in DC, so I wish there were a smaller, easier admit school in DC! All Iâve found is Catholic U, which S24 did not put on the list because it is 80% Catholic.
Wheaton is next on the to-be-visited list. S24 is concerned that he might feel like St. Maryâs, Washington, and Roanoke are too isolated to make good likelies, so we will need to either figure out when to visit, come up with alternatives, or both.
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Thanks so much for sharing about the visit to Lafayette. It sounds delightful, and itâs great to have another person share their perspective about Greek life there!
St. Maryâs County has about 115,000 residents (source) and the ever-reliable Wikipedia says St. Maryâs City has about 933 residents (outside of those in the dorms).
Chestertown, MD (home of Washington College) has about 5600 residents (source).
Roanoke city has about 99k residents (source) and Salem (the adjacent town where the college is located) has about 25k residents (source).
I could more easily understand the Maryland colleges as feeling remote, but with a town of essentially 125k, I donât think that Roanoke College would feel overly isolated.
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Thanks, @AustenNut ! I think youâre right re Roanoke. Itâs not isolated so much as far from home, and hard to go visit in the little time we have left before the semester ends.
Both of our daughters have good friends who live in Roanoke, and they have visited and liked it. We also know a student at Roanoke College who loves Salem.
I think the issue may be that I would like S24 to have a likely that isnât a plane flight away. I havenât asked him how he feels about the distance, as he might be swayed by me asking the question. He did choose Wheaton as the school he wants to see next as he likes Massachusetts, and the open curriculum.
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Thinking a bit outside the box, has he considered Gallaudet in D.C.? It has about 1k undergrads and a 6:1 student/faculty ratio. 98.8% of classes have fewer than 20 students, 1.2% have between 20-49 students, and no classes have more than 50 students (source). 1/3 of students are new signers and they have extensive student supports available.
Additionally, itâs part of the Washington Area consortium, so he would be able to take classes at American, GW, Georgetown, Howard, etc.
Of course, if he decided on Gallaudet he would need to be willing to become fully bilingual in ASL. And heâd be a train-ride rather than a plan-ride home, and depending on the GW, the train could well be faster than driving.
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Agree. We visited St. Maryâs and Roanoke. While we have 2 friends at St. Maryâs (both who love it), as I recall, it is at least a 10-15 min drive to a store of some sort.
Roanoke, on the other hand, is just a step across the street into Salem with restaurants, pharmacies, etc. It did not feel isolated to me and canât imagine it feels much different than Easton. They are almost identical in size - population 25,000 (Salem) and 28,000 (Easton).
I believe the school is about 10 min from downtown Roanoke. And easily accessible off I-81. It is a pretty campus and a cute town. Mountains in the background. A nice neighborhood next to the campus. It felt very nice and safe when we visited. It is definitely worth a visit.
OP - can kids get into Lafayette with a 3.5? That sounded a little low to me (but it has been years since we researched it 
) but maybe not with good ECs, test scores, etc.
Roanoke may be a little less pressure than Lafayette.
It sounds like your son is involved in the process and excited about college - I am sure he will do great!
ETA - oops, just read your post on Roanoke and that you are already familiar with
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Thanks, @RookieCollegeMom ! We really donât know much about Roanoke College, and appreciate your insights. D19 has done some spectacular hikes near there, and D21 has a friend who goes there. S24 would like to visit, but itâs either a flight, or a 10 hour train trip. His shorter term goal is to figure out whether he wants to use ED for a reach. If he doesnât, then he will apply widely, and if accepted at Roanoke, we would fly, rent a car, spend the night, etc.
As far as whether S24 would get into Lafayette, I donât know. Heâs aware that itâs a high reach. Ten to fifteen students from our school apply every year, almost all RD, and about half get in. Stats are all over the place, and not really helpful because they only report weighted GPA, we donât know who applied test optional, and we donât know who was a recruited athlete. If S24 were to decide he really wants to go there, I would encourage him to use ED. (Lafayette accepts about half of their ED applicants, filling half of their class.) But, he doesnât seem to be leaning in that direction.
As far as pressure goes, I have two daughters who are grade driven. S24 is different. He wants to learn, enjoy class, and have a relationship with the teacher and camaraderie with the other students. Amazingly to my daughters, he doesnât tend to remember his grades 
. Of course, we donât want him to actually struggle to pass, but I assume that schools donât accept kids who may not be able to handle the work. The LACâs weâve seen also seem to provide a lot of academic support. If S24 were the type of kid who prefers to go it alone, and doesnât like asking for help, we would need to alter our search with that in mind. But, heâs a social learner who loves to get to know the teacher, go in for extra help, join a study group, have a tutor, etc.
Actually, if one of his âmatchâ schools rises to the top, I wonder if he should consider applying early there? But Iâm probably getting ahead of him, as he is very much still in info gathering mode.
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I wonder if heâs considered University of Mary Washington? It is in Fredericksburg, VA, about 60-90 minutes from DC. It is a very collaborative environment with a pretty campus. It would be a match or likely.
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Yes, we have considered Mary Washington! S24 likes the look of the campus on YouTube, and the size seems great at 3,400. I think heâll put it on the list. Iâm not a fan of the drive from either Dulles/Reagan to Fredericksburg, though! (We live in NY, but Iâm from VA and S24âs sisters go to William & Mary.)
Update: for third quarter, S24 has all Aâs and A pluses, a definite highpoint. I think the differences are that he stopped taking Spanish, and he has an especially good math teacher. (Two subjects he had Bâs in before.) He should feel great about the A in APUSH as itâs one of the hardest humanities classes at our high school and the first âadvancedâ class he has taken.
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Consider like people mentioned Juniata. On the lake, CTCL school, and NO LANGUAGE requirement. It is in the middle of nowhere, but it is also test optional.
St. Maryâs has a language requirement if I recall correctly (and did not have a language that DD wanted). Even though it is kind of LAC, it is still public. My impression of most public is that they are sticklers and would provide less support than LACs.
I would in your case also stay away from tipy-top schools like Lafayette. You want your son to feel good and be proud of his accomplishments. You do not want him to struggle to compete with top students all the time and study non-stop. He needs to have an enjoyable life. That is why ED may not make sense. I would apply broadly to schools with no supplemental and go with the school that loves him and love it back.
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For Mary Washington, thereâs a train station in Fredericksburg, walkable to campus so itâs actually pretty easy to get to by train from NYC.
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