<p>My youngest son is very bright but has an IEP due to a learning disability. He has high expectations for himself and drives himself hard to maintain his GPA. However, although cognitively he is able to comprehend well above his peers, his ability to succeed academically is adversely impacted by his disability. </p>
<p>Is it an advantage or a disadvantage to apply to college as a student with a disability? He certainly can attest to the challenges he has had to overcome since as early as preschool through his present status as a high school student. </p>
<p>What has been difficult for teachers to understand is that while he can appear to be very bright verbally, he is not able to perform comparable to his intellect on tests and classroom assignments, and although he spends an extraordinary amount of time and effort to maintain minimal grades, the school feels that as long as he can maintain the minimal expectations, he is fine.</p>
<p>Although his older two brothers were in 'magnet' science/tech programs and have performed exceptionally well with little effort (hence accepted at either Ivies or on merit scholarships), I don't know how to advise the youngest-- it appears to me that if colleges prefer to accept the best and brightest, would they consider a child with a disability or would that put the child at a disadvantage? I understand that legally they would never admit to such a thing, but wouldn't a college prefer admitting a non-disabled child who would most likely perform better and who would stand a greater chance of completing undergrad within the 4-6 years that most colleges aspire to? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance to any responses.</p>
<p>My 2 children had IEPs. Neither of them made any mention of it in their college applications, but it would have been evident on their transcripts that they spent time in the resource room.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what you mean by whether it is an advantage or disadvantage.... I think that your son should apply to reach, match and safety schools like anyone else, based on his GPA and SAT/ACT scores. In my opinion, having a disability will not help your son get into a school that he wouldn't be able to get into if he didn't have a disability. Conversely, if his gpA and scores are a good match, then having a disability probably won't prevent him from getting in because he has proven that he can do the work.</p>
<p>If he has a gap between his gpa and scores (like high gpa but low scores), he could address this in one of his essays by stressing his strong work ethic despite having to overcome some obstacles such as a visual spatial glitch, etc.</p>
<p>You may want to read some of the threads on the disabilities forum. There are several on this issue. You can find it by clicking on "Discussion Home" in the upper left of this screen, and then scrolling down.</p>
<p>I agree with the post above. Your son should be applying to schools where it looks like he would fit in academically, based on his GPA and test scores. It would do him no good to go to a school where he would not be able to keep up with the other students; on the other hand, you still want him to be challenged and not just coasting along. </p>
<p>If you think his disability is significant enough, you might want to look into colleges that have special resources/programs to provide extra support for students with learning disabilities such as Lynn University in FL.</p>
<p>I know of students who have overcome learning disabilities and are now attending top colleges. A boy from Class of 2008 is at Columbia despite learning disabilities and his mother is with him so that he can attend. He was offered major scholarships at other schools also. He had testing accomodations. I did not see his college essays, but I would think that he wrote about the challenges he faced and how he overcame his disability. I think OP's son should shoot for whatever school he wants and should write about the challenges he has faced. He has many qualities to admire, including persistance and a strong work ethic. These are characteristics that any ad com would want in a student. All the best to your son.</p>