Unique medical situation.

Parents Forum
1

<p>preface: Meant to post this here, accidentally posted it in the chances forum, but I thought due to the nature of my case I would get more valuable info from here. </p>

<p>Hello, I'm a high school junior from New Hampshire and I'm interested in hearing opinions on my chances of being admitted to Reed, Middlebury, Cornell, or Oberlin.</p>

<p>I currently suffer from chronic migraines, and possibly (not diagnosed yet) narcolepsy. I miss approximately 50% of school and my grades are horrible because of it. I'm on a federal "disability" plan that is supposed to make teachers aware of my current situation and give them accomodations to make (such as no deadlines, altered curriculium etc.). Unfortunately it's not helping me all that much and a select few teachers have refused assist me in any fashion and have failed me. I work as hard as possible to maintain about a C+/B- average in the rest of my classes.</p>

<p>My PSAT scores were math:70 reading:78 and writing:75. I took the SATs last saturday and believe my scores will be about the same, I'll be taking them again in October.</p>

<p>I consider myself a fairly talented writer and I will ensure my college essay is outstanding.</p>

<p>Due to all of the medical issues I've encountered, my guidance counselor has assured me that she will be writing an excellent reccomendation recounting the past year or so and how hard I've worked against the aforementioned obstacles. I have a fairly good rapport with my physics teacher who I stay after a few days a week to make up missed work and to learn subjects outside the HS physics curriculum, and hope he will write me a good reccomendation.</p>

<p>As for extra credits:</p>

<p>-Varsity tennis
-JV soccer
-Jazz band 4 years
-All-State Jazz Ensemble as a junior (hope to repeat this next year)
-I'm on the junior board of a non-profit organization that allocates scholarships to both students and teachers
-I'm part on my city's green team, a non-profit for environmental conservation and climate control.
-I've helped organize and am currently organizing multiple large-scale fundraisers for both of the previously mentioned organizations.
-Organizing a walk to benefit Leukemia
-Organizing a protest and fundraiser to benefit victims of the genocide in Sudan.</p>

<p>Music and jazz in particular is my strong suit. As I mentioned I've been in my high school (about 2600 students) jazz band since I was a freshman. I was all-state this year as a junior. I study jazz piano and saxophones with a professional jazz musician and teacher at Middlebury College. I play saxophone, piano, and guitar. I've played numerous benefits including a yearly soup kitchen fundraiser put together by all of the local restuarants that earns thousands of dollars each year. My teacher from Middlebury will be writing me a reccomendation. </p>

<p>I hope to have the medical issues resolved by the first semester of my senior year, and will (again, hopefully) show my ability and have an A average for the first two quarters.</p>

<p>Any advice as to what I should to to improve my chances, and my current chances will be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>EDIT: I forgot to mention the following.</p>

<p>I work for a school geared towards natural learning, it's located on a farm on the outskirts of my city. I helped build it and currently work with 2 kindergarten classes and after school grade school kids aged 1-4th grades. I do graphic design for the same people (they own multiple businesses), and am a counselor at their summer camps.</p>

2

<p>Oberlin will appreciate your interest in jazz. Emphasize that you'd like to play informally in ensembles there, or hear performances by faculty in their new (great) program in Jazz Studies, hear all the student jazz concerts, etc. Define your interest as one of the many music lovers on the college campus, who'd play INFORMALLY in ensembles... so they're sure you're not trying to become a conservatory jazz musician. At Oberlin, the more college students who love and enjoy music, the better.
They will also embrace your EC's because they are so progressive socially and help others in the community. REcently they changed their motto from "Changing the World" to "Fearless" and you're a bit of both!
Your strong PSAT's are very important b/c they;re the only demonstration you have now of your keen intelligence. Oberlin might have a classroom attendance requirement, so you won't be able to succeed there without the health under better control, which you certainly are trying to get into place, in time.
Oberlin's disabilities coordinator is named Jane Boomer, and a phone call with her now, long before you're involved in applying, could be informative. Also I'm sure there's a disabilities coordinator at every other campus you mention. Ask her if you can pick her brains about applying.<br>
Can the GC actually say that some of the flunks are because teachers didn't accommodate you? If the GC would go out on a limb and say that for you, that will help.
Also getting the A's next term.
Are you willing to tell them on your app that if they don't find you credible as a candidate, that you'd take a Gap Year so you are one year older and healthier before coming onto the campus? It's just a thought.
Also, between the lines you sound like a NICE, KIND person and a good writer. Oberlin is very alert to this, finds people with that quality, and puts value on it. Like y9ou, they are community-builders. I'm not sure how many New Hampshire apps they get, so that might help (and elsewhere) as compared to Midd which has many from New England.
You have chosen very worthwhile schools, all of them. Can you add some safeties? You shouldl; everybody should.
I don't know if Oberlin or the others ask for a "Midyear Report" but if not you should offer it up, along with invitation to call your GC as late in the year as they're looking at your app (could even be in March when they're deciding..) to phone in and discuss your senior year with the GC for latest, best news on your academics.
GOOD LUCK.
(My family's from New Hampshire)</p>

