<p>I understand the attitude: “I don’t want to go there if they wouldn’t take me knowing about my LDs.” However, the folks who make the decisions regarding admissions are different than those regarding accommodations and helpfulness. In selective schools, the admissions folks have so many qualified applicants that they are looking for a reason to reject. I wouldn’t advise giving them an additional one if it is not necessary to explain the record. </p>
<p>I would look very carefully at how they handle kids with LDs once enrolled. I’ve described my experiences earlier. They provide appropriate lip service up front, but the question is really what they will commit to once your child has been accepted and before your child decides to accept.</p>
<p>I’ve nervously been debating posting this in a number of CC forums and threads, but have settled on this one… You all seem nice </p>
<p>My daughter attends a highly regarded, academically rigorous boarding school. She is in the top 5-10% of her class and will have some truly standout experiences on her applications for college (immersion study abroad year (studying two languages), prestigious multi-summer internship leading a team of college students). A wonderful young woman.</p>
<p>She’s also “twice-exceptional.” She was tested in 5th grade, and deemed to have a learning disability, but the public school system did not formally provide a 504 plan or an IEP because she wasn’t failing (classic). She homeschooled in middle school, which was our way of meeting her learning needs, although her math trajectory has been permanently affected. (Math computation subtest in particular is ridiculously low.) She made a successful transition to boarding school for high school without initially disclosing the LD. But by the start of sophomore year it became apparent she needed some accommodations (extra time), which the school has willingly provided and documented. We also were advised to get new testing in order to request accommodations for upcoming college standardized testing. LD testing was done sophomore summer and confirmed earlier LD testing results.</p>
<p>My daughter is now a junior. Accommodations were denied by the College Board, and again on appeal, and it was pretty clear that further appeals would be hopeless. We’ve yet to hear from the ACT. She just took the January SAT and she is demoralized that because of scores without accommodation (CR & W in high 600s, with math in mid-500s) she will be precluded from even having a chance at schools for which she otherwise would be a contender. Her intended major is not offered at most schools; she hopes to pursue a Ph.D.</p>
<p>What to do? Unlike many on this thread, she’s of the “good grades & everything else/lacklustre SAT” variety. With those scores, it seems like she can’t past the gate at many of the schools she would otherwise target. Does she apply to those “top” schools anyway, mention that she was denied SAT accommodations and hope that they will look at her holistically. Will the non-accommodated standardized scores put the validity/rigor of her accommodated class grades into question? Thoughts?</p>
<p>iPhonemom and any other interested parties, both of my sons have similar LDs and were denied various accommodations that were clearly prescribed by diagnoses they received in first and second grade, and were further backed up by 504s for almost a decade. We were successful in securing appropriate accommodations for both…eventually. Here is the thing: If College Board continues to deny students the accommodations they are obviously qualified to receive, they are going to get hit with a massive lawsuit that will affect, not just them, but every major university in the US. If your student is “borderline” or has only new testing (as a junior), etc., it gives CB wiggle room. But if your student’s testing (no matter how recent) presents a clear case for specific accommodations, please PM me and I will gladly send you a copy of exactly what you need to say to the CB to “remind” them that they are skating on very thin ice, according to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. You need to quote the exact TESTING-SPECIFIC law to them. They know it well. They just don’t always choose to follow it (like a lot of schools and teachers out there). </p>
<p>happykidsmom: That’s interesting. Where is the testing-specific law? Is it part of IDEA '04? What I’ve been reading about testing accommodations so far is that we have to PROVE to CB a “functional” impairment that limits the child’s access to the test. Now, I have to figure out how this applies to my kid. </p>
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