3 Signs Your College Student With ADHD is Struggling (And How to Help)
- Sean McCormick
- Dec 14, 2022
- 11 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Last updated: February, 2026
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Your student can look “fine” in their first semester of college and still be drowning, because the college system removes structure fast.
In this post, you’ll learn 3 signs your college student with ADHD is struggling and what to do next to help them get back on track.
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Could a student who earned honors in high school fail one (or more) classes in their first semester of college?
Or could they drop most of their classes and end up on academic probation (even when both parents have Doctorate degrees)?
Yes.
And it happens all the time.
Because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), unless a college student allows their parents to see their grades and records, the only thing parents are getting from the school is a bill.
In this post, we'll break down 3 signs that your college student is struggling with the transition to college.👇
Why Do First-Year College Students Often Struggle?
First year of college is basically the Olympics of “do everything yourself” skills.
The workload isn’t always harder than high school, but the system is:
fewer reminders
fewer check-ins
more unstructured time
way more decisions
If a student’s executive function skills are still developing (or they’ve been carried by structure at home/school), the wheels come off fast.
They’re running into the most common first-year traps:
time blindness (underestimating how long tasks take)
weak planning (not breaking assignments into steps)
poor prioritization (doing what feels urgent instead of what matters)
Add new freedom, inconsistent sleep, and no built-in accountability, and you get a student who looks “unmotivated” on the outside but is actually overwhelmed and under-equipped on the inside.
For more on how executive dysfunction shows up for college students, watch this video.👇
3 Signs Your College Student With ADHD is Struggling
Sign #1: They say everything is “great”
Everyday on campuses throughout the United States, freshmen struggle to make sense of the massive transition from high school.
Being away from the security and support of home is filled with stress inducing conditions that include:
Long distance from family and friends
Being a freshman surrounded by more experienced college students
Intimidating professors and large lecture halls
Difficulties with sleep due to sharing a room with a stranger
For example, in the first year of college, one of my executive functioning coaching clients convinced her parents everything was "fine" for a full semester until the parents received notice that she was on academic probation and would be dropped from the school if her grades did not improve.
Deeply concerned, they returned to the neuropsychologist who had previously assessed and diagnosed her dyslexia and ADHD and asked what they could do.
He recommended executive functioning coaching and referred them to me.
Within the first session, it was evident the most pressing obstacle to her academic success was her inability to login to her school email.
"What happened?" I asked? She shared:
"Well, after a few unsuccessful attempts to access my email, I got locked out and then it said I had to contact IT. I didn't know how to find IT, so I just forgot about it,"
"But since I couldn't get into my email, I didn't receive class updates and I just lost track of what I was supposed to be doing. I was so embarrassed and didn't want to ask for help."
Because she was in a new state without friends or knowledge of how to access mental health supports on campus, she started relieve the pressure of not being "successful" through partying and sleeping in.
BUT, within that first session, we were able to gain access to her email and begin the process of addressing the missing assignments and emails that she had lost track of.
After meeting weekly for months, she executively decided (and informed her parents during a Family Team Meeting) that attending a nearby community college was a better option for her in order to transition to college life.
While freshman year was an extremely rocky experience for this student, by accepting a little help from an executive function coach, she was able to regain her footing on the college experience and eventually transferred back to her original university.
So what is the moral of the story?
When your college student with ADHD tells you everything is "fine," probe further, get details and make yourself available to support them.
Here are a few tips to learn more about their experience:
1. Ask open ended questions
What are you enjoying about your freshman year? What is challenging about the college transition?
2. Focus on facts, not judgements
I noticed you didn't respond to my last email about working with a tutor. Why was that?
3. Open up about yourself
When I transitioned from high school to college it was so hard to be away from home, cooking all my own meals and being in the snow. How are you doing with the transition to college?
Sign #2: They don’t connect with the Disability Resource Department
Many students with ADHD have a 504 plan or IEP in high school, but then forget (or don’t know) they can access accommodations and supports through the disability resource department at their university or community college.
This department has different names at different schools including:
Student accessibility services
Accessibility Centre
These departments are KEY for students with disabilities and can be the grease on the wheel for an effective transition from high school.
