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I am a junior male in high school in Oklahoma. I was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome when I was six years old (For those that don't know, Tourette's is a condition composed of involuntary body movements and behaviors that make it extremely difficult to focus and function in the mainstream.) I have managed to improve my condition through biofeedback and relaxation techniques so that I am able to live a fairly normal life like any other teenager, although it is evident that I do have the disorder.

My question is " Does overcoming any type of significant obstacle in one's life and aspiring to high levels of academic and athletic achievement in spite of this adversity improve one's chances of being admitted into selective universities?"

Any response would be greatly appreciated.

By Serdu (Serdu) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 11:52 pm: Edit

yeah... you should def. write about that.

By Pipettewolf (Pipettewolf) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 12:15 am: Edit

hey!

I haven't been diagnosed formally but I'm pretty sure that I have Tourette's also (self-diagnosis). First, I'm glad to know there is someone out there like me.

Um, for one of the schools I wrote about the condition but decided not to on the other applications because I didn't know whether it would help or hurt me because I hadn't been formally diagnosed.

I would have to say that it depends on the severity of your condition. For me, I was able to deal with it and live a relatively "normal" life. But of course there's always those days where you can't help it and those days are tough especially at school.

How are your "stats"? gpa, sat, etc.

The only school I wrote about the condition was Harvard of which I was deferred EA.

I would like to talk to you more. It's hard to find people that understand what you've gone through.

By Flyguy (Flyguy) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 12:41 am: Edit

So you guys randomly spaz out cuss after cuss after cuss?

(Deus Bigallo Male Gigolo!)

By Pipettewolf (Pipettewolf) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 01:15 am: Edit

Thats a common misconception about tourette's.

There is only a small percentage that have the so-called verbal tics such as shouting out cuss words.

By Pipettewolf (Pipettewolf) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 01:15 am: Edit

woops, double post

By Momx4 (Momx4) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 02:10 pm: Edit

Shep and Pipette, my son has Tourette Syndrome too. He is a sophomore at Brown. He had special ed accommodations including resource room from fourth grade through twelfth grade. He is extremely bright, has a great sense of humor, but struggled through school because of people who did not understand the disorder and other disorders associated with it (he also has obsessive-compulsive disorder and ADD). He was able to overcome the disorder and manage both socially and academically and wrote about this in his college essay. He planned only to apply to schools that had good student disability resources. He was admitted ED to Brown and feels that for the first time in his life, he fits in. There are some good college guide books available for students with disabilities, such as the K&W guide. I don't know if I'm supposed to give links here, but Leslie Packer, a psychologist with two children with TS has a wonderful website www.tourettesyndrome.net
I wrote an article about the college search for students with TS, which Leslie has ono her website. Good luck in your college search; if you persevere, you will be able to find a college that is a good match for you both in terms of your personality and learning style and also in terms of the disability.

By Zorro5280 (Zorro5280) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 02:34 pm: Edit

I'll let you know. I am almost exactly the same sort of student described above by Momx4, medically speaking. My stats are very good (1510 SAT I, 5 SATIIs ranging from 750 to 800), but ECs were difficult due to the social ostrasization and because the fatiguing aspects of the meds made homework take about twice as long as my peers. I put the info right out in the open on my essays, and my teacher recs all asked whether they should mention it or not (after a while it tends to become a major part of describing you) and I told them I was fine with that.

So far my college acceptance tally is 1-1-2 (the ties are 1 ED deferral to Princeton and 1 likely). Rejected at MIT. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the end. I think it'll say a lot about the schools I applied to since it's been put pretty much in their face. I don't care; I only want to go to a school that really wants me for who I am. I'll keep you posted.

By Shep1487 (Shep1487) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 04:31 pm: Edit

Pipette, my stats are good. I've only taken the PSAT so far, but I plan on taking the SAT on saturday and the act the following saturday

230 on PSAT

By Pipettewolf (Pipettewolf) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 10:01 pm: Edit

wow, that's pretty damn good. If you keep it up, you'll probably be able to go to the college of your choice...with or without your condition.