Colleges do not waive basic admissions requirements for students who have learning disabilities. Therefore, if you’re interested in a college that requires the SAT or ACT, plan to take these tests. Students with documented disabilities are permitted some special accommodations on these exams, including extended time and testing in alternate settings (to minimize distractions). Note that special test administrations must be arranged in advance; the student can not simply show up and ask for accommodations on exam day. Information about test accommodations and instructions for documenting disabilities for the SAT and ACT should be available at your high school guidance office, or it can be requested directly from the following sources:
SAT Services for Students with Disabilities
P. O. Box 6226
Princeton, NJ 08541-6226
609-771-7137
ACT Test Administration
P. O. Box 4028
Iowa City, IA 52243-4028
319-337-1332
The more familiar the student is with the entrance exams and the test-taking strategies – such as knowing when it’s a good idea to guess at an answer and when it’s best to skip a tough question – the better he will do on these tests. Commercial study guides, computer programs, and the test preparation courses are all widely available to help sharpen one’s test-taking skills. College-bound students should also plan to take required tests more than once if possible; scores often go up the second or third time around. Colleges usually use the highest scores earned, regardless of when the test was taken.
Students may find that they are better suited to one exam or the other. Some LD students prefer the ACT because it is a more straightforward test of knowledge. Some students say it is less "tricky" than the SAT. The ACT’s relatively long reading passages, however, can work against students with reading comprehension problems. Students with significant strengths in math may be better off with the SAT – math skills account for half of the total score on the SAT, but only a quarter of the total score on the ACT exam. Since many colleges accept either test, students may want to take both the SAT and the ACT exams and submit the better set of scores.
Families should be aware that when ACT and SAT scores are sent to colleges, results of tests given under nonstandard conditions are flagged. This essentially identifies the applicant as having some kind of disability. (There are very few other reasons for special test administration.) While colleges can not legally refuse to accept a student because she has to keep her learning disabilities confidential. These students presently have two choices: take the tests without modifications, or focus on colleges that do not require ACT or SAT scores. Even some selective private institutions – Bates and Bowdin Colleges, for examples – have made submission of test scores optional. Applying to institutions that do not require admissions tests may also improve the chances of students who have good grades but consistently perform poorly on standardized exams.
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