Admissions Blog

Undergraduate Admissions Uncensored

First Semester Reflection: College & Chronic Illness

Posted on by

A Note from the Publisher:

I’m honored to share the below powerful first semester reflection from a current college student who has generously allowed me to publish her words here. For privacy and anonymity reasons, this student has asked to be identified simply as KMR. KMR provides a candid and insightful look at navigating college with a chronic illness, which is an experience far more common among students than many realize; yet, it’s one that often remains unspoken.

What strikes me most is her generosity in putting this together: her hard-won lessons could ease the path for other students facing similar realities. In her own voice, KMR offers practical advice drawn directly from her first semester, and her reflections remind us that college with a chronic condition is demanding, but it is also navigable with preparation, self-awareness, and support.

Whether you’re a high school senior planning ahead, a current student adjusting to new challenges, or someone supporting a loved one in this situation, KMR’s words provide valuable perspective and encouragement. Thank you, KMR; your kindness in sharing this openly will help others feel less alone as they navigate the challenges and opportunities of college. – Craig Meister

Navigating Chronic Illness in College by KMR

Living with a chronic illness in any situation is stressful. In the context of college, the best analogy an upperclassman with chronic health issues gave me was the following: “a disability is like an extra class or part-time job.” The amount of time allocated towards battling symptoms, handling medical care, balancing medication side effects, and coordinating accommodations takes a great deal of physical and mental energy. This time equates to taking an extra course, or having a part-time job. With a chronic health condition, the college experience is intertwined with managing health. Here are some tips:

General:

  • Establish Healthcare Before Arriving (if applicable): Transferring healthcare can be a long, logistical process to deal with. If you need to transfer healthcare to a new location, starting as early as January can be useful, especially if there are long waitlists. In addition, if you are away from home for college, make sure you have your medications transferred to a local pharmacy; sometimes it can also be helpful to arrange delivery. If you use big chain pharmacies like CVS, there is often an option to easily change your medications to any CVS around the country. 
  • Pack Cold/Flu/General Meds: Germs are rampant at college, and every first year student gets sick (the infamous “Freshman Flu”). This is hard for every Freshman, and even more so for students already dealing with chronic health issues. To help this, be as prepared as possible: pack Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Decongestant, Mucinex, Benadryl, vitamins, cough drops, etc or whatever common meds you take when you are sick. Additionally, pack anything else you anticipate you will need, so you don’t have to worry about it during the semester. 

Academic:

  • Choose a Manageable Courseload: Chronic illness affects your ability to work in various ways. It’s important to understand your personal workflow when choosing courses, so that you make smart decisions that allow you to succeed academically and not burn yourself out. This does not mean you should not pick challenging classes, or a rigorous major. It just means you need to understand your strengths and limits, and plan accordingly. 
  • Work Ahead on Assignments (Within Reason): With everything that comes with managing a health condition (eg, spontaneous flare ups, medication struggles, etc) making an active effort to be ahead on coursework can alleviate stress on harder days. Further, being organized is helpful when coordinating new deadlines and make-ups with instructors, in case you need to reschedule assignments/exams due to illness. However, make sure not to work so hard at being ahead that you burn yourself out. 
  • Find Your Allies: Every college in the United States should have some type of Student Disability Services department (SDS) which is required by federal law, to facilitate accommodations. Often, students find SDS advisors to be their best allies to help talk with instructors who are not giving students their accommodations, and provide general advice/support. However, outside of SDS you can find many support systems: certain professors, upperclassmen, friends, etc. Finding your allies is essential to making sure you get the help you need—do not ever be afraid to ask for help. Even if someone says no, you have to (appropriately) try. In most cases, something can be done to partially help. And, if not, at least you have made someone aware of an issue, which may benefit future students. 
  • Take Advantage of Office Hours/Help Sessions: All students struggle with class content; Office Hours, TA Sessions, and tutoring are an excellent way to get help and keep up with course content. From a chronic health standpoint, connecting with help sessions at the start of the year is extremely helpful, in case you ever get behind due to being sick and need help catching up. Generally, it’s also a great way to keep yourself on track.
  • Communicate/Connect with Professors: The amount of direct interaction with professors will likely depend on the type of school you attend and course structure. If you have the opportunity, building a relationship with your professor will help when communicating accommodations information. If you are concerned about a person believing you have a chronic health condition and implementing your accommodations, the more a professor sees your face, sees your work ethic, etc, the better. Building a relationship with your instructor can be key. 

