trying to go back to grad school

WOW! This is so wierd.
I am in the process of going back to school. I am 38 and a mother of 4.
I had done so bad in high school that I didn’t persure what I really wanted to do, which was counseling. I didnt think I could make it through the classes I would need. So, I went to school for one year to become an LPN.
I still always thought about counseling, but about a month ago I went to a one day seminar by Dr. Hallowell. (Author of Driven to Distraction). There were several things that as I listened to him discuss Employment for people with ADD. He said there are people doing all different things, even brain surgeons.
He also has ADD. Then he said, What is there Passion? At that moment I almost felt this inner peace saying, Go to School, you can do it! I knew what my passion has always been, just never believed in myself.

I will start toward my BA in Psychology in Sept. I also have looked at what is necessary to achieve this goal. I would like to specialize in ADD. I would like to have the opportunity to educate others, teachers, parents, and others about it. Since I know what it’s like to live with it. I found out 5 years ago.

It will take me about 3 years to get my BA. Then start on my Masters.

I am not going to look to far ahead, so I dont freak myself out and back out of the whoe thing.
So I say to you and myself. Set your eyes on that dream and do it one step at a time, and try not to do too much negative self talk.

I am curious to know what is your next step. Have you tried getting into Grad school yet?

Good luck!
Karla

To get into grad school, you have to write an essay and take GREs. If you do well on the GRE, then you can quickly explain at some point that you were younger and less directed in college. You won’t get into Harvard but there are lots of places that will give you a second chance.

Beth

Hi Sara,
I just finished graduate school during which I was diagnosed with ADD. I agree with Karla about being passionate. That’s so important when you join graduate school. However, with so many things pulling us in so many different ways, it’s often difficult for ADDers to be solely passionate about a single thing. It is a very competetive world in graduate school and you’ll probably be surrounded with over-achievers - at least I was…giving me a serious inferiority complex…you will have to be kind to yourself and not compare yourself with your peers constantly. Instead focus on your coursework and learning what you are really interested in. The good thing about graduate school is that you don’t have that many general courses to take - so you can choose courses that interest you.
As Beth said your GRE scores are most important in getting admission into graduate school. I suggest you work toward getting a high GRE score…that will surely put your application in the top pile of applicants. Your essay is also very important - faculty are looking for highly motivated individuals who are very interested in their field of work. Focus on why you feel so drawn toward grad school, your ideas and interests in the field, what are your objectives, any relevant experience - placing the experience in context of your grad school work…for example if you have done a summer internship, you could say that the internship got you interested in learning more about the particular subject - and that’s why you want to join grad school….mainly you have to show through your essay that you are very interested in learning and research. Your undergrad grades I think won’t carry that much weight if your GRE scores and essay are good.
Once you join grad school, you could contact the University Learning Disabilities center and make them aware of your ADD. My school helped me - for example, by allowing me to take un-timed exams - which helped me a lot.

My experience with graduate school could have been better - if I had known and tackled my ADD earlier - but still I think I gained a lot through my grad school experience. Don’t give up - it’ll be tough - but you have to hang in there and you’ll do fine. Especially that now you are in the right frame of mind you should go after what you really want.
GOOD LUCK!
If you have any more questions about grad school, please let me know via this forum or my email.

Raj

What about getting in the college you want as a post-bac? This way you can get in through the backdoor, take some of the undergrad classes to get any of the “requirements” that don’t transfer and you get to know the professors well and then apply to grad school. I have seen other students do this in my major. One graduated from a school in New York, and then transferred to California but she had to take a bunch of undergrad classes before she got accepted into grad school. I am just about finished with grad school. Grad school has been stressful but the time has just flown by. Also it is competitive and their are lots of overachievers but I am friendly with everyone and they are friendly with me.

The letter of intent really makes a difference too and I would think in the field of psychology that they may be more understanding and give you a chance..

I just am writing to say THANK YOU to all the advice I have gotten. I am so relieved to have found a place where I can find people who truly understand me! I have actually taken the GRE’s and I did ok. My problem is that it is so difficult to get testing accomidations- I was so distracted during most of the test, even with ear plugs and the time factor was definitly an issue ( i am a person who most certainly needs more time on tests- I am always by far the last to finish). My documentation for testing is outdated and I have to find someone to re-test me. It cost about 700-1,000 dollars the last time I was tested- something I really do not have the money to cover! If anyone has advice as to where or how I could reduce the cost for new testing/documentation or how I can get around having to be retested that would be great.
As for experience, I have quite a bit. I have worked in numerous settings in the special education field, including work at a Residential group home and work as a caseworker. I have great connections with individuals I work with, all of whom said they would be happy to give a recommendation. I am also trying to apply to schools that I know will be more leainent or accomdating of someone in my position. I have decided that I should go back to get my masters in School counseling or counseling and then try for a advanced program in School Psych. Wish me luck! Thanks again :)
Sara