For many students with ADHD or other disabilities, accessibility services will not only provide accommodations and supports to make school work more accessible and manageable, but they also improve the college experience in other ways including:
Guidance on courses and professors that are disability friendly
Access to healthy opportunities to socialize through a peer support group
Offering specialized academic tutoring for exams and challenging assignments
Opportunities to get involved with extracurricular pursuits
Reviewing papers and other writing students need to submit
Early registration options
In my experience, a good student accessibility services department and counselor can be the difference between a disorientated freshman staying enrolled in college after a challenging transition and a student that drops out and returns home.
Here's a quick story of how valuable the disability resource department can be.👇
Before working with me, one of my students had tried community college without accessing the disability resource department and had dropped out of school.
Without a solid plan for the future, he soon experienced increased anxiety and depression while living at home, which was very concerning to his parents.
He began meeting with a therapist, who recommend he try working with an executive functioning coach and we were connected.
After we began working together, he soon decided he wanted to re-enroll in community college to become a registered automative technician.
Upon enrolling, I also encouraged him to provide his previous assessments to the disability resource department so they could create a personalized accommodation plan for him.
He made it through his first semester without much difficulty, but when he entered his second semester, he was required to enroll in a course with a teacher who made accessing accommodations very challenging.
Each time my student attempted to leverage an accommodation, the teacher would have a response for why he couldn't allow it, usually in the name of "fairness to others".
Eventually, my client had a failing grade in the class even though he was spending hours every week working on the material! I encouraged him to file a complaint against the teacher for not granting him the use of his legal accommodations.
He brought this issue to his disability resource counselor, who then elevated it to the department head. The department head listened to his concerns, reviewed the email attempts he had made to problem solve with the teacher, and met with the teacher to discuss the issue.
This process led to my client being able to submit ALL the work he had completed that was revoked, which allowed him to pass the class with full credit!
The confidence he gained from this experience was remarkable and he went from living at home and not attending school, to moving out of state, completing his vocational training and obtaining a job in his desired field.
As a parent, you can help your college student by ensuring they have access to accessibility services and guiding them through the process.
When touring schools with your student, ensure the school has a robust accessibility service offering.
Since every student accessibility services department is different, do not assume one will be appropriate for your student without a comprehensive review of their offerings, first.
Sign #3: They enroll too many classes
Many students with ADHD are incredibly hard on themselves because for most of their student experience they have been told they are not adequate in some form or another.
Sometimes this manifests in school avoidance, but other times it shows up as them wanting to prove they can take on any challenge, such as taking all AP classes or engaging in multiple extracurricular activities, even to the point of burn out.
Remember, perfectionism is just a pretty word for procrastination.
So these students enroll in classes based on their IDEAL self, but not what they can actually manage.
As an executive function coach, much of my work is helping college students see that it is ok to take the RIGHT amount of classes, rather than what they think they SHOULD be doing.
As a parent, validate your student for taking whatever amount of classes is appropriate for them during their first semester of college.
The transition to college requires adjusting to many new things which may include:
Learning time management without Mom or Dad reminding them of where to be at what time
Taking care of their own health
Meeting new people and discovering new interests
Having to prepare their own meals, every day
Budgeting their money
Working part-time
Do you remember what it was like in your first year of college?
Did you have it all figured out?
I was a bundle of nerves, indecision and a desperate desire to prove myself to the world.
In fact, I remember having TWO sprained ankles and hobbling through the New York City subways on my way to classes, because I was juggling playing college basketball, working part-time and taking six classes.
Recall that feeling of adjusting to your freshman year of college, and do your best to help your student be successful with the amount of classes they can comfortably handle.
How Can Executive Functioning Coaching Help Students With ADHD in Their Transition to College?
It can be hard to stay in the loop with your young adult as they make the leap to college.
If you have history of:
helicoptering (being overly involved)
bull dozing (knocking obstacles out of their way and thus reducing their independence)
being a Tiger parent (rigidly expecting obedience)
it may be hard for your child to connect with you now that they have flown the nest.
If you think this is the case, consider using the expertise of an executive functioning coach to act as a bridge between your goals and the support your student is willing to accept.
