Most of us jump in to a conclusion that when a person has learning disabilities, he or she will have a particularly difficult time getting admitted to any college. David Montesano, however, insists that we are all clouded by the wrong assumption.

Montesano, a college admission strategist, said that based on years of experience in College Match Educational Consultants students who have learning disabilities actually have high chances of admission in colleges.

Montesano said that colleges want diversity; and a learning disability is some sort of diversity. Also, colleges are often lenient with an applicant’s test scores and grades if presented with an evidence of learning disabilities. Learning disabilities will push colleges to be more considerate of class rankings, low grades, and standardized test scores.

As an example, Montesano said that students with learning disabilities who get a GPA of 3.4 can compete with normal students with a GPA of 3.7; the same way that colleges are more impressed with applicants who have learning disabilities with a GPA of 3.4 than a normal applicant with the same grades.

Instead of hiding learning disabilities in college applications, Montesano said it should be highlighted. Aside from proving that you indeed have learning disabilities by showing medical records and reports, you should also point out that impact of your disabilities to your grades.

Before you do that, however, Montesano said that it is best to verify if your college of choice is open to diversity. You cannot directly ask a college about this as they will definitely deny that they judge students based on such medical conditions; instead, ask around campus or look it up online.