Sara,

I echo everything said above. Passion is key. Taking GREs with special conditions (extended time and separate room) made a difference for me — I took them both standard and with special conditions. About the essay, I would try to contact students a year or two into the program(s) you are applying to. The essay really is important, but what different schools/programs want can be quite different, and can change over time. Some want you to show your passion for the field and how you got there. Some want you to show that you have a well-defined idea of what you see yourself doing in the future, and how that particular school’s program fits into your plans (including, a good knowledge of the current faculty, their research, etc., and why you want to work with a particular person[s]). Some schools — especially more competitive ones — want essays that show you are up on the lastest research and theoretical trends in the field, and can relate that theoretical work both to what you want to do and how it fits with the faculty interests and theoretical orientations of the program you are applying to. This is not meant to discourage you at all, just to say that a great essay for one program — showing your passion for the field – may be an “uninformed” essay to another program at another school, & v.v. A great theoretically informed essay at one program may be “sterile” and not showing any personal goals or involvement at another program. And what a school looks for may change over time. I found this out when as an advance doctoral student I served as an assistant to the admissions committee for the program I was in, and read the essays of applicants. A few years earlier, I had gotten into the program (and gotten a good fellowship) with a “my interests and passions are…” essay. (And that was the norm when I applied.) But just a few years later, those essays didn’t get you into the serious consideration stack of applications unless your GREs were stellar. So, I would just suggest that when you contact a school for application materials, try to get a contact for a student recently admitted (but there long enough to have a sense of what’s going on in the program — the currents you see only after being inside the program a year or so). Ask the student(s) what their sense is of the expectations of the essay. If you visit programs before applying, it should easy to ask to speak to some students, or just to sit in the student lounge around lunch time and strike up conversations.

Sara, you might consider visiting a career counselor to help you with this. I recently finished my master’s in counseling and am working as a school counselor. While working on my degree I worked in the University office and helped students applying to the program. Doing counseling first and switching to school psych. sounds like a long ( and possibly winding) road. What do you really want to do on a daily basis? In my experience, school psychs. spend most of their time attending child study/IEP meetings, testing individual children, and writing up reports. (I wouldn’t mind doing this, but didn’t have access to a program in school psych.) They split their time among several different schools and often work in storage spaces instead of real offices. They rarely do any counseling with students. As a counselor, I am assigned to one school with 600 students. I spend my time teaching classroom guidance lessons at all grade levels, counseling with individual children and small groups, meeting with parents, and helping teachers with behavior plans. I get to know the school and understand its climate much more intimately than the psych.
One other thing— some Master’s programs have a “non-thesis option” where you do a research proposal but do not have to complete an actual thesis. Research is one area where I’ve seen students with ADHD get stuck because it requires much organization over a long period of time. There are people who will help coach you through completing your thesis for a fee, of course. You don’t want to end up like many PhD candidates who are ABD- “all but dissertation”— and never actually earn the degree.

Well I am in my second grad program. I am thankful that my first program a friend did all my typing for me. I have been diagnosed with ADHD since I was in kindergarten. I am not sure how I made it this far. I am in the field of special education. I am a special ed teacher and I feel that I have been able to help a lot of students in this fiel. Obviously my disability , not diagnosed or treated while I was younger gets in my way frequenetly. Particularly in my writing. which I hate to do and am awful at completing. An proofing. Thats a joke when I am done I am done. This program is a real chore. I do not like my current teacher and he is not giving me what i need or want for my job so I am passiviely not doing work. Oh by the way I am a single mom two kids in college and three very needy animals. The bills and animals take so much time as well as my job. I get home around 6 every night. All pray because I am not sure how I am going to get through this program.

Hi all — I just got my master’s in December 02 and was diagnosed as ADD about a month later. It’s ASTOUNDING how much has changed (for the better) in such a short time!

In the interest of trying to give feedback, I contacted a few people at my alma mater and let them know. The guy in charge of “diversity” went off on me and said basically that I was being a pain in the ass. This really pissed me off, because of all people, he should know better! He then forwarded my e-mail to ODS, and someone from there began an e-mail exchange with me, basically chastizing me for not ever having come to their office and for not “self-identifying.” Pretty hard to do if you have never before been diagnosed!

You have the DISTINCT advantage of knowing how your disability affected your school performance BEFOREHAND. I think that if you are forthcoming, perhaps with a little guidance from a coach/disability officer/etc. before and during the application process, you will be just fine. You also will have a head-start in that you’ll be able to choose a program based on what resources you need and whether those will be available at your school. Do a little web-surfing at your college choices; look up their disability office and ask what support they can offer you, especially if you wind up as a teaching assistant. It’s made a big difference to me in picking a Ph.D. program, a dream I almost gave up on after my horrible grad school experience. (I did two programs, too!)

I probably also have dyscalculia, and will be evaluated soon. I usually score way off the charts on standardized tests, with math never as good as English. It’d been many years since I’d taken algebra, and I studied up for the GRE. But when I took the GRE, it was the first time it had been given as a so-called “adaptive” test on computer. “Maladaptive” is what they really should call it; it doesn’t just move on to harder questions if you do well — it goes for your weaknesses and concentrates on them! Of the 5 tests in the battery, I think I had 3 math, 1 reasoning, and 1 English. Because I was going into a creative writing program, my scores were skewed significantly lower.

How many of you took the pencil-and-paper test as a result of asking for an accommodation? I appreciated the earplugs, I must say. What other adaptations might they offer at testing centers? I ask because I think I’d like to take the general test over for the next school; I definitely plan to take the subject test in English Lit. I spent the last two years of undergrad boning up for the subject test, only to discover that neither program I wound up attending required it. (Hey, all to the good.)

Finally, whatever your “passion” is, I bet you should take the subject test if it’s offered in your field. Even if your grad school doesn’t take the score, at least you can look at something you did extremely well, and any plusses can only help your application. The fact that you demonstrate maturity by facing your ADD and seeking treatment for it will speak WAY more on your behalf than your GPA. The very best of luck to you!!!!!

P.S. Has anyone noticed that there is a serious lack of info on college-age and especially grad school/older returning students w/ADD? I am a writer and would be MORE than happy to do an article on this — if you’d like to share your experiences. You can choose to use your name and school or remain anonymous, as you wish. Please backchannel me at [email protected] .

10. Then there’s 14-year-old Rod Mathews who had been prescribed Ritalin since the third grade and beat a classmate to death with a bat.