Chronic Illness and College Life: 

With all the extra time put towards managing a chronic health condition, your college social life is almost guaranteed to be different. Having a chronic health condition, or any other disability, does not mean you cannot have an enjoyable college experience socially and academically. But, for most people, it will involve prioritizing what is most important, and knowing what you want to get out of college. 

In college life, there are three general things: academics, social life, and sleep. Every person’s experience is different, but I have found, generally, that a person will get two out of three of these. 

However you choose to prioritize, you should never be completely in the absence of any of these three. If you are very busy academically and need to prioritize sleep for health reasons, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything social. Maybe once a week you take time for yourself: have a meal with a friend, watch a short show, etc. Similarly, you should never cut out sleep from your schedule. Even in the busiest times, having a routine of balance—where your mental and physical health is maintained—is key. 

Obtaining College Accommodations: 

When it comes to getting accommodations in college, academic or housing, it’s a good idea to start early. If you know where you are going to college in January, look up the medical documentation your school requires for disability accommodations. This information is usually listed under the Student Disability Services website, and if you have questions, contact them. Medical professionals can be slow with signing forms, so the earlier you start, the better. If you won’t know where you will attend school until April, research the accommodation process for every school you applied to—chances are you can still start obtaining documentation. 

The type of academic and housing accommodations available depends on the institution. If you anticipate needing more complex accommodations, submit as much documentation as you can. Additionally, start the accommodation process as early as possible with your school, as soon as the information is available jump (usually May) on the process. 

Navigating The Accommodation System:

Once you obtain accommodations, implementing them is the next step. This is most relevant for academic accommodations, where you choose what accommodations you want to use for a certain class. Sometimes, implementing academic accommodations can be a smooth process. Other times, professors and departments can be very difficult and give you a hard time. Legally, a department cannot deny your accommodations, based on Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). However, a college can still make this process extremely difficult to apply for accommodations, and implement them. Here are some tips: 

  • Accommodations Are A Game, Learn to Play It: While this statement may seem very off, it can be a sad reality. For example, instructors are supposed to provide accommodations to students that have formal accommodation letters; but sometimes they aren’t as likely to do this unless they physically see you engaging in the course. That might be coming to class regularly and being an active participant, or consistently attending office hours and TA sessions with questions. At small colleges and programs, this can especially be the case. In addition, make an active effort to always communicate with your SDS advisor (if applicable), and engage with departmental resources—sometimes departments will have academic support coordinators, etc. Even if you feel like you do not need the help, keeping a relationship is key for when an emergency happens and you need extra support, or helping you advocate with instructors. 
  • Pick Your Battles, Fight Strategically: The unfortunate reality of fighting for accommodations is that you may have to balance your relationships with professors and departments; at small colleges and smaller programs, this can be especially relevant. If you find yourself in this situation, it can be helpful to focus on accommodations you find most necessary, and less on accommodations that aren’t as critical. Use the resources around you to develop a strategy to complete the course under the circumstances you have. 
  • Never Shy Away From Bringing Up Issues With Trusted Individuals; If You Don’t Help Yourself, You May Help a Future Student: That being said, you should not take the previous comment as a reason not to do anything. For example, writing feedback/suggestions for improvement on anonymous end-of-semester surveys is a great way to voice your experience. Or, maybe privately discuss your issues with your SDS advisor, and they can work to better the issue for future students. If you feel like you can speak to professors or department staff about accommodations improvements, by all means confidently talk to them; just make sure to be polite, and have concrete suggestions. 

Engage With Support Groups:

Many colleges will have an affinity group dedicated to students with chronic health conditions and disabilities. These groups are an excellent place to find support from other students, learn how upperclassmen with disabilities have navigated college life, and work to improve accessibility on campus. In addition, if you want to know about accommodations/accessibility of a school when applying, searching for a student disability group (eg, finding their Social Media) is a great place to start. 

