I Have ADHD - Is College For Me?

Chris is in high school, and he enjoys learning. It’s not always easy because of his ADHD, but he is curious about many different fields and wants to know more. College sounds like a great idea to him, especially since he is fantasizing about becoming an architect in the future.  

So far, he’s been doing well in school. His medications are helping him focus, and his ADHD coach provides him with many great strategies that have gotten him through his classes. He feels ready to move on to the next stage of his life but isn’t entirely sure how he will navigate college on his own.

As he looks at college statistics, Chris discovers that only roughly 9% of students with ADHD symptoms will graduate college compared to 60% without ADHD. Overall, students with ADHD have lower grades, are less ready for college and earn fewer credits. Thus, Chris starts to wonder: Is college really for me, or should I look for a different career after all?

Of course, there are many factors that determine whether becoming a college student is for Chris, but in general the short answer is yes. Yes, Chris can study at a university even though he has ADHD. In the past, plenty of people with ADHD have successfully graduated from college and hold jobs that they enjoy and that pay the bills. However, before Chris embarks on his college journey, he might want to keep a few things in mind so that he won’t drop out of college and waste his time and money.

If you can identify with Chris, you might be wondering how you should approach your transition from high school to college. Below you’ll find a few misperceptions I have encountered again and again during my 20+ years of working in academia – and how you need to change your mindset to succeed. Keep in mind that college can be a wonderful experience for you if you plan things well, use your common sense and don’t compare yourself too much with your neurotypical peers – who are often struggling, too, but in different ways.

1. I can do everything on my own. If you don’t take anything else away from this article, this is what I want you to remember: YOU NEED SUPPORT! Whether it is your parents who check in with you regularly while you are away at college, whether it is a great coach or therapist who helps you navigate academic life in your weekly or bi-weekly calls or sessions or whether it is the office of disability services that makes sure you can get all the accommodations you are legally entitled to, the more people in your life who watch out for you the better.

Jessica McCabe, founder of the YouTube channel “How to ADHD” even suggests that living at home while you are in college may not be a bad thing, since your parents might be able to provide the scaffolding you need to be successful. But if you don’t want to or cannot live at home, make sure to check out all the support systems on campus, such as the writing center, the student success center or the center for health services so that you know where your resources are should you need them. The more people you have who root for you and become your allies, the more likely it is that you will do well and graduate on time.

2. I need to keep my ADHD to myself. This is related to misperception # 1 but slightly different. You don’t have to go around talking about your neurodivergence with your friends and acquaintances. But you might want to let the truly important people know about your difficulties so that they can accommodate you as best as they can.

When I was a professor, I had many students with ADHD, but for the longest time, I didn’t know enough about the “disorder” to understand precisely how much my students were struggling. It was only in my last five years at the university that I started learning more about neurodivergence and became more aware of what was really going on with my students. Don’t assume that people know anything about your challenges. Ask your professors how much they know about ADHD – and then tell them what you think they need to know to best accommodate and support you.

3. I was successful in high school – how much more difficult can college be? You’re absolutely right that there are many parallels between high school and college, especially if you have taken many AP courses. Yet, the two most important differences are that a) your life is much more unstructured and so is your course schedule in college and b) you are not only responsible for your academic life but you also need to build a social life, do laundry, cook dinner and take care of any bureaucratic stuff that comes your way.

Being solely responsible for your own life might feel overwhelming – and you might find yourself utterly confused about how to structure your day well so that you can fit everything in that you need to get done. In addition, your academic courses might be more difficult than they were in high school – and you might have more complex assignments that need to be submitted more frequently. So, make sure not to underestimate differences between your student life at high school and college.

4. I was able to organize my day without a scheduler or calendar in high school. Since life is more complex in college, a scheduler or calendar is your best friend on campus. Your parents are not there to remind you to finish your homework or hand in projects, so you need to find a substitute in the form of a planner.

