I've always been in the highest classes at the school's I've attended, and have gotten a combination of A's and B's. However, I can never focus in class, I can never focus on homework, and when I told my primary care physician this, she said that I've also displayed many other symptoms of ADD and she thought I should get checked out. However, is it possible to do well in school but still have ADD, or do academic struggling and ADD pretty much go hand in hand? (By the way, I don't mean to offend anyone; I think it's entirely possible to do well in school with ADD once it's diagnosed, but I'm referring more to an undiagnosed situation here). Thanks for any help!

How about a 4.0 with 17 extra credit hours while getting my MSED before dx? The downside-I had no life-all I could do was my classwork and my 20 hours a week assistantship. I had 3 kids at home, 9-17 years old then. Yes, no doubt it is possible, but it took all my energy and concentration. The meds help so much in reducing time spent on work-focus is better, and I know why-so I can plan and organized my work accordingly.

Yes, it's possible to get excellent grades and have ADD.

In fact, it sounds like VisualImagery is describing Hyperfocusing which is a common symptom of ADD.

There is much more to ADD than how well you perform at work or school.

If you have indications that you have ADD then you should get a formal diagnosis.

yes last year (freshemen yr high school ) i belive my gpa was a 3.5ish not my best now doing well with out meds for me ehhh that is much diffrent lol i would be about a c student

i went from failing most of my classes in my last 2 years of high school to avg As and Bs in first year college...the difference was meds and accomadations

Yup...that was me. I never cracked a book all through high school...not even in my first 2 semesters of college, but the harder the classes got the less mental effort I wanted to put forth into studying...*not counting the 7 majors*
I've always been in the highest classes at the school's I've attended, and have gotten a combination of A's and B's. However, I can never focus in class, I can never focus on homework, and when I told my primary care physician this, she said that I've also displayed many other symptoms of ADD and she thought I should get checked out. However, is it possible to do well in school but still have ADD, or do academic struggling and ADD pretty much go hand in hand? (By the way, I don't mean to offend anyone; I think it's entirely possible to do well in school with ADD once it's diagnosed, but I'm referring more to an undiagnosed situation here). Thanks for any help!

I have a 3.38 without meds. But this year is better than all the rest. Dunno why, but it can be done it just sucks all your time.

Yes, yes and a thousand times yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People with a.d.d. are smart! We might not be able to focus but we're smart! I go to an Ivy League University and our office of disability services has a ton of people registered. We learn to compensate really well, or at least I did. Because I was smart I could put less effort into my work and still do well. Homework and studying are still really tough for me but I've gotten on meds and worked on ways to get myself working and it's super helpful. Go get checked out!!

Yep, totally possible. And I agree that hyperfocusing may be something you're experiencing. Some ADDers channel all their extra energy and their racing thoughts into their work rather than letting their mind distract them. I definitely experienced that when I was younger. However, like some of these other posters, as I progressed through school and the work got tougher I was less able to focus and hold myself together. I did well all through school, even in college, but I could have done much better if I had been medicated at the time. I found homework and even keeping myself organized for class to be tragically boring.

Yeah. I have taught myself practically everything in life.

Classes were just like a background radio which I rarely paid attention too, at the time I Just wanted to be somewhere else and day dreamed - perhaps to avoid the frustration of sitting there for 1-2hrs.

So I caught up during homework, learning in my own time and pace. Then struggled through revision and passed most of my exams, obviously failing on those questions/exams that were taught in class, "as I wasn't there" and hadn't taught myself/wasn't interested in.

Same principle for everything attention wise, I often just work it out later if need be, but mess up fairly often when this technique is to late to work.

undiagnosed, but get by, kind of..