3

<p>I suggest that you give considerable thought to how your ongoing, and perhaps yet to emerge, medical issues will be addressed at your prospective college.</p>

<p>My daughter has had some medical issues arise since she has been away at college, and addressing them is a real problem. </p>

<p>Our medical plan only has full pay for physicians in our immediate region, and her college is outside of it. She is too far to come home for routine medical treatment. She doesn't have a car there, but the available medical treatment is confined to the resources of a small college clinic and a small town. If she needed to go to a sleep clinic in the nearest big city, as it seems you might, it would be a real strategic problem for her. As well as a huge largely unreimbursed expense.</p>

<p>You might be better served in the long run by staying close to home, where you may have more help, until your medical issues are under control, and then going away afterwards.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for reply, valuable advice. Oberlin is on my list specifically because of the musical aspect. I realize of course that I do need some safeties, but I figured it wasn't worth noting because for now I'm going to strive for the schools I want (ideally) to go to, and anything I do for those schools with carry over. </p>

<p>I'm going to take your advice and give Jane Boomer a call at Oberlin and hear her take on the situation. </p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

<p>EDIT: Hadn't seen your reply, monydad. </p>

<p>I realize the medical issues aren't only an issue for now, but could very well be during my college years as well. Unfortunately there isn't much I can do about it, so I'm going to have to hope for the best, and if I need to go to a more nearby college such as a Boston school, then that's what I'll do. My doctor's located in Boston, harvard med grad and works there and at Boston Children's Hospital.</p>

5

<p>Please give serious consideration to what you will be able to do in college and make sure that you find a college that will be supportive and flexible. The problem you have now -- a "select few" teachers who refuse to provide the accommodations you are entitled to -- will continue in college. It's wrong, but that's life - there are always going to be individuals who don't do what they are supposed to do. So look for colleges where you aren't going to always be having to seek accommodations for every class - for example, you want to avoid colleges with strict attendance policies or inflexible core requirements. Consider how your migraines affect your ability to learn and your best learning style -- for example, you may find that you are better off with courses that emphasize work on individual projects or research over lecture-based courses, if it is often difficult for you to focus on lectures. (I have migraines that are not debilitating, but I am glad that my job allows me to work from home and set my own hours -- I know when I have a headache in the morning that the best thing for me to do is to try to sleep it off and catch up on work that night or the next day when I am feeling better -- so at least for me). </p>

<p>I mean -- you can go off to a college where you will only have to seek accommodations from a few teachers, because others will have lax attendance policies and grade mostly based on essays or papers you prepare on your own time -- or you can find yourself at a college where you will have to constantly ask for allowances from every teacher in every class. You might find that at some colleges it is easy to make up a lab or class by attending a different section than the one that is regularly assigned -- and at other colleges that may be impossible. </p>

<p>I think that Reed is an excellent college but it has a reputation of being a pressure-cooker environment with intense reading requirements -- and (at least for me), it's hard to read with a headache. </p>

<p>If you read the book "Colleges that Change Lives" you will get some ideas of different educational models, that may give you some ideas as to environments that will be the most friendly to your needs.</p>

<p>The problem is that in college, the task of working with profs is even more difficult than in high school, because profs tend to function far more independently of one another than in high school. They aren't at all used to having outsiders tell them how and what to teach; you can't get an IEP; and the determinations of what ADA accommodations are "reasonable" can be very nebulous. Plus, college students are always giving their teachers b.s. excuses, which makes some profs very skeptical when presented with a legitimate issue. If you go to a college with an open curriculum -- that is, one without strict core or general ed requirements --you will at least be able to choose to avoid certain courses or profs and opt to take classes from the ones who are more sympathetic to your needs.</p>

