High school students’ inboxes are overflowing. The constant stream of college emails can be overwhelming, leaving students to sort through what matters and what can be ignored. Some messages create confusion. Students may wonder why a college they have never heard of, are not interested in, or would be easily admitted to keeps contacting them. Those emails often feel spammy, leading students to assume the college is simply marketing for more applications.

At the same time, students may receive emails from highly selective or well-known colleges and think, “They want me!” Students assume these institutions have reviewed their profile and reached out personally, when in reality those messages are often part of a mass marketing campaign as well.

Can’t decide on a college major? Maybe you just haven’t been exposed to all the interesting subjects colleges have to offer. In high school, most students choose from a fairly standard lineup of classes: math, English, history, science, foreign language and a handful of electives. College is completely different. Depending on the school, a course catalog can include hundreds of majors — many of which students have never even heard of before.

For many families, the college admissions process brings a predictable level of stress, given both the time it requires and the significance of the outcome. There is a shared understanding between students and parents that planning for college is an important transition, one that requires focused attention and effort. Parents often have expectations about how their teen will engage with college planning, including taking ownership of the application, staying organized, actively researching colleges and having earnest discussions about their future.

When a student has ADHD, the college process often becomes even more stressful because the organization, planning, and follow-through it requires can conflict with the way the student’s brain is wired.

Comfort on campus begins with being seen, respected and safe. LGBTQ+ students feel most at ease in environments where their identities are recognized without explanation. Professors use correct names and pronouns, staff receive allyship training and peers show understanding and acceptance. Visible LGBTQ+ representation, such as Pride flags, inclusive language in syllabi and active campus organizations, signals that they belong. Students can easily findcommunity through a Pride Alliance, an LGBTQ+ resource center or informal groups of supportive friends. Inclusive housing and bathrooms as well as accessible mental health and health services help students feel both physically and emotionally secure. 

“Liberal arts” is a phrase used by colleges in two common ways. First, it describes a type of curriculum that can be used at any college or university. Second, it is used to describe a group of small, private institutions that each follow a liberal arts curriculum.

The phrase “liberal arts” has Latin roots and dates back to Ancient Greece. In Latin, artes liberales means “the arts of a free person”. It was believed that a “free” person needed a broad academic education to think, speak, and act effectively in public life. Despite its name, liberal arts doesn’t have anything to do with politics and isn’t exclusively for artistic students. In fact, it often incorporates a balanced study of arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Some colleges and universities will offer Bachelor of Arts (BA) degrees, even in the natural sciences.

As you navigate the college admissions process with your neurodivegent student, it is important to understand the differences between support in high school and college. All US colleges and universities that receive federal funding are required to have a designated office where reasonable accommodations are provided to students with disabilities. Students are expected to request and manage their accommodations through the disability office. Self advocacy is a must and students should have an understanding of themselves as learners and what their needs are. This marks a significant change from high school, where the school takes responsibility for identifying and evaluating students with disabilities and developing an IEP or 504 plan to support their success.

A small college in Maine pioneered test-optional admissions in 1969 as a way to focus on holistic review and equity in their application evaluation process. Over the next several decades, more institutions introduced similar policies, gaining real momentum when WPI became the first tech school to make test scores optional in 2007. The University of Chicago made headlines as the first highly selective school to implement test-optional policies 2018. By 2019, there were about a thousand schools who had made the decision to institute test-optional policies, but few of them were the selective places we hear about in the media most often. 

In 2020, everything changed. COVID brought the need for social distancing and high school closures, which meant simply accessing standardized tests was difficult for students. Out of necessity, most US colleges and universities (who hadn’t already) created test-optional policies that year. Six years later, some colleges’ have remained test-optional, and others have gone back to requiring standardized tests.