Alongside student groups, there can be other faculty and students that can provide great support in a variety of ways. In addition, it can also be helpful to seek community in other groups related to a person’s identity, such as ethnic groups (eg, Black Student Associations, South Asian Student Unions, etc) or religious groups (eg, Muslim Students Association, Jewish Student Unions, Bible Study, etc).

Our Next Quarantine Lesson: We’re Blowing it for This Fall

Posted on by Leave a Comment

It isn’t just the seniors who missed this year’s scholastic rites of passage.  Students may be the stars of this show, but there’s something about weak lemonade, folding chairs, and speeches about pursuing your passion faculty and administrators find just as assuring as the honored students.  It’s the closest we get to winding down a year and taking a breath before taking up the task of deciding how the coming year could be smoother, better, or more effective. And if ever there was a year when that breath was needed, it was this year.

We didn’t get it.  Instead, pundits and parents, who had spent the spring seeing first-hand what educators really do, were banging on academia’s gates, asking about the resumption of “school as usual” in the fall with a keen level of expectation.  They may have been saying “Will schools reopen?”, but they meant “Schools had better reopen.” Unaccustomed to making such deep decisions on the fly—and, frankly, a little exhausted from having made two months’ of such decisions on the fly—K-12s and higher ed begged off.  Let’s see what the numbers look like, they said, and we’ll have an answer soon.

Wow, did we blow it. One of the best ways to convey confidence in leadership is for leaders to make decisions with some sense of anticipation and planning.  Given all the seemingly spontaneous decisions this spring required, how much better off would we be in the eyes of the public if we had used April and May to say what really needed to be said in three key areas:

“We’re going to review our entire application process.”  School counselors are exhausted by June, but word that hundreds—that’s right, hundreds—of colleges were not requiring SAT or ACT scores for this year’s juniors created a groundswell of euphoria unknown to the summer months.  The arguments for ridding college admissions of these tests are better articulated elsewhere (like here).  Now that quarantine had added one more point to the argument—that the students just can’t take them—colleges succumbed to the reality in hordes, leaving counselors hopeful that, as long as they were checking under the hood of their admissions policies, admissions folks would toss out some other policies that deny college access to many students who need it most.

That bigger review doesn’t seem to be appearing.  In his typical fashion, Lawrence U dean Ken Anselment was the first to suggest in a Tweet that colleges should use this opportunity to clean up the entire admissions process, instead of taking an approach centered on the question, “So, how do we make admissions decisions without test scores?” If anyone can make major revisions to their application in two months, it’s Ken and the Lawrence crew.  It would have been better if, as a profession, all colleges had committed to this in April, creating more time and space to ask the bigger, better questions.

“We’re going online, and it’s going to be great.”  Colleges also tried to buy some time this spring when they were asked how instruction was going to occur.  As a group, they intuitively demurred, sure that any answer involving pure online courses would turn off students looking for a “full college experience,” sending them into the arms of community colleges, and leading many small private liberal arts four-years with weak decades-long financial struggles to close.

These same considerations are evident in the early announcements some colleges have made about Fall classes.  Hoping that reduced sizes of in-person classes and cancelled Fall breaks will contain the health risks, these colleges are ignoring the realities of some of their own football teams, where summer scrimmages are leaving up to twenty-five percent of the team COVID active, and at least one re-opened bar in a college town, where a quarter of all patrons are now on self-quarantine (and this is before students show up). It’s clear the best health option for all is to stay completely online—but how do you sell that to a student who just had a slew of online classes at either college or high school that, by and large, were less than they could have been?

Enter the professors.  It’s easy to see how parents and students don’t want to pay for weak online learning.  On the other hand, professors and high school teachers had about a week this spring to turn their classes into an online version of its face-to-face self, a task most colleges give professors an entire semester (and time off) to do.  Now that the summer is here, college instructors can give their courses the firepower they need to be more vital, more individualized, and more like the face-to-face thing.

If colleges connected the professors to families who rightfully see online learning as dubious, the profs could bring their websites along and show how these courses are more robust than their springtime counterparts.  Smaller colleges have long tried to get faculty involved in discussions with students, because good profs create an excitement about learning that closes the enrollment deal.  The same could have applied to online learning, if we had started sooner.  Now, we’re forced to play catch up again.

