2014 1st Semester Parent's Discussion

<p>Will final grades actually be posted within 48 hours of the final exam?</p>

<p>It doesn’t look like it. S took his first final last Saturday and he has not had any grades posted. Maybe it’s 48 hours from the last final exam. In that case they should be posted by Monday afternoon since there are finals today.</p>

<p>Ours just finished his last final in physics this morning. Flying home tomorrow early. Every semester the classes are made intentionally difficult to the point that the students aren’t even sure they will pass. I don’t understand the philosophy. Looking forward to the break.</p>

<p>DS’s three classes already posted grades. Anxious to find out the grades from rest of his classes.</p>

<p>Does “meal money” in student account goes away after one semester is over?</p>

<p>VU Dining says: Any leftover Meal Money in the Fall semester will rollover to the Spring semester. This account expires May 9, 2014 at 11:59pm.</p>

<p>S is home and within 30 minutes he’s at the piano and I’m enjoying the music. It doesn’t get any better than this.</p>

<p>D came home yesterday afternoon. She just had her final grade posted. Thought she might fail the class, but thanks to the curve, she got a C-. She got two grades of C- this semester. She barely ever had a B. Didn’t think we’d be “celebrating” Cs. But she is so happy she didn’t get two D’s or worse. The other two grades were As, thank goodness. Needless to say, she’s changing from A&S to HOD.</p>

<p>It only gets easier after the first semester! (For the most part.)</p>

<p>@yellowgranite56‌ – D does not have final grades yet, but she may well be in a similar boat. Causing all kinds of rethinking re what she wants to major in, what path to end up taking, and basic things like how best to study! That, in itself, may be healthy, but some of the grading sure has seemed a mystery. I guess that’s college…. Hoping things indeed go up from here.</p>

<p>So good to have her home though!</p>

<p>@yellowgranite56,

I am just curious, what is your strategy behind this? Are you thinking HOD could help her yield higher GPA? Is she a pre-med or plans to apply to graduate school? (Perhaps you are just kidding and I am reading more to it?)</p>

<p>DS is premed and so far already made his first B (biology) in the history of his schooling. I am bracing for worst grades coming when all the semester grades are done. I am really hoping @Pancaked’s post #168 is accurate.</p>

<p>D got a B in biology, too–the first ever for her, too. She is frustrated because she feels like she put a great amount of effort into her studying, etc., but just could not get an A (or A-). She even went to a tutoring session, and they told her that she wasn’t really doing badly enough for them to help her. She went to the professor to get help with how to prioritize the information, since there is SO much, and he told her that was her concern, not his. She feels like she took all the advice (much of it from CC), but nothing helped her “break through”.</p>

<p>And yes, thank you @Pancaked. Your words were an encouragement to DD at just the right time.</p>

<p>From a 2nd year parent - 1st semester freshman year is a rude awakening for a lot of students. Your student also just went through a large number of changes and first experiences. It’s really about how they learn from the 1st semester and make the changes they need to make going forward. Vanderbilt is confident that they can be successful.</p>

<p>Time management and study skills are the key. Vanderbilt has resources to help students struggling with either one. The biggest help for our son has been utilizing his AP credits to keep his course load between 14 - 16 units with a few of those units being in a “fun” class.</p>

<p>@4beardolls, D realized that she doesn’t like the hard sciences. Healthcare management has been an interest for her since about junior year in high school. She is excited about it … And is very interested in the classes she has signed up for next semester. Not doing it for the GPA boost. That would be ridiculous! She would just transfer if there was nothing else at Vandy that interested her. Her advisor thought it was a good choice as well.</p>

<p>@Go9ersjrh‌ or others with experience – Know of specific Vandy resources re study skills? D probably should also have utilized the Writing Studio before turning in papers. Has anyone found that particularly valuable (or not)?</p>

<p>DS is working on ordering text books for the 2nd semester. Can he ship them to Vanderbilt during the holidays?</p>

<p>@Sorrento‌ - Check out the Physiological and Counseling Center. They offer a reading and studying skills class. They will also do individual sessions. S hasn’t used them so I don’t have a personal recommendation. </p>

<p>^ Thank you. Will tell D to look into it in case it would be helpful.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt will technically return any packages not picked up within 8 business days of arrival. I don’t know how exactly they deal with this policy over breaks. I would wait until closer to the return date to order.</p>

<p>@Sorrento I’ve found the Writing Studio extremely useful, both for individual papers and in general learning skills for writing/editing papers.</p>