by William Schroeder & Scott Allen
ADHD in college students is far more common than most families expect. A large international study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders found that roughly 16% of first-year college students surveyed across nine countries screened positive for ADHD. And college raises the degree of difficulty for all of them.
Course work gets more dense, hours invested in studying dramatically increase, and tests and homework become more challenging. Along with this, many young adults are now on their own, so they have to manage work, school, and personal affairs simultaneously. All of this can seem like attempting to organize chaos, which can lead to stress, depression, and anxiety, especially for students with ADHD.
If you are, or know, a recent high school graduate who has ADHD, you may be wondering how to approach the college admissions process and how to select a university that will be comfortable and have an adequate amount of resources and support. In this post, Just Mind therapists William Schroeder, LPC and Scott Allen, PsyD answer the questions we hear most often about applying to college with ADHD, disclosing a diagnosis, and finding real support once classes start.
What advice do you have for students with ADHD beginning the college application process?
William Schroeder and Scott Allen: Start with the student, not the school. Take a broad look at the needs and desires of the individual. Finding an environment that will support their growth and inspire them matters more than any ranking. If they needed a lot of structure in high school, then it makes sense they might also need that in college.
Look for schools with real support programs
William Schroeder: Identifying schools with good support programs can make a real difference. Loyola University in New Orleans has a program called the Student Success Center, which is an excellent example of this. They provide various levels of coaching, tutoring, and career support. Other schools have programs that are more focused on disability services, like the SALT Center (Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques) at the University of Arizona. That program is even more intensive for those who need it.
Each of these programs offers varying levels of support: executive function coaching, peer support, self-advocacy training, and so on. Working out which of them your child would actually use is the part worth some homework.
Questions worth asking about every school on the list
What is the size and layout of the campus?
Scott Allen: Taking “the leap” from high school to college is a big step for any student. First-year classes at larger universities tend to be massive and can be overwhelming for students with ADHD, as it is harder to reach the layers of support they had in high school. Is the campus easy to get around? Are support staff easy to find and reach? Would they benefit from a smaller classroom size and more direct teacher time?
Would a gap year help?
Scott Allen: A year to work, mature, and take community college classes can improve both readiness and, often, acceptance rates and scholarship opportunities. A gap year should not mean doing nothing, though. Fill it with work experience, an internship, or volunteering at the least. Doing nothing can turn into avoidance.
How is the academic calendar set up?
William Schroeder: Some students like a quarter system with short but intense classes. Others may prefer a semester, as it’s longer and slower. We have even had students opt for programs like Colorado College’s Block Plan, which allows them to take one class at a time.
Is the overall culture a fit?
Scott Allen: Look at the learning environment, support services, academic departments, and general campus culture to see whether they support students with ADHD in practice.
How will they balance work and play?
William Schroeder: If you’re worried about dividing work and social time, be wary of party schools, and work to find ways to balance competing priorities. A personal disclosure here: I went to Millsaps College, and it was just the small school environment my parents thought would help me. Having grown up in New Orleans, I was bored out of my mind, as most students went home on the weekends, and the school had minimal support services. I transferred to Loyola in New Orleans and found the exact balance I needed between fun and a supportive environment.
How far from home is it?
Scott Allen: Is your young adult ready for dorm or apartment life? Have they had prior experience separating from family for trips or sleepovers? If not, it might be worthwhile to consider a college close to home and work up to moving away in gradual steps, especially if the student has their heart set on a particular program later on.
What gets easier in college, and what gets harder
Scott Allen: Adjusting to college can be both positive and challenging for students with ADHD.
On the positive side: there is greater access to peers with similar interests, coursework and majors can be high-interest subjects, there is more flexibility in scheduling (which is great for people who are “owls” rather than “larks”), and there is far more freedom.
On the challenging side: there is a ton more unstructured time, which can be difficult for students with ADHD, as time management is a typical struggle in this population. Students may need to add layers of structure with jobs or scheduled study times in order to “stay in the game.” Out-of-class course demands are also much higher in college than in high school, with more long-term projects and papers that require students to work on their own. Research papers and projects tend to be executive functioning challenges, because they require so many skills (planning, organization, time management) to get from start to finish.