“We want your kids to be healthy.” The teachers at a local kindergarten decided they wanted to run a quarantine version of kindergarten graduation.  They made a giant rainbow arch, a few lawn signs, and went from house to house of every one of their students.  They’d set up the display, have their student walk through the arch, and created a composite video of the whole event.

A success?  Not really.  The edited video didn’t show what really happened: that the excited students broke every safe-distancing rule in the book when their teacher showed up.  Kindergartners love their teachers (thank goodness), and two months apart led to a euphoria that was shown by hugging everything in sight, a scene that’s reassuring to everyone but the Health Department.

In a nutshell, that’s why reopening K-12 schools to any kind of face-to-face learning is a bad idea.  Wal Mart can’t even get “adult” customers to wear a mask; what chance does a teacher have making a dozen five year-olds practice safe distancing?

A joint effort by state and federal officials in April, devoting dollars and expertise to developing nationwide broadband access and best practices in K-12 online learning, was the best answer to teaching students.  It also would have given time for working parents to develop resources for child care.  Instead, K-12 is left with a continuation of the catch-as-catch-can policies that allowed them to limp to June in one piece, thinking that a couple of days in the classroom each week will placate parents.  It might, until school closes again for quarantine—and if you think of the last birthday party you attended for a seven-year old, you’ll understand why that’s a certainty.

Ready this LD/ADHD documentation to get best college support options

Posted on by Leave a Comment

Students with learning differences (LD) including Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and their parents, while taking into account grades, scores, goals, and preferences like other students and parents navigating the college admissions process, should also take time to investigate special college programs and to provide supplementary application materials to colleges if students are to have the most positive four year experience. To that end, and with the help of Peterson’s Colleges for Students With Learning Disabilities or AD/HD, let’s elucidate the research/application process for students and parents and answer two key questions:

What do you need to prepare and organize?

What should you be looking for when reviewing your college options?

The More Documentation The Better

Unlike when applying to or dealing with high schools, students with LD/ADD must provide more documentation than just an IEP (Individualized Education Program) or 504 Plan (a program of instructional services to assist students with special needs who are in a regular education setting) when applying for special support programs at colleges and universities. For the best chance at getting the resources you need for four years, get ready to provide most (if not all) of the following documentation (in addition to any college-specific requirements) in order to give yourself the best shot at receiving the most comprehensive accommodations available at colleges on your list:

  • A Diagnostic Statement Identifying Condition(s)

Classification codes should be from the most up to date editions of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) or the International Classifications of Disease (ICD). Original diagnosis dates along with most current evaluation dates should be included

  • Current Functional Impact of the Condition

Detailed results from formal and informal tests should be sent in the form of both raw results and narrative explanations

  • Treatments, Medications, and Assistive Devices/Services Currently Prescribed or In Use

In addition make sure to include detailed information on any side effects resulting from such methods

  • The Expected Progression or Stability of The Impacts Described Over Time
  • Recommended Accommodations And Services
  • Credentials of The Evaluator

A brief description of the evaluator’s experience is also helpful

The Best Psychoeducational Batteries Include 5 Key Components

  1. Adult Referenced Testing
  2. A Measure of Aptitude
  3. A Standardized Measure Of Academic Achievement
  4. Measures of Cognitive Processes Impacted
  5. Clinical Observations

What About Your Evaluation of Colleges?

Enough about you! How do you find the colleges that will be most receptive and accommodating to your needs? It’s up to you to figure out what types of support you are going to need for four years in college, but keep in mind you will be in a new environment, so you may want to err on the side of more support. Four-year colleges can be nicely broken down into two categories depending on how they deal with LD/ADD students.

The first type of college has what can be referred to as “Aggressive/Structured” Programs. These colleges go beyond what is mandated by law to support their LD or ADD population and as a result often include extra fees and separate admissions processes for students with LD/ADD. In some cases, these schools have an entire department or program devoted specifically for LD/ADD students. This translates into support at almost every stage of your undergraduate educational experience.

The second type of college has what can be referred to as “Passive/Self-Directed” Programs. These colleges will require LD/ADD students go through the same process for admissions as everybody else, rarely charge extra fees, but as a result also rarely monitor the student’s progress or performance. Depending on the college, different offices or multiple offices may be tasked with supporting the LD/ADD student, but the student will be responsible for acting as the conductor.

