[NABS-L] [nabs-l] disclosing your disability on a graduate school application

[Vanna Song]

Hello Danielle,

It's at your discretion whether you want to disclose your disability.
Since you asked about the experience of other graduate applicants, I
disclosed my disability in the application, including the statement of
purpose. I did not apply to a STEM program. I applied to an
international studies program. I don't know how much my disability
factored in to them accepting my application though.

On 8/22/18, Emily Schlenker via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi, Danielle. As a long time stem student, I can share my experience, but it
> is only at one University and one national meeting where there were tons of
> people in the field that I have the most interest. My heart will always be
> in chemistry, but this seems to be a discipline fraught with academic
> rigidity and is not particularly friendly to blind students. You will find
> yourself possibly being railroaded into sitting at a computer all day, or
> you may be in a situation where you cannot get into a research lab. I’m not
> saying that this is the case, but it is definitely a strong possibility with
> chemistry. Physics seems to be somewhat the same way, but maybe not quite as
> rigid and pedantic. I have had the most luck with biologists and others in
> the life sciences. They seem to be more open minded and interested in
> different ways of doing things. As far as disclosure, I certainly would not
> disclose it on the application, but you do need to give the graduate school
> plenty of time to prepare for you if you do get in, so maybe that would be
> the time to talk with their accommodations office. I have been at this
> student thing for a long time, and honestly I do not trust the majority of
> people not to have a knee-jerk reaction when they see that someone is blind
> and they are in a position to reject the application. Lots of people give
> lip service to diversity, but it is very seldom truly played out in the
> sciences. I will not speak for math, although it seems to be more friendly
> to blind students. I don’t know much about engineering, either. I hope this
> helps.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Aug 22, 2018, at 5:16 PM, Danielle Sykora via NABS-L
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'm curious whether those of you who have applied to graduate school,
>> particularly in STEM subjects, disclosed your disability prior to
>> being accepted? I generally do not disclose my disability ahead of
>> time if I have the choice because I want to be considered fairly with
>> as little prejudice as possible. I've submitted one application
>> without disclosing my disability anywhere in the application material,
>> which is definitely the right decision for that situation.
>>
>> I am however considering whether disclosing my blindness with this
>> second application would be beneficial or not. This particular
>> university really seems to emphasize diversity, mentioning unusual
>> backgrounds and being part of a minority group on both the application
>> and statement of purpose guidelines (not just the generic "we value
>> diversity" statement on the website that practically every university
>> includes). I'm wondering if mentioning my blindness along with other
>> factors (either on the appropriate place in the application or on my
>> statement of purpose) would improve my chances of being accepted
>> because it improves their diversity; however, I am still concerned
>> about preconceived notions the professors I would like to consider me
>> for assistantships might have that could cause them to overlook me
>> entirely.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>> Danielle
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> NABS-L mailing list
>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> NABS-L:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/eschlenker%40cox.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NABS-L mailing list
> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> NABS-L:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/truewise.8614%40gmail.com
>