I was thinking back at my college years. Wondering how much better I could have done. I was just curious how you guys did it. I am pretty good at math and I had a unbelievable tough time trying to pass calculus. Never could I pay attention... I was surprised I made it that far. Did any of you have any tricks that helped?

I'm still a college student, and I've noticed that after having left for about a year due to medical leave (emotional, psychological problems), I was not the same and had also changed directions.

I'm not diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, but I am learning about this more and more as I'm interested in being an educator in that field.

As far as my own experience, I've found that after some medications and after losing touch with college and that life, I had a harder time. My GPA has dropped considerably (still above 3.0 but not as high as I'd like) from where it was and I'm having an increasingly difficult time with tests especially.

I think it's important to realize that much of what college is about is learning to think in a certain way that the professors want you to think. For instance, the process for gaining admission to college of taking SATs, etc. gives favoritism to people who think a certain way, people who think the way the people giving the test think.

Many people today in the fields of education and psychology as well as elsewhere believe that the way the 'system' is set up with so much testing and regurgitation is unfair not only in that it puts the students at a disadvantage but that it limits the kinds of people who wind up succeeding in our society.

I graduated long before I found out about the ADD, and I'm sure it would have made a big difference in my college years if I'd known what was going on. I alternated between brilliance and denseness, depending on the class, and I had no idea what was going on. I graduated, but my self-esteem really took a beating. Later on (still before dx), I took some more classes, and did much better at staying on track. But that time in my life was different. Taking classes was a treat by then, and I was taking classes I had a strong interest in.

Famous last words ... "If I'd only known then what I know now!" :p If I take classes again (which I'd like to do), I expect the experience to be an entirely different one.

I graduated before I found out, and if I'd known it would have helped, because I would not have tried certain classes that were just more than I could handle. I would have known what I could do, and not wasted time and money on things that were not suited for me.

... I would not have tried certain classes that were just more than I could handle

I think college would not have been such a challege if :

* A liberal arts education did not work for me - I would have done better in a focused trade school environment ( computer programmer ). Having to take all those courses that did not relate to the major made me very angry.
* I needed A LOT of counseling and guidance that we not there. I was uncapable of self directing myself - this is not unusual for student 18-20 years old - but I think add people can get much more trapped.


Therefore :
* Maybe people with add ( hyperfocusers ) need a more targeted education so that they can become good a skill that has value and can generate an income.

I also finished my undergrad long before my Dx. I'm in grad school now, on meds, and while grad school is an entirely different cup of tea in terms of the quality of work you're expected to produce (can't just put perdy smelling *stuff* out there anymore), I still think I would have handled things differently "if only I had known...." For example, I probably would have stuck with psychology as a major, despite the wank that taught my first psych course and the wank's poor choice of textbooks (looking back, that book's an ADDer's NIGHTMARE!!!). I also believe I would have had fewer personal emotional/psych issues. I mean, I did really well in undergrad...graduated cume laude, even after quitting in the middle of student teaching and finishing a year later. And I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I'm proud of my degree. However, like so many others here, I had my "breeze" classes and my "stormy" classes....

This is an interesting thread. I wasn't able to finish college myself and now I see it as mostly due to ADD...couldn't focus, hard time finishing assignments, took on too much at one time etc.

I "found" ADD this summer, 2 semesters before graduation. Haven't been diagnosed yet, but I'm pretty sure I have it. Now I'm on my last semester of college. Probably going to get tested soon. Too bad I didn't discover it earlier, my GPA would probably be a good bit higher.