The purpose of this blog post is to alert parents of neurodivergent learners who might not yet have the GPA or SAT – ACT Scores for the Bright Futures Scholarship there may be a chance for your child to still earn the scholarship.  

Note, the Bright Futures Scholarship is designed to keep our best and brightest kids in the state university system and to make college affordable for high performing students.  The awards are worth approximately $20,000 to $29.000, depending on a student’s GPA.SAT – ACT scores and the tuition at the school they attend.

The Bright Futures Scholarship has two different award levels:

1- The Florida Medallion Scholarship – that requires a 3.0 GPA and a 1210 on the SATs or a 25 on the ACT and 75 volunteer or 100 work hours.  This award is worth about $20,000 over 4 years — specifically 75% of the student’s tuition, so the value may vary by school.

2- The Florida Academic Scholarship – that requires a 3.5 GPA and a 1340 on the SATs or a 29 on the ACTs plus either 100 volunteer or 100 work hours.

Reading Comprehension, Reading Speed, Vocabulary and Test Anxiety Are 4 Key Issues we address.  Call us at 561-361-7495 to discuss how we assess for these 4 items and how we might be able to help your child earn a Bright Futures Scholarship

3D Learner has helped two groups of students:

• The more traditional learner, who often has the GPA and test scores to qualify for the Florida Medallion Scholarship or the Florida Academic Scholarship.  With the increased GPA and SAT – ACT scores, some students have been able to qualify for top universities elsewhere — where they would probably not have qualified without the increased GPA and SAT – ACT scores we helped them get.
• The neurodivergent right brain learner, who may need higher GPA and/or SAT and ACT scores to qualify for the Florida Medallion Scholarship or the Florida Academic Scholarship.

 

3D Learner helps students in 7 different ways to earn the Florida Medallion Scholarship and the Florida Academic Scholarships:

1. We provide an assessment that looks at the present level of performance for reading speed, reading comprehension, vocabulary and executive function. 
2. We work with the student to set Goals.  Since reading comprehension, reading speed, GPAs and SAT and ACT scores are measurable and there are defined targets, this focuses the student’s mind and ours. 
3. Even students with excellent GPAs often have a reading comprehension level that is below grade level.  We have helped these students to improve their reading comprehension 2, 3 and even 4 grade levels. 
4. We improve reading speed. One student was reading at 125 words per minute and was unable to finish the test or to get test accommodations.  We helped him to improve his reading speed to 300 words per minute, while improving his reading comprehension 2 grade levels.  This allowed him to finish the test and improve his SAT test scores by 270 points. 
5. We help students improve their GPAs.  This can allow them to qualify for the scholarship, get into better schools and be more successful in college. 
6. We lower their anxiety.  Using both the Safe and Sound Protocol ® and HeartMath ®, our students are able to be much calmer than they would otherwise be. 
7. We improve their self-esteem and confidence, often by seeing their practice test scores continuously rise.

One student did the math and realized he would have to work over 2000 hours in college to pay for the same amount the scholarship was worth.  He created a $20000 check made out to him and put it over his desk.  It resulted in a student who was not yet motivated to become highly motivated., We helped him to increase his GPA his last two semesters to a 3.75 and his SAT scores high enough to earn the Florida Medalion Scholarship. 

 

Note, the hard-working student with a high GPA and low-test scores is often the easiest to help.  They just need to improve their reading speed, reading comprehension, and math skills, while lowering their anxiety.  They often get tricked by the wording on the test and really benefit from our vocabulary building, efforts to improve their math, reading speed and reading comprehension levels; and they become much more confident as we teach them test taking skills.

 

Neurodivergent Right Brain Learners Often Have Significant Upside Potential

The neurodivergent right brain learner may need more foundation skills.

Who is a neurodivergent right brain learner?

We define neurodivergent right brain learners as students who:

• Learn differently – sometimes called neurodivergent, visual kinesthetic or right brain learners.  These students learn best when they see and experience information
• May have dyslexia, dyscalculia or a learning disability 
• May have ADHD
• May be on the autism spectrum – especially intelligent students with Aspergers
• Are often smart enough to achieve the Bright Futures Scholarship, but lack some key skills

The neurodivergent right brain learner may appear to be unmotivated, but in many cases money and getting into the right college are motivating.

 

Our Experience with Neurodivergent Right Brain Learners and the Bright Futures Scholarship

Our initial assessment often uncovers foundational skill gaps that may hamper them in school, on the SAT or ACT, in college and beyond.  These might include:

• ADHD issues, where they lose focus when testing.
• Processing speed issues, where they read tortuously slowly.
• Working memory issues where they just do not remember things.
• Language and vocabulary issues.  Both the SAT and ACT are written in a tricky way that often confuses the student who does not understand high frequency words (e.g. except, but, greater than, always etc.).
• Math skills, especially with respect to algebra – that is the focus of the SAT and ACT math sections. Combine this with the tricky questions and good students often get scores closer to 500 on the SAT when they should be getting 600 to 650.
• Test anxiety — when one has the other challenges, anxiety often follows.
• Belief in themselves.  When a student has always struggled on standardized tests, they often do even worse on the SAT and ACT.  

The good news is that with practice, they can often do far better.

If you would like to discuss how we might help your neurotypical, neurodivergent and right brain learners earn a Bright Futures Scholarship or improve their GPA and SAT – ACT scores call 3D Learner at 561-361-7495 or book a time on our schedule at Let’s discuss the Bright Futures Scholarship.