Hello everyone! I have Tourette’s syndrome and this has made things like studying and tests more difficult for me than my peers, but it has also lead to me growing much more as a person and in my strategies, abilities, and perseverance than I would had I never had this condition. I am applying for MIT and am considering discussing my Tourette’s to express my overcoming of obstacles, but I am terrified of giving off the impression that I am less capable or unfit for MIT because of it. No matter how much I “overcome” Tourette’s it’s still present and I can’t exactly just get rid of it. Do any of you have advice on how I should go about this? I have decent enough scores to give me a statistical chance at MIT although they aren’t perfect.
Are you on an IEP and do you get an accommodations from your high school? I think you’re ok telling them especially since it’s an important part of who you are. I would browse MIT’s student services (or whatever it’s called) and see what kind of resources they provide for a student with learning differences. Even if you get in, you want to make sure the support is there, if you have an IEP then MIT would have to provide something as part of 504, of course they can’t discriminate against you wrt admission because of your LD. Does your GC and/or parents have any opinion on this?
We generally suggest you let your record and app speak for you and let the GC speak to the challenges you overcame. That also gives him/her a chance to be positive about how you’ve done.
…but we have no idea if you’ve done well, academically, and what ECs you’ve done.
As far as the IEP system and accommodations it’s a bit of a long winded story, but to save from unnecessary melodrama as a child I was never informed of any sort of help or accommodations I could receive from the school, and my parents or school councilors never met with me or worked with me in any way. If I had known this were an option I would have gladly accepted it, but by the time I knew it was a thing I was past the point where it could be provided due to past history of going without it. Sadly my parents do not feel any responsibility for this. I don’t know how this would look to MIT. I’m doing well academically without it, but that doesn’t mean I necessarily don’t need it, it just means I’ve worked myself that much more to get to the point I’m at. I’m worried to MIT it would look like I simply don’t need these and am using it as a pity crutch. The way my school’s GCs are made available is a little weird so basically the only interaction I’ve had with mine is requesting a transcript. I already submitted my teacher recommendations and didn’t talk to them about mentioning Tourette’s but I’m now considering asking my GC for an extra recommendation that I can send in; the issue is that he doesn’t know me on a personal level.
For academics I currently have a 33 ACT and have taken close to as many AP classes as I can load on myself. I’m talking the SAT Subject Test Math II and Physics this December, which I’m worried about because I have had very little study time and have to study much more to get the same amount of result compared to others. Time is a big issue for me but again I can’t get testing accommodations because I Don’t have a history of receiving them previously for ECs I’ve been on my school’s FIRST Robotics team for 3 years and am Team Captain as well as Lead Mechanical this year. I have also been on the school’s Ted-Ed club and am co-lead/pres this year. In addition to this I am in class cabinet and Key Club, and am on the executive committee for the NHS, but we haven’t made any definitive decisions on who is exactly what.
I really appreciate the help I’m getting with this. It’s a stressful situation for me and filled with having to deal with the results of things I can’t go back and change.
For academics I currently have a 33 ACT and have taken close to as many AP classes as I can load on myself. I’m talking the SAT Subject Test Math II and Physics this December, which I’m worried about because I have had very little study time and have to study much more to get the same amount of result compared to others. Time is a big issue for me but again I can’t get testing accommodations because I Don’t have a history of receiving them previously for ECs I’ve been on my school’s FIRST Robotics team for 3 years and am Team Captain as well as Lead Mechanical this year. I have also been on the school’s Ted-Ed club and am co-lead/pres this year. In addition to this I am in class cabinet and Key Club, and am on the executive committee for the NHS, but we haven’t made any definitive decisions on who is exactly what.
I really appreciate the help I’m getting with this. It’s a stressful situation for me and filled with having to deal with the results of things I can’t go back and change.
whoops. Sorry about the duplicates. I’m new to this format and can’t delete comments