You can use an old-fashioned paper calendar, a leather-bound planner or a more sophisticated electronic device in the form of an app on your phone or a smart watch. Put in everything you want to get done in a day – including all your classes, meetings and self-care activities (see below). Leave plenty of room so that you don’t feel stressed out about your day – and move all activities that are simply too much over to another day.

5. Let’s wait and see how the semester shapes up academically. Be pro-active and figure things out early on while you aren’t stressed out or pressed for time. Try to answer the following questions – or do some trial-and-error until you find the best solution to a particular problem:

• Where can I study best? Can I study in the dorms, or will that be too distracting? Is the library a comfy place, or is there a café nearby that works better for me?

• Can I find an accountability buddy early on with whom I can do my homework and study for tests and exams? Someone who helps me get things done.

• How does the library work? Do I know how to search for articles and books? Or is there a designated librarian I can ask for support?

• Do I understand how to write an academic paper? Is there a writing center that could give me a hand?

• How difficult is it to get an appointment at the counseling center? And how often can I see a therapist there?

• Does the student success center offer workshops? Is there 1-to-1 coaching available?

• Are there any self-help groups on campus for people with ADHD? Could I form my own group to get the support I need? 

Prepare yourself as best as you can at the beginning of the semester so that you will get a lot of questions out of the way. You will still have plenty of obstacles to deal with over the course of your semesters but the more you think ahead and figure out your resources the better you are prepared for all eventualities.

In addition, have a back-up plan if things should go awry. Talk to your parents, therapist or coach to figure out what to do when things don’t work out the way you have envisioned them. What should you do if you cannot keep up with all the demands? If you feel too overwhelmed to study for your exam? If your apartment is a big mess and you don’t seem to have the energy to clean up? What if making friends turns out to be a difficult undertaking and you feel lonely and depressed?

Go over each scenario with your trusted people and come up with possible solutions. Write them down on a piece of paper and keep that paper in a safe place. That’s your emergency plan that you can access anytime you feel like you need encouragement or a helping hand. It should prevent you from a knee-jerk reaction such as skipping or dropping out of classes, foregoing exams or even getting so depressed that you cannot get out of bed anymore. 

6. A big part of college is having fun and going to parties – I don’t want to be tied down by my ADHD. Yes, it is important for you to have fun in college, socialize with others and enjoy your new freedom. Yet, what is even more important is your own wellbeing, both physically and mentally. To ensure that you can function at your best you need a good self-care routine that helps you invest in yourself.

Are you eating healthy meals? Do you exercise? Do you get enough sleep – especially important when it comes to managing your ADHD symptoms? And do you have good strategies when it comes to coping with stress and anxiety? Taking good care of yourself is the backbone of your college success. Which doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go out and party every so often and enjoy yourself. But that should be the exception to the rule. Just keep in mind that your wellbeing should be at the top of your list. If you aren’t doing well physically, emotionally or mentally, college will not be fun when you receive bad grades and fail your classes – no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise.

7. Since I am an adult now, I do not need my ADHD medications anymore. Nothing could be farther from the truth. According to ADDitude magazine 47% of students with ADHD stop taking their medications when they enter college. The reasons for those high numbers are varied such as a) overwhelm that makes you forget to take your meds on a daily basis, b) lack of a local psychiatrist or doctor who can refill your prescription or adjust your dosage or c) poor handling of your meds because you didn’t store them safely.

Even though it is more difficult to take your medications when you are on your own, it might be essential to your academic success. Academically, college tends to be more rigorous than your previous high school, which means that meds might be even more important than they were before. Make a good schedule when to take them, set reminders and maybe use a smartwatch. Store your meds in a safe place – especially if you live with other students in an apartment or the dorms – so that no-one has access to them but you.

Going to college can be a life-altering experience and lots and lots of fun. But if you have ADHD you might want to plan ahead and make sure you know what your possible challenges could be and how you can face them. That means having a great support system in place and a back-up plan so that you can forge ahead and safely try things out on your own without falling too deeply should you fall at all.