Applying for college...tell of Diabetes?

[kateuhl]

My son will be applying for college admission in the Fall. Is there any advantage/disadvantage to stating on the application that he has diabetes? Do the colleges try to accept more students with "disabilities"? Thanks.

[ccarrol4]

Honestly, I have no idea. I didn't state that I had D on my college application. However, I believe that colleges must accept a certain percentage of students with disablilites, the same way they must accept certain percentages of people from different ethnic backgrounds (that is if it's a public college.) Therefore, it may be to his benefit if applying to a public college, but I don't know about private colleges. Hope I was of some help.

[bgallini]

I don't know if it makes any difference but my son did mention it on at least some of his applications. I figure it's more likely to help than hurt.

[LantusFiend]

To the best of my knowledge, India is the only place where colleges have to reserve seats for disabled applicants, and diabetics aren't included in the disabled for that requirement unless they're blind or something like that.
I would still mention it because colleges are looking for interesting people. If your son can say that he's interesting because he has learned from having diabetes or has made speeches at a diabetes fundraiser or whatever, then definitely include it. Otherwise don't.
I hadn't been diagnosed when I applied to college, but the topic of my essay was about my struggles to participate in raising my brother (who is fourteen years younger than me) despite severe tactile defensiveness.

[ctwetten]

I was diagnosed just a few days before the start of my senior year of high school. That's what I wrote about in my "personal essay" for my application. I felt awkward about it, but tried to write more about my reaction to it than the poor me, here's what happened to me stuff. It was such a big struggle and adjustment at the time that I didn't see how I could not write about it. I got in to all but my stretch school, that I didn't think I'd get into anyway, so I don't think it made a difference, or at least not a negative one.

[funnygrl]

No, I would not put diabetes on a college application.

[livacreature]

I wouldn't. I made a note of it on my housing application post acceptance. It didn't have a drastic role on my academic performance in the big picture or my SAT scores so I didn't feel the need. If he wants to, it is his decision, but i doubt it would have much to do with his being accepted or not.

[Mermaid]

Advice from someone who's been there: DON'T TELL!!!!

[geekguyandy]

I am a senior in college, and at least in the United States, I see no reason why mentioning diabetes would be necessary, but also no reason to hold back he information. Basically, it doesn't matter.

If you are talking with admissions representatives, it can be an interesting discussion topic as long as you don' get into the gritty details of injections. Talk more about how it made you more mature or overcome obstacles.

If you are applying for financial aid, use it to plea that you need extra financial support because you spend so much on your health care, which sets up a disadvantage.

Some schools have support groups, maybe even a club if it is a big enough school. But as someone who has worked in admissions, I don't see any reason stating that you are diabetic would hurt.

-Andy

[TonyCap]

I don't think it will really improve the chances of acceptance.

[jessika72]

I put it in my personal statement when I applied to undergrad (SDSU) and when I applied to Law School. I applied to 22 schools (ranking from #2-tier 3) and I was accepted to about 15 of the schools. I think it makes a difference for law school because they need some way to differentiate between the applicants, but I dont believe it makes a difference for undergrad. I would still tell.

[Juliefx]

We just went through the whole college application thing this past year. My daughter did not want to mention diabetes on her application, so she did not. However, her guidance counselor did mention as well as one of her teachers that did a recommendation letter. He wrote about how much of an inspiration she is to him, so I think it probably went in her favor. Bottom line is that she applied to four colleges and got accepted to all of them.

[KhaosFaerie]

I have never mentioned my diabetes in any of my applications until now and it wasn't even in the application it was in a personal discussion with a recruiter. He was interested in it. He has family members that had the LADA, or Type 1.5, as some people call it. No other school that I have attended including the one where I got my associates degree and where i am at now. Close friends that I know and went to school with knew but that was about it.

[MTmicah]

I'd agree with what's been said - that it's not really all that important. I'm fairly sure that acceptance or rejection cannot be seriously based on a medical condition such as diabetes.
That said, if one is comfortable talking about it, I think it makes great material for the personal essays and discussion topics during interviews. I wrote my essay on how diabetes really forces me to recognize and take responsibility for my actions, b/c dealing with insulin and blood sugars and everything else really reinforces that cause-effect relationship between my actions and my health. When I went for a scholarship interview, the professor brought up my essay and we talked about it for a bit.
I wouldn't say that diabetes itself is going to have a lot of effect on getting in to college, but you can use it as an avenue to show colleges another side of you beyond the academic transcript. Admissions evaluators like to see a complete person, so they like to hear about struggles that you've been through (or are continuing to go through, in the case of diabetes), in addition to all the work you've put into your transcript and test scores and all of that.

Good luck with the applications!

[SGHanna]

at my school, i went to special services and registered for "disability". i mean, if having diabetes and announcing it to the college means getting priority registration, why not? i didn't have to put it on my app, but i did talk to the special services over there. they don't treat me any different. but getting my classes before everyone else is a huge help, especially with an eating schedule.. or just to get the classes you need. and if i ever need to leave class due to a diabetic emergency, my teachers won't penalize me.

i've had nothing but great things :)

[_erica]

I never mentioned it in my application, nor did I ever register at the disabilities office, but I do know that I did write about my experiences in the "personal essay" aspect of the application.

Strangely enough, the school I decided to go to didn't have a "personal essay" on their application, instead they gave me a philosophical question I had to answer in essay-format.

[skimom]

My son was able to get accomodations through the special services office (which he had to use last week - with the flu, the doctor at the university clinic told him he was in no way going to write a test in his condition and sent him with a letter to give to the prof - prof was great and immediately made concessions to write at an alternate time)The diabetes also allowed him to move up the list for residence as they said it was critical that he be in a safe, known environment . We also thought it was critical that the university knew (at leastin residence) so if something goes wrong healthwise, then he would get the help he needs.
We don't like to play the D card but sometimes it is the smart and responsible thing to do.