Should I Disclose my ADHD, Autism, or Learning Disability on My College Application?

The number one question that I get as a specialist in college admissions for neurodivergent students is this: “Should I disclose my ADHD, autism, or learning difference in my college application?” There’s no one right answer, but understanding why you might can help you make a thoughtful, informed decision.

What does it mean to disclose my neurodivergence?

Before I continue, I want to clarify something. “Disclosing” your neurodivergence isn’t going to result in someone stamping “CAUTION!” on your application and sending it to a different department to be scrutinized by the judgiest of admission counselors. No alarm bells will go off, I promise!

And you don’t disclose by sending a copy of your IEP or 504 plan, either – those documents are kind of long and complicated, and most admission officers wouldn’t really know what to make of them, even if they DID read them.

In a college admissions setting, “to disclose” just means to be explicit about your experience or diagnoses where that information would be otherwise kept private.

So where do I disclose my neurodivergence on my application?

Common ways students disclose their neurodivergence are: 

• In the personal essay, discussing the impact of their neurodivergence on their life or some part of it. 

• In the “Additional Information” section, where students can share details about extenuating circumstances that affected their education.

• By asking their school counselor to write about their neurodivergence in the counselor recommendation letter. 

But before you work out the logistics of how to talk about your ADHD, autism, or learning difference in your application, let’s come back to the question of whether to do so.

When it might make sense to disclose

I’ll echo what many sources around the internet say: this is a personal decision. Your diagnoses and experiences are personal information, and you are not required to share anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. It’s not a lie to leave that information out of your application. 

Here are a few reasons you might decide to share more about being neurodivergent in your college application. 

1. Your neurodivergence directly impacted your grades.

If you see a dip in your grades that had a clear cause-and-effect relationship with your neurodivergence, it could be helpful to provide that context. Admission officers don’t just look at your overall GPA. They’ll probably think that there might be a story behind why your transcript looks the way it does, and you can decide if you want to tell them that story. They can probably be more understanding with the real details than the assumptions they make. 

Real life example:

B. experienced a period of autistic burnout in sophomore year that resulted in dropping one of her electives and taking another course pass/fail. That semester, her GPA came in much lower than her averages for freshman and junior year. She wrote about that experience in her “Additional Information” section.

2. Your neurodivergence directly impacted choices you made about courses or extracurricular activities. 

It’s common for some students with learning differences to be exempt from world language requirements at the high school level. Other students are curious about honors level courses, but receive advice that they shouldn’t try, or won’t be able to get accommodations or support in advanced classes. Unfortunately, this isn’t always great advice – but by the time you’re completing your application, you can’t undo the past. If the colleges on your list are looking for certain levels or types of courses, you might want to explain why you weren’t able to meet those standards.

Real life example:

As a ninth grader freshly diagnosed with ADHD, H. was advised not to take a world language. When he started researching colleges in eleventh grade he realized that many schools he was interested in recommended at least two or three years of a language to be considered a good candidate for admission. H. registered for Spanish I as a summer class so that he could add Spanish II into his senior year courseload. His school counselor explained the details in her recommendation letter. 

3. Your neurodivergence is central to goals or plans you have for your college career and beyond.

It’s not uncommon for professionals who advocate for a particular group to identify with that group, so why shouldn’t the same go for students? Colleges want to know who you are. If being neurodivergent is a big part of your identity, you can absolutely say that. It might actually be difficult to leave your ADHD, autism, or learning difference out of the story if it played a key role!

Real life example:

N. remembers first becoming interested in neuroscience when they were in third grade and trying to understand their dyslexia. Now, neuroscience is their intended major, and one of their college applications has a supplemental essay question asking why they chose that major. In addition to cross country at their high school, N. also spends a lot of time volunteering in a community group that connects teens and younger kids with learning differences. Every personal essay topic N. brainstormed involved mentioning how their dyslexia played a role, so they went with it. 

Final Thoughts

Remember – under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it’s illegal to discriminate based on disability. That means that a college can’t deny you just for being neurodivergent. If your neurodivergence helps provide context for your application, that information could be just what admission officers need to send you that acceptance letter.

There’s no right answer when it comes to deciding whether or not to disclose your ADHD, autism, learning difference, or other neurodivergence on your college application. I always encourage students to talk out their decision with a trusted adult. A school counselor, teacher, mentor, or an independent educational consultant can help you think through the pros and cons and make your choice confidently. 

Want some individualized help with navigating the college application process as a neurodivergent student? Get in touch to find out how I can help, or get on my email list for more tips on applying to college with ADHD, autism, or learning differences.