<p>I didn't mention it in the essay, but would mention it in Additional Info and spin it as a positive and obstacle overcome. I've never had any accommodations whatsoever in HS, high grades, GPA, etc., but have a below avg (490) math score and 670 reading score. It's affected me more socially than anything. So far I'm lukewarm about mentioning, but parents think it would be a plus on the application. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I am a proponent of meeting life where you find it. Disclosing any non-typical aspect of your history paints a more full picture of who you are. People feel more comfortable dealing with people they understand. It also can explain performance which is otherwise unexplainable.</p>
<p>The issue around disclosure is emotionally charged. I would most certainly disclose, especially on a confidential document which is disconnected from anyone I would actually meet in college. I actually would disclose to everyone, so that there is no mystery and they can choose to become closer to me, or not to deal with it. But that is me. You need to (and I see that you are) decide for yourself.</p>
<p>I highly recommend a book I have dog-eared and underlined pretty thoroughly:</p>
<p>Realizing the College Dream with Autism or Asperger Syndrome, by Ann Palmer.</p>
<p>If you want to work on the social aspects, that is, <em>if</em> you want to work on them, I would purchase:</p>
<p>The Science Of Making Friends, by Elizabeth Laugeson</p>
<p>When I applied last year, I disclosed having ADHD, which I never had accommodations for and negatively affected my grades and test scores. This was an important part of the picture. However, I did not disclose my Asperger’s until after I was admitted, at the advisement of my guidance counselor. My family didn’t feel it would add anything more to my application and would possibly take away from the hard work I had done, especially in the beginning of senior year (I was diagnosed senior year).</p>
<p>I’ll cast a vote to not disclose it. You have not needed accommodations and I don’t see where it is necessary for the college to know this when assessing you academically.
However I think it is a good idea for you and your family to consider this diagnosis when selecting a college. College requires you to not only function academically but also socially and independently. Does your college have good support for students with learning differences. How far from home will you be? What kinds of support is there for you socially and emotionally ?
College might go just fine for you but it is good to know what help is there.
I don’t think having Aspergers is something you should feel you need to hide but you can choose who to disclose it to. I think it can help to disclose it to people who can help you or to people who care about you but I am not sure of the value of disclosing it in an application. </p>
<p>A wide variance between achievement and ability (GPA vs. Standardized test scores) could leave an AdCom mystified, especially if the high school is well known to them (i.e. already benchmarked GPA:SAT). If they are left scratching their heads, they will have to project why this is the case. Who knows where their imagination may lead them? Occum’s Razor may lead them to a dark place, like illegal drug use impairing function on testing, but momentum maintaining GPA (I am being intentionally over-dramatic, I don’t know where it would lead them). I say consider very carefully, and balance privacy with disclosure. Perhaps partial disclosure, as @guineagirl96 did, would be one way to go.</p>
<p>I see AdCom as people who can help if properly informed of the full picture and <em>personally</em>, I would disclose. I see no downside, and potential upside.</p>
<p>Again, this can be very emotionally charged and very personal. Talk it through and listen to perspectives, but ultimately, listen to and respect your inner voice on this.</p>
<p>There are also test optional colleges. A partial disclosure is an idea if that aspect has effected learning, such as attention. How much to disclose is a personal choice, but I hope that before applying, a family and student have already looked at how a student with AS would do at that college. </p>
<p>Scores are still one aspect of academic functioning, certainly not the only one. Lower scores could be due to a number of things- not enough time, test anxiety, slow processing.</p>
<p>Asperger Syndrome can affect students in different ways, and it can be variable- from very little, to attention, social shyness, feeling anxious. More than the ad com knowing, the student and family needs to be aware of how the student learns and what supports if any are needed in college. I’ve known of students who have done just fine, and some who needed to be near home. Some families check out a college first to see what kind of supports are available, and other factors such as size, location, housing. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your replies. After some thought I have decided to reveal it on the basis of hoping it could help provide an explanation (depending on how adcom views it of course) for that 490 math score. I retook the SAT last month and got a 470 this time, so I have to live with it as is. My top choice has an excellent disability services office so that factored in as well. Unfortunately top choice is also lifelong dream school so I am sweating a bit with that low of a score.</p>
<p>I’d proceed with caution</p>
<p>We did not disclose other than requesting the GC mention it. My son’s problem is grades, tests he does well on but he has issues with following verbal instructions and figuring out what teachers weight more in grading.
