ADHD to AdCom?

[mm855752]

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Delete this please!

 

[b05010445]

I think it would depend if you have an upward trend since your medication and diagnosis. I think you could spin that into a good personal statement.

 

[betterlate]

Ok this is way ahead of the time I need to even really worry about this, but

During undergrad, I was diagnosed with ADHD my last senior year in college. It explains a lot why I had to work 100x harder then anyone to achieve a subpar GPA (3.31), but I worked hard like I should of received a 4.0.

Ever since my diagnosis and being medicated, very small dose of 10mg Adderall XR. It has CHANGED MY LIFE AROUND! I can focus, stay focused, and love studying! Medical books are VERY interesting, I graduated with a B.S. in Accounting, and even medicated, those books are horribly boring and i'd shoot myself if i had to become an accountant.

My question is: When applying to medical school - 1 yr- 1 1/2 yrs from now, should I mention ADHD in my personal statement as to the reason why I didnt achieve as great of a GPA as I would of Liked in Undergrad. I'm confident i'll be beyond successfull in POST-BACC.

Middle School - Grades mostly c, d, f's
High School - Failed courses, went to Summer School, ended with a 2.21 GPA and somewhere around 900-1050 for SAT
College - Really buckled down as much as I could and tried my best to focus, realized I caused my parents so much pain, not knowing I had ADHD and changed my life around for the better. Ended with a 3.31 GPA - Cum Laude Honors.
JUST GRADUATED THIS PAST SUNDAY ACTUALLY =] with a B.S. in Accounting(3.23 GPA), Minor in Business Administration (3.6 GPA) Cumulative GPA: 3.31

Thanks everyone

I'd chat w/ the premed advisor @ your alma mater about this, but my gut reaction is to say you would be better off not identifying your ADHD in your personal statement simply because the term ADHD carries a negative connotation for a lot of people. You might be better off either referring to it simply as a learning disability, or addressing it in a separate essay (there's usually a specific place on the app where you can address poor academic performance, etc).

That said, I'm not an adcom and I don't really know how this is viewed in applications. Ultimately I opted not to address the issue of my ADHD/LD in my applications. My grades have generally been fairly high, though, so there wasn't a particular reason to bring it up. I did contact the office for students w/ LD as soon as I was in med school, and met w/ an advisor to plan a study approach.

good luck!

 

[Velocity]

Congratulations on graduating!

In my opinion, bringing up ADHD is a gamble. On one hand, you could get someone who has an open mind (or who suffers with ADHD, themselves, or has a family member or close friend who does), and who would be impressed by and understanding of your story. On the other hand, you could get someone who thinks it's a load of BS (there are reports that ADHD is over-diagnosed), or worse - they could assume that the condition will prevent you from succeeding in medical school, or from being a good doctor.

I don't know if you have other things in your life that you could point to as reasons for holding you back, or if you had a clear upward trend in college. If you don't and you're just taking a shot to see if you'll get anything, sure, gamble on it. If it were me, I would play the safer approach and not mention it.