<p>(I don't have a clue about Oberlin or the other colleges on your list - so my comments are directed toward them.)</p>

6

<p>just a thought -- If I were an adcom reading your list of ECs, test scores and grades my first question would be -- How were you able to participate in such great ECs and yet you couldn't pass all your classes?</p>

<p>I am not questioning your dedication, you medical condition, or anything else -- just that that is the first thing that came to mind.</p>

7

<p>i had the same question as hsmomstef.....it can come across as you can do somethngs just fine, while other things, </p>

<p>Sorry but being able to play varisty tennis, organzing all kinds of great events, and then somehow not able to pull it together to do school work? If I was an admin person and saw the reasons stated for the average grades, and then saw an EC claiming to be the organizer for major fundraisers, no easy task, I would wonder about some stuff, and that is human nature</p>

<p>it may be totally legitimate, but as an outsider, it would raise some flags to me- how do you do sports and all the other stuff, but miss school because you are ill></p>

<p>I think it is a valid question to ask, and as noted, we ourselves our questioning it, but it may very well be questioned</p>

8

<p>My first thought reading your ECs was "I know why you have narcolepsy." Just reading your list makes me tired. The above posters have a good point that you will need to justify spending so much of your apparently limited energy on ECs. Colleges care not only that you are smart enough, but they also want to see that you have what it takes to make it through 4 years (or 5 or 6) and actually graduate.</p>

<p>When you do your college visits, you might want to ask what the class absenteeism policy is. Some schools leave it to the individual teacher, others might have an automatic withdrawal or failure if you miss a certain number. I suppose there may be some who are willing to work with you. I think Himom did some research in this area - you may want to PM her.</p>

9

<p>I should have specified that both sports were only through sophomore year, and I didn't start suffering from migraines until the summer between sophomore and junior. As for the other work, things like those I can do on my on time, whereas class is going to be from 7am-2pm regardless of if I'm able to attend. Doing the work isn't a problem for me, my currents problem is teachers have decided if I'm not going to be in class, I'm not going to get a passing grade, even if I can complete all of the work and pass the tests.</p>

10

<p>shamus - I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I think you're a special person in a special situation. The former is very good (potentially) and the latter is very bad. As other posters have pointed out, and you have mentioned also, life makes few accomodations. Take the outstanding PSAT scores out of the equation and statistically you appear, well ordinary. So your job is to convince colleges that you are indeed extraordinary. Your school records are a problem. You need excellent letters from teachers, GC, principal, etc. explaining why your grades don't match your potential. You need a letter from your physician explaining that your condition has been sufficiently brought under control that it won't affect your college work. (And yes it would help if that letter explained why you do wonderfully well in some activities and not others, because the disparity between academic and EC performance is unsettling to the adult eye.) You will need an outstanding essay. And you will need to spend a lot of time working with colleges to help them see you as an appealing applicant and dedicated student.</p>

<p>That said, your life is in front of you and it can be a fabulous life. But in your situation there is no silver bullet to make it happen, just old fashioned hard work. Godspeed.</p>

11

<p>If you are "disabled" then the school is breaking the law by not accomidating you and you and your parents need to fight that...why have the teachers been allowed to slide like that and ignore a federal law?</p>

<p>I would go WAY OVER their heads, to the school board, etc., if some teachers are make accomodations, the rest should</p>

<p>your GC is not doing her/his job in standing up for you with those teachers, who should be taken to task for their lack of following the ADA....</p>

<p>Right now, make appointments with the school staff, and your parents should come prepared to go beyond the school staff to get your needs met, a little threat sounds like it is needed</p>

12

<p>I agree with CGM- a 504 will protect your civil rights and go with you to college/workplace</p>

<p>But re migraines
I don't know what your triggers are- my D- although she has very little sense of smell, was having migraines triggered by chemicals or other strong smells, like in photography.
I also have migraines at times( cyclical) and the only thing that works is niacin ( migraines are vascular)although I have improved my nutrition, so what used to be a monthly thing, is now rare.</p>

<p>My suggestion would be- take some of that energy that you put into your ECs, and put it toward management of your health.
<a href="http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?d=dmtHealthAZ&c=210168&p=%7Ebr,IHW%7C%7Est,8513%7C%7Er,WSIHW000%7C%7Eb,*%7C"&gt;http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?d=dmtHealthAZ&c=210168&p=~br,IHW|~st,8513|~r,WSIHW000|~b,*|&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