What does all this mean in practice? Well, different things at different colleges, even within colleges that advertise similar services. The best place to begin your search it to look at three very different size colleges (briefly described below) that provide top of the line “Aggressive/Structured” Programs. As you search, remember to compare and contrast services at the three colleges. Once you want to expand your search to more colleges, refer back to the pros and cons of these three colleges when formulating questions to ask of college officials.

The general idea is: Even if you can’t buy the Rolls Royce, you want to see how many of the add-ons of a Rolls Royce are available in other cars, so look at the Rolls Royce first so you will be comparing all future cars to it. You may find you don’t need or want “Aggressive/Structured” Programs, and will look at only at “Passive/Self-Directed” Programs. Or you may find you would be successful at either type of college, and therefore include both types on your list. Visit college websites, and as your search becomes more serious, visit the colleges.

**Note: Just because a college is not summarized below does not mean it is not a great destination for LD or ADD students. In fact, some of the smallest, most obscure colleges specialize in offering programs for LD or ADD students (Mount Ida, McDaniel, Mitchell, and Beacon), while some of the most well-known colleges also offer “Aggressive/Structured” Programs (George Mason University, American University, and Hofstra University). Good Luck with your search!

Large

University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
The Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques (SALT) Center
http://www.salt.arizona.edu/
520-621-8493 or 520-621-1427, ask for assistant director of admissions or head of LD program
University of Arizona in beautiful and hot Tucson, Arizona is the largest school on this list with around 34,000 students. The school has a generally numbers-based admissions process. Most importantly, Arizona’s fee-for-service Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques (SALT) Center provides students with Learning Differences a way to focus their course of study and not get lost amidst all the hustle and bustle of such an exciting and busy campus as Arizona’s. 500 undergrads are served by SALT, which has roughly 22 full-time staff members including tutors, graduate assistants, tutors, and specialists. A mandatory one-day orientation is required before classes start. Tutoring (one-on-one and group) is provided in most subjects. According to its Website, “SALT students receive individualized educational planning and monitoring, assistance from trained tutors with course work, and an array of workshops geared toward the individual academic needs of these students.” Students must apply directly to the program and fees range anywhere from $1,600 – $4,000.

Medium

University of Denver
Denver, Colorado
The Learning Effectiveness Program (LEP)
http://www.du.edu/disability/lep/index.htm
303-871-2372, ask for head of LD program or director of University disability services
Out west like University of Arizona, but further to the north, is the University of Denver. Why the University of Denver? Denver, with roughly 6,000 students offers one of the most comprehensive programs in the country for students with learning differences. The fee-for-service Learning Effectiveness Program (LEP) has roughly 11 full-time staff members and serves roughly 200 undergrads each year while also providing “a variety of services designed to support each student’s academic experience, including individual academic counselors, tutoring, and organizational and study strategies specialists.” The LEP philosophy emphasizes student responsibility, self-awareness, and self-advocacy. At its core LEP strives to empower students to develop the skills needed to attain academic and personal success while at DU and beyond. Tutoring is available in all subjects, either one-on-one or in groups. 

Small

Lynn University
Boca Raton, Florida
The Institute for Achievement and Learning
https://www.lynn.edu/academics/individualized-learning/institute-for-achievement-and-learning
561-237-7900 or 561-237-7881, ask for head of LD program or executive director of the IAL
Lynn University in sunny and warm Boca Raton, Florida offers arguably the best program for bright, sociably independent students with learning differences. Lynn’s Institute for Achievement and Learning comprehensive support program serves several hundred of the school’s 2,000 undergraduate students and has a staff of 11 full-time employees and 35 part-time employees. Staff includes tutors (tutoring is available in all subjects), LD specialists, and diagnostic/learning specialists. A two-day orientation is mandatory before freshman year. It provides tutoring by professional tutors in all subjects. The more support needed by a student, the greater the cost; however, this is one university where the higher price tag is worth it.

—

For more information, please contact the colleges directly.

For a full directory of special programs for LD/ADD students, a good first stop is Peterson’s Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities or AD/HD.