I used to have nightmares in college that I'd done that, a mysterious calculus class that I never went to. Year after year it was the same class. It was plenty scary in dreams so I imagine it's not any better in real life.
The college learning environment she's chosen for next fall sounds great and she may well flourish, sounds very different from the place she currently is/wishing-she-was taking classes.
I would think your biggest concern right now isn't whether she can handle college or what accomodations she might benefit from, but "rescission" of admission. Look on the fall college's website or call the admissions office to get completely clear on the details.
It's happened many times before to other students so colleges generally have a plan on how to handle it, one just has to find out what it is. The plan for some serious lapses may be rescinding admission but short of that there may be other ways they handle those kinds of problems: deferment for a year for example, or allowing the student to matriculate conditional on their completing all admission requirements by Jan 1st.
I would try to get a really quick feel for whether the current college will scrub the classes or allow re-dos, whether she can complete what she needs to over the summer. But also go to the fall college as soon as possible to see how this affects admission, not delay complete honesty with them any longer than absolutely necessary.
Lastly it seems interesting that she just started taking ADD meds and coincidentally lost some months out of her life. I know you said the prescription was not until 6 weeks into the semester, her problem with class really started perhaps 2 weeks in. Still...a consult with her doctor about unusual behavior might be in order. An unintended side effect of stimulants or stimulant-like-medications could be over-confidence about one's abilities or situation, another possible side effect is anxiety, there are probably other relevant ones I'm not thinking of. Either could help explain not why she skipped class initially but perhaps why she dealt with it the way she did for such an extended period of time. Your complete shock over her behavior says it was not like her.
The college for the fall, and the current college too, are more likely to be forgiving about a unintended consequence of a prescribed medication than many alternative explanations. Letters from her doctor and/or psychologist might be helpful. Even if they felt she was doing great whenever they saw her in the last couple months, and even if some aspects of her life are better, a revelation about the onset of chronic lying, evasion and irresponsible behavior may alter their estimations.
I don't mean in any way to imply that ADD meds aren't incredibly useful medications for ADD. But there are dosage issues, individual temperament, concurrent diagnoses, etc which can potentially make it tricky. It may have nothing whatsoever to do with her behavior but it is worth exploring the possibility.
Polly