Students with ADHD who soared through high school may struggle for the first time in college. When a student starts to hit these executive functioning walls, we can’t emphasize enough the importance of getting outside help early, whether that means tutors, coaches, or therapists.
Should students disclose ADHD on a college application?
William Schroeder: There’s no single right answer, and we’ve seen it done both ways. Personally, our vote is for disclosing any disability and making it an open part of the criteria for evaluation. This helps you see the full spectrum of services a school may have to offer. That said, as long as you have your evaluations and documentation ready for the university, you can also disclose after being accepted.
Scott Allen: We’ve had a parent describe disability disclosure as an “insurance policy.” In many ways it’s preventative, and it opens the discussion about the types of accommodations and supports the school can offer.
Keep in mind that it is unlawful for a school or program to reject a prospective student on the basis of a disability. Where we most often see resistance is from students who fear the stigma or label. Much of that fear can be eased by knowing two things: disability status cannot be made public to other students, and even if accommodations are approved, the student is never required to use them.
What campus resources should students with ADHD look for when choosing a university?
Scott Allen: Look past whether the disability office exists and ask what it provides. Nearly every school has one. The differences that matter are in the types of support offered and how easy they are to reach.
Specifically, find out:
- Does the school have disability advisors who will help get accommodations in place with professors, and can your student schedule with them early?
- Does that advisor understand time management, organization, and scheduling difficulties, not just testing logistics?
- Are there additional fees for tutoring and coaching?
- Which ADHD accommodations are available? Extended time, testing in a distraction-reduced room, assistive technology that reads text aloud, note-taking support, is coaching included?
It is important to ask specific questions relevant to your young adult on the front end. For example, if you know that your student struggles with taking notes, and you have an assessment report to support that, ask what the school can do to help them fully access the curriculum: audio recording lectures, note sharing, instructors providing slides in advance, and so on. No question is a bad question.
How important is a university’s community and resource center for students with ADHD?
Scott Allen: It depends on the individual. Some students need a full spectrum of support, while others benefit from just one or two things, such as smaller class sizes and an accessible professor.
That said, we do think it helps to have a coach who can check in on identified areas of need, see how things are progressing, and re-evaluate support as the semester goes on.
William Schroeder: Let me give an example. When I went to Loyola, they had a class on how to organize and structure yourself for learning. That class was incredibly helpful to me. It covered a lot of areas of structure and organization I would never have thought of on my own. I met once a week with a coach to check in and see how things were going. She was a bit of a blind spot detector for me, and it helped me see what worked, what was a challenge, and what I could do differently. She was instrumental in my success.
It reminds me how much it matters to find a program that reaches students who have difficulty planning ahead. They often only walk in once they are already in crisis. Look for centers staffed with trained professionals, tutors and otherwise, who understand learning disorders.
How can a university support students with ADHD through graduation?
Scott Allen: Most of what we’ve said above holds true here as well. As therapists who specialize in ADHD, we’d add that good support means understanding what motivates a student with ADHD and where their pain and shame centers are. The more you know that, the better you’ll understand what gets them stuck and how to get them unstuck.
Well-connected support between coaching, advising, and mentorship can help identify those areas and keep a student on track. For each person, we like to believe there’s a recipe for success. Sometimes it takes time to identify all the right ingredients, and even recognizing the wrong ones is progress.
The most important thing to remember is that every individual with ADHD is different. One profile or list of supports does not fit every student. It’s ideal for a student to have a “point person” who can help with not just academic demands, but also socialization and executive functioning. If that person doesn’t exist on campus, it’s often still possible to build that support in the surrounding community.
Looking for more ADHD support?
William Schroeder and Scott Allen: We hope this post makes the process of applying to college and choosing a school easier, whether you’re a student with ADHD heading to college or a parent helping one get there.
If you’d like more ADHD resources, you can read about our ADHD counseling and autism counseling services. If you’re seeking more help managing ADHD, you can make a counseling appointment. We have several therapists in Austin who specialize in treating ADHD.
More reading on ADHD:
You may also find CHADD’s guide to selecting and applying to colleges a useful companion to this post.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash.