Many executive function coaches are also former teachers who have expertise in working with students with learning disabilities.
Some executive function coaches are also former special education instructors who have expertise in case management and know how to help students access the accommodations and supports that colleges offer, but may not publicize widely.
If you think executive function coaching would benefit your college student, you can book a no-cost inquiry call with EF Specialists here.
When looking for a coach, seek one who can conduct Family Team Meetings, like our team at EF Specialists, so you can stay in the loop and provide input, while also helping your student strengthen their executive skills.
Remember, as a parent, you don't want a student who blindly follows your directions. You want a student who knows who how to:
Advocate for their preferences and needs
Communicating their decisions to family and friends in an assertive and thoughtful manner
Plan out their goals for college along with what they will do over breaks and summer
Organize a pathway to graduation based on their long-term goals
Complete a time audit of their daily activities to gain self-awareness around how they spend their time
Executive functioning coaches focus on teaching the skills above, while helping students who are transitioning to college make sense of the new challenges they are facing.
To learn more about how to find the right executive function coach, read the article, Executive function coaching: The definitive guide.
If you are currently seeking an executive functioning coach for your college student, here are some questions you can ask a prospective coach:
What experience do you have supporting college students?
What would you do if our student was not responsive to your outreach? If they missed a meeting?
How do you know a student is being honest with you about their grades and assignments?
How would you keep us (the parents) engaged while supporting our student?
What is your experience working with students with ADHD or (other disability)?
How would you go about ensuring my student has access to appropriate accommodations and supports in college?
FAQs
Could my “straight-A” kid really fail in college that fast?
Yes. High school honors often comes with built-in structure, reminders, and adults quietly running the system behind the scenes.
College removes that scaffolding overnight, so executive function gaps show up immediately.
If FERPA blocks me from seeing grades, what can I actually do as a parent?
You can ask for specifics, notice patterns, and create regular check-ins that focus on facts instead of lectures.
You can also ask your student to sign a FERPA release so you can be looped in before the “surprise academic probation” email hits.
Is it better to push through at a university or step back to community college?
It depends on whether the current environment is helping them build skills or burying them in stress and avoidance.
For many students, a temporary step back can rebuild confidence, routines, and academic momentum so they can transfer back stronger later.
The Bottom Line
First-year college students often struggle with the massive transition into an environment where there is less structure and way more independence.
To recap, here are the 3 signs your college student might be struggling:
They say everything is going “great”
They don’t connect with the Disability Resource Department
They enroll too many classes
If you think executive function coaching would benefit your college student, you can book a no-cost inquiry call with EF Specialists here.
Hope this helps 🤙🏻
This article is a part of the larger category of:
Related articles:
Ultimate Guide on Executive Functioning Skills for College Students
4 Steps To Prepare Your High School Student for College (Without Doing Everything for Them)
18 Tips to Overcome Test-Taking Anxiety for College Students
What Are Executive Function Skills For College Students And How Can EF Coaching Help?
P.S. If you want to work on executive function skills with your students, consider joining hundreds of other educators and parents who have completed my Semester Success Blueprint Course. In less than 2 hours, this comprehensive course will teach you and your student the system I developed to help hundreds of students learn how to manage school effectively and raise their self-awareness and engagement with school.
About Me
Hey! I'm Sean 👋
I'm a former public school special education teacher who realized that executive function skills are more important than knowing when George Washington crossed the Potomac.
Since then, I've made it my mission to teach anyone who will listen about how to develop these key life skills.
In 2020, I founded Executive Function Specialists to ensure all students with ADHD and Autism have access to high-quality online executive function coaching services. We offer online EF coaching and courses to help students and families.
Realizing I could only reach so many people through coaching, in 2021 I started the Executive Function Coaching Academy which trains schools, educators, and individuals to learn the key strategies to improve executive function skills for students.
In 2023, I co-founded of UpSkill Specialists, to provide neurodivergent adults with high-quality executive function coaching services.
When not pursuing my passions through work, I love spending time with my family, getting exercise, and growing my brain through reading. You can connect with me on LinkedIn.
Want me to speak on executive function skills at your event? Learn more about my speaking topics here.