As an ADHD coach, I often get calls from parents of high school juniors. These parents are extremely concerned about their children’s academic performance and their ability to get into college.
Junior year is difficult for any high school student. This year is no doubt a marathon of endurance. College is suddenly a reality. Extra time must be devoted to studying for the myriad of standardized tests. Grades really matter. College visits begin. As a parent of a junior myself, I find it all overwhelming. Imagine what it must be like for the student!
For the ADHD student who struggles with organization skills, time management, procrastination, and focus, junior year can be the perfect storm. When I get that call from a parent, it is often because their child has shut down. The work gets to be overwhelming, and the student just can’t manage it all. For some, depression and anxiety set in. For others, they just stop working. I have seen ADHD students with solid A or B average suddenly looking at Ds and Fs in their junior year.
Is all of this pressure necessary? It is no secret that the college admissions process has become extremely competitive. For many students, there is no longer such a thing as a safety school. I attended an information session at a college this week. The admissions officer told us that this year they received 38,000 applications for 2,000 spots. I hear these kinds of numbers over and over again. It is no wonder that a student feels enormous pressure in junior and senior years of high school.
A number of the most prestigious universities in the country agree that the college admission process has to change. On Wednesday, January 20, 2016 a coalition of colleges and universities published a report entitled Turning the Tide: Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good through College Admissions. The report calls for widespread change in the college admissions process. It focuses on three tenets of change:
- More meaningful contributions to others, community service and engagement with the public good.
- Assessing students’ ethical engagement and contributions to others in ways that reflect varying types of family and community contributions across race, culture and class.
- Redefining achievement in ways that both level the playing field for economically diverse students and reduce excessive achievement pressure.
What do these recommended changes mean for an ADHD student who wants to attend college? There are definitely positive aspects to the recommendations. For example, ADHD students are often creative and driven – look at Damon John (Shark Tank), Adam Levine, Terry Bradshaw, Albert Einstein (well, it is believed that he had ADHD). They are also able to hyper focus on something that truly interests them. For many, that interest lies in community service, or in a sport. If the admissions process changes, ADHD students will have more of an opportunity to highlight that interest and dedication.
Unfortunately, this is where the positive aspects of the recommendations end. The competitive college admission process is so endemic in this country. It is hard to imagine a scenario where the competitiveness of college admissions will disappear. Will standardized tests go away completely? Will the drive to meet meaningful community service project just replace one stressor with the other?
What if things do change? What happens next? Let’s not forget that once the application process and the admission process is over, the student actually has to attend college. Because of the challenges that a student with ADHD might face in college, it is extremely important for a student with ADHD to pick the right college, and to spend the remainder of their high school years preparing for college. The right fit is very rarely the reach school that may now be accessible because of a different kind of admission process.
If your high school child is ending their junior year, or getting ready to begin it next year, they may want to consider the idea of working with an ADHD coach. Coaching can help them prepare for college, and manage the many tasks that they face in the college admissions process. If you would like to hear more about coaching, please contact me.
Meet Coach Diane
I have been an ADHD and executive function coach since 2009. In addition to having my PhD in Human Services: Child Development and Family Studies, I hold a Professional Coach Certification (PCC) with the International Coach Federation. I have been a certified teacher for CHADD’s (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) Parent to Parent program, Impact ADHD’s Sanity School for Parents, and The Nurtured Heart Approach.