13

<p>When posters asked about your EC's vis-a-vis your disabilities, you said that you developed the illnes only the last year. So what were your grades like prior to developing the illness? It would seem to me that if your grades were good up until the illness, it would present a more consistent picture.</p>

14

<p>Also, you may end up being admitted to a safety school and then being a star there; this might be better than being admitted to a school that is somewhat of a reach and puts you into a pressure cooker.</p>

<p>I would recommend applying to SMALL safety schools. Don't use big state U's as your safeties. There are many small colleges that are not too hard to get into where you'd get extra support when you need it.</p>

15

<p>I'm just getting around to giving Oberlin and Reed a call. My sophomore/freshman grades are relatively mediocre, probably a B+ average. I'm assuming this is really going to hurt me. </p>

<p>Would Northeastern be a school possibly within my reach? It's close to me and from what I hear it's a solid school. Worst case is I still want to go to Reed/Oberlin/Middlebury and transfer, best case would be I really like the school and stay there until grad school. Thoughts on Northeastern? If I had my choice of any school, at the moment it's Reed or Oberlin.</p>

16

<p>OK....this thread is starting NOT to make sense. You are saying that your illness has affected your school performance BUT you say that it was not there for grades 9 and 10....just this year. Still, your GPA for grades 9 and 10 doesn't exactly match those stellar PSAT scores. To be honest (this is not going to be a popular comment), I think you need to look at the list of colleges you have and try to be very realistic about your likelihood of acceptance. Reed, Middlebury, and Oberlin are quite competitive academically. I'm not saying you shouldn't apply to SOME of these as some students certainly apply to reach schools. But at this point in time, ALL of these would (in my opinion) be reaches for you. Northeastern might be a possibility assuming you can do what the above poster suggested...great essays, great senior grades, great recommendations, great Counselor letter etc. Surely there are other schools which are similar, have similar programs, etc. You need a balanced list of schools to which to apply. Right now, your list is very top heavy, in my opinion. And to say it is because of a medical issue that was this year only is only part of the story. I applaud your drive and desire to really improve upon this year's less than stellar performance, and that will help. But I personally think you need to really read the Common Data Sets on all of those college websites...see the %age of students they admit, look at all the info, and stats. And...LOVE thy safety.</p>

17

<p>I'm purposely listing 3 or so colleges that are reaches. I know what schools I'm already going to be able to get into them, why would I discuss safeties in a thread geared towards getting me in to my reach schools?</p>

18

<p>Not sure how much of a difference this makes, got my SAT scores back today. 700 math, 700 reading, 600 writing. Lower than I was hoping for, but only my first time taking it. Not sure what happened on the writing.</p>

19

<p>Your 504 plan will probably not not serve as the basis for the provision of accommodations at the post-secondary level. It will be reviewed but you will need fairly current documentation of your disabilities from an appropriate professional, a discussion of how the disabilities effect a major life function(s), and recommendations for accommodations. Remember colleges have substantially less responsibility to disabled students than do school districts. See the following pamphlets:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transitionguide.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transitionguide.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If you are going to need accommodations in college start the process early, right after you determine where you want to go to school. That will give you time to obtain any additional information requested by the college's disability office. Be sure to factor in any particular college's responsiveness to your needs when making your decision as to where you will attend. It may be a critical factor in determining your success.</p>

<p>As to your current situation: if your school district considers you as a student with a disability, they MUST follow your 504 plan. It is not optional. Consider filing a complaint with the Federal government.</p>

<p>See:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ed.gov/policy/rights/guid/ocr/disability.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ed.gov/policy/rights/guid/ocr/disability.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

20

<p>It is too bad that you and your parents didn't jump on the self-advocacy thing at the first sign of even one teacher not honoring your disability accomodations. I also hope you had all the proper paperwork in advance for your protection (it can give you leverage now). </p>

<p>You story is not at all unique in terms of teacher reaction. Most people I speak to with 504's or IEP's have a big challenge getting them followed consistently. In any case, the past is the past and you are clearly extremely bright. You may need to wait for grad school for one of your top choices. I am not saying give up hope, but I do agree with other posters that your aims are high for someone with your record. I wish you the best of luck, and hope you can play sleuth and discover what your migraine triggers are. I wouldn't wish migraines on anyone!</p>