Now we are paranoid as he has a C and a C+ in two APs related to his major, so may send in a CA update to mention his 504 plan.</p>
<p>Adcoms want to select kids they feel have a reasonable chance of succeeding. That’s where it gets tricky for the applicant to try to spin it. </p>
<p>The real person to disclose is the GC who can praise the strengths and accomplishments, despite the challenges. Remember, that’s one adult educator speaking to the schools. And yes, it’s important to look for colleges that offer the support you might need, as you go through- whether or not you needed that, so far.</p>
<p>I don’t think we know OP’s possible major, so how bad that 490 is, in context. Nor what colleges are in mind, what their usual expectations are, for the holistic aspects. My kids both had lousy math scores. </p>
<p>@lookingforward, I would like to major in Sports Management. My top choice is UConn, and combined reading/math is 1160 (minus writing because UConn doesn’t weight it). GC doesn’t know about it because it was never disclosed to the school for accommodations, etc.</p>
<p>I am spinning it positively as something that has helped me grow personally and academically, but truthfully the only reason I am disclosing right now is to hopefully soften the blow of a 490 in math. Whether that puts me in the automatic reject pile, I don’t know. The adcom may feel that it doesn’t explain the score, but I do struggle a bit with text anxiety and have had to work very hard in HS to maintain A’s in my math classes.</p>
<p>Math has never been easy for me, and I think I can honestly say without the usual excuses that I have had a poor teacher the last two years. Someone said above that the gap between test score and GPA/grades would be baffling to an adcom, which I agree with. I’m also submitting a great rec from my college physics teacher that I hope can offset that number.</p>
<p>Adding this for others in the future with similar questions/concerns but it’s probably too late for this op. I am assuming that you took the SATs more than once but this was the highest math score you obtained. Sounds like you are not good at math. That is probably what adcon would assume. Difficulty with math is not a symptom of Aspergers so Aspergers can not explain the low math score. In fact, math is often a strength. So disclosing Aspergers does not explain the verbal math discrepancy. As at least one other poster suggested, information about Aspergers is most important for you and your family to consider. Because the symptoms are primarily social and deal with problems with understanding the reciprocal nature of interactions and perspective taking and some issues with emotion regulation, it makes sense to consider how that might impact on others around you as well as on how it could impact on you. Selecting schools with support is probably crucial. But that is something that you need to scope out. Similarly, you probably would do better in dorms with singles so that you have your own space and don’t need to deal with roommate issues. I can’t think of any aspects of admissions that would favor telling a college about Aspergers before a student is admitted. After all, most colleges are selecting students with the hope that they are socially adept-something that diagnosis does not suggest. It sounds l like you are aware of the issues and have worked hard to overcome the disability. But, I can’t see any advantage of mentioning it while I can think of many reasons not to. </p>
I have similar issues and I would proceed with caution about disclosing this. As much as we like to think the people reading your application are fair and impartial, the fact is that they may be biased (consciously or unconsciously) for or against you by your disability. Your parents may see it as a plus, but the people reviewing your application may not. There is a time to disclose your disability to the college administrators, which is AFTER you have been admitted and are in the process of setting up a support system with your institution’s disability office. I used the “additional information” section to explain why I switched schools. It isn’t really about writing another essay.
I have to agree with @deepseafish and proceed with caution. My son has Asperger’s along with a learning disability. His GC disclosed his learning disability in his letter to explain the lack of a foreign language in my son’s hs transcript. Asperger’s was not disclosed until after DS had been accepted to his college of choice. You don’t know how an Asperger’s diagnosis will be perceived by those reading your application.
Just an FYI. My S is on the autism spectrum and wrote his common application essay detailing his journey as a person with ASD. He was ultimately accepted to schools like U of Portland, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, Rose Hulman, and a couple of other small schools. He was not accepted at Harvey Mudd (I know that was because of his statistics and not ASD :)). Anyway, currently he is OOS and doing well academically with accommodations at school. I am not sure about his social life (always an issue)…but he seems to be enjoying it there. So, IMHO, I really don’t think that disclosing an LD will count against you. Perhaps, the schools that my S applied to were more progressive… Good luck!
For a CTCL school, LD disclosure coupled w/demonstrated academic success will be considered a positive attribute for applicants. But be sure to visit campus and meet Student Academic Services (LD) folks and discuss anticipated accommodations and process for obtaining same. Don’t wait until you arrive on campus in Fall and discover a “bad fit”. If you’re afraid to disclose, then it’s not the right college for you.