To Disclose or Not?

<p>Any advice out there to whether or not to disclose a learning disability on college applications? My daughter attends a tough college prep school, but due to her learning disability has an average GPA. Her ACT score is also affected by the learning disability.
Advice would be appreciated. She is applying to regional respected schools in the south. She is also a superior cross-country athletic and is talking to a lot of college coaches at this time. Should she disclose her learning disability to coaches?</p>

<p>I think disclosing a disability is best done when there is a constructive reason to do so (or when needed for safety, as with health issues). For us, that meant after admission, in order to secure whatever reasonable accommodations might help the student do the work that the student deserves to do.</p>

<p>I would not disclose a learning disability simply to explain low GPA and scores. Those stats will still be used to evaluate potential academic level at colleges (did the student in question have accommodations at school or on the ACT?) Be aware that the standard for accommodations at college, and the level of accommodations, is different from those at high school.</p>

<p>Is there a reason the coach might need to know? I am not questioning this, just wondering. Often sports coaches don’t seem very eager to discuss disabilities of any kind, in our experience, and it can create a certain bias, conscious or not.</p>

<p>Some kids do write an essay about their disability, or the guidance counselor can write about it. It can be part of a personal story about overcoming obstacles, but that story is pretty overdone and can come off as trite or worse. So only with caution.</p>

<p>Hi Fifth – I raised the same question in my recent thread:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1522552-test-optional-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1522552-test-optional-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;
and I got a lot of good responses. </p>

<p>I am still not sure myself whether or not to disclose. I am leaning to doing so (and I will also await GC’s suggestions when we speak in the fall). I think for my son, it will explain why he didn’t take any APs, and will also explain his standardized test scores.</p>

<p>In terms of disclosing to coaches, I don’t know the right answer. I would think that if you’ve already told admissions, telling the coaches is not needed.</p>

<p>Test optional schools, as I know it, they are SAT scores optional, but the HS grade is still going to be accounted for.</p>

<p>I thought learning disability can be corrected with proper care, I maybe wrong. But in my earlier years, I think I had learning disability with very low scores. Went to the military, in the service I grew up and was able to undertake college level courses.</p>

<p>I tell folks who are really torn about this; they feel they have a good story, good reason that they really want to share with admissions, and that dealing with the disability has been an important part of their life and shows an improving trend and is a positive thing. And I agree, in some cases, it could be. But you just do not know who is reading your app, and what the general feeling about these things are at any given admissions office. So split the difference. Pair up the schools, as like as possible as how much the student likes the school and disclose via interview, essays, whatever about the LD in one group, and leave it out in the other and see how it plays out. So share the outcomes with us. </p>

<p>The one situation where a parent I knew reported doing this, the results were about the same. But the schools were not super selective either and they just might not have cared one way or the other. The more selective one gets with the college list, the more carefully these things are scrutinized, and the more important the grades and scores are. The very top schools want the top scores and grades WITH the LD and challenges. In such situations, that the student so totally OVERCAME the obstacle becomes a key point in favor. Brooke Ellison is a quadroplegic who was accepted to Harvard. But she also had very high, top of the percentiles test scores, grades, took the top courses as well. Not a quarter was given for her disability in those areas, but that she had the disability did make her stand out from her peers with the same numbers and she was selected over a number of them.</p>

<p>My oldest disclosed as it was important that we could determine the level of available services before committing.
At the time, accommodations were also noted on SAT score reports.
I believe one of her essays mentioned it, but it was not about the disability.
The school was also need aware & met 100% of which she had quite a lot.
But they wanted her and possible knowledge about her LD gave the flexibility to offer admission even though her numbers were lower than median & she had need.</p>

<p>My boys both are deaf. They did choose to disclose because as emeraldkity4 says, it was important to be sure they could be accommodated. My older son had an SAT accommodation (extra time) but my younger son took it without. Their story was somewhat unique in that they received their cochlear implants as young teens so it made for an interesting story. We left it to them whether to disclose or not. My younger son is going to a LACS in the fall which seems like a great match for him. My older son will be a junior at another LACS - also perfect for him. For both of them, I think the smaller size is an accommodation in and of itself and smaller classes are easier for them hearing-wise.</p>

<p>I disclosed my disabilities at schools where I was a match or reach, where my disability would make a difference. For example, I didn’t know about one of my disabilities until I was a freshman in college-- and I wanted to transfer. I had major academic problems prior to that diagnosis which raised a huge red flag, and those problems completely went away post diagnosis-- my grades skyrocketed and the disability became a non-issue so far as admissions were concerned. I needed to explain that red flag away.</p>

<p>At my safety schools, I didn’t bother disclosing. If I had attended I would have disclosed after admission to get accommodations, but I saw no point in mentioning it at application-- I think it would have come across as fishing for bonus points due to my disability since I was obviously already qualified disability and all. For schools where it was more questionable, it made sense to explain that I once had a very big problem, one that I solved doing x y and z, and here’s why it’s not going to be a problem again if I attend your school.</p>

<p>It worked out for me, I got in everywhere I applied. I disclosed to two match schools where admissions could have gone either way, and didn’t bother disclosing at three safeties.</p>

<p>In your D’s case, I think disclosing is questionable. If she performs average in her classes and standardized tests due to her disability, won’t she perform the same way in college? Is there any reason to believe something has changed and her grades/scores aren’t reflective of her true abilities as a disabled person? It sounds to me like her grades/test scores are going to get her admitted to where she should be, what is the point in disclosing? What do you hope to accomplish? There are a lot of smart kids with disabilities whose abilities simply cant keep up with their brains-- I am one of those people-- and you don’t want to try and make an excuse for average grades to convince someone to admit her to a school she doesn’t have the skills to succeed at. Before you disclose, think about what you hope to accomplish and if that makes sense.</p>

<p>I strongly advise against disclosing to coaches. My experience is that almost nobody on a college campus, even admissions, knows anything about learning disabilities except the people paid to sit in the disabilities office. I do not think the coaches are going to have any idea what to do with this information, and they might worry about her ability to juggle college sports with her academics.</p>

<p>You can evaluate accommodations, support and services at schools once you are admitted. In fact, it can be hard to really ascertain much on this subject until then. So disclosure after acceptance should be fine, for the practical reason of securing accommodations.</p>

<p>I would add that, if a school does not offer adequate services, and the student really wants to go there, a little advocacy might be in order. We all need to keep the progress from the Americans with Disabilities Act going.</p>