<p>My daughter is a first semester freshman in a small catholic university and is really struggling academically. She was a fairly strong high school student, played 3 sports, involved and with many activities.
She has now 3 courses after dropping one. One of her Professors recommended she drop his, she decided against it even though she has a D in the course. She tells me that she has 2 Cs in the other courses. My daughter also has an IEP, which gives her extra time on her tests. She has finally realized that she must take advantage of tutoring that is available and conferencing with her professors. I must add she loves her college and can not imagine not going back for the spring semester. I have heard that many freshman struggle their first year. How common is it, and do colleges generally give their students a second semester to redeem themselves? She is a good kid that does not get into trouble and is a full pay student.</p>
<p>The first semester can be a challenge for some kids for a number of reasons including - </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Academic level much higher than in HS - i.e. at a college where most of the kids were in, for example the top 10% of their HS class (or substitute 25% or 33% depending on the college), that cohort now makes up the ENTIRE college class which means half of them who were in the top 10% of HS are now in the bottom 50% at college.</p></li>
<li><p>No parents to hound them to study, quit spending all night on Facebook, texting, quit playing video games all night, quit watching TV, quit being lazy, etc. They need to be self-motivated and have good work/study habits.</p></li>
<li><p>They need to be assertive and pro-active in seeking additional help for things they don’t understand - TAs, Prof office hours, consulting with other students, seeking other resources (easy with the internet), etc. They’re likely not used to seeking this on their own.</p></li>
<li><p>Too much socializing - some socializing is good but too much socializing, especially with the roomies (because they’re around them for extended times), can be detrimental to studies.</p></li>
<li><p>Inadequate study environment - if the roomies are socialites or have a TV going loudly (and TV in the dorm room is a bad idea IMO) or there are other distractions, the student needs to figure out an alternative - go find a study area in the dorm building if equipped, go to a library, study in someone else’s room who’s also studying, etc. I’ve seen some students sitting in the halls studying to be more left alone.</p></li>
<li><p>They get involved in partying/drinking/drugs, which can derail them no matter how well they did in HS.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>It’s really the ‘student’ who needs to do a self-assessment of the situation, consider al of the above, and figure out where the problem is and correct it.</p>
<p>Two C’s and a D might be enough to get on academic probation if it results in her ending up with lower than a 2.0 GPA depending on the college. She should consult with an academic counselor on her status in this area and also for advice on corrective action.</p>
<p>If she were to drop another class I’d expect she’d no longer be a full time student and that can have ramifications at some colleges including losing financial aid, not being allowed to stay in the dorm, etc. so she needs to be careful about that.</p>
<p>I also say that parents are often amazed at how difficult college can be for even strong students in high school because they confuse good grades with getting a good education. I’m not saying that this is the case with the OP but you have to evaluate the strength of the high school programs along with those grades. This is why admissions people have such a hard time, schools vary SO much. </p>
<p>OP, if she has an IEP, is she in contact with the disabilities office to make sure she is getting the help she needs. Yes, freshmen often struggle but it’s not all that common for a “strong” high school student to flunk out without outside causes–too much of a social life usually.</p>
<p>There is also often “peer tutoring” … she should see if this is an option for her classes as well. Many schools we have visited offer this as well - no charge.</p>
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<p>The relative lack of structure in college can be a problem for many first-year students, including students who had IEPs in high school. Sometimes these kids try to do without the supports they used in high school; they want to reinvent themselves or they don’t think they need the supports because the assignments are not broken down into chunks for them as is typical in many high schools. So the students develop a false sense of confidence in the first weeks of the semester, and right around now, things start to fall apart.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is true of your D, but I have seen many first-year college students not use the accommodations to which they are entitled either because they naively assume they have conquered their high-school issues or because they really, really want to be “normal” in the context of their college peers. It is important for these students to realize that they aren’t going to get any credit for trying to cope without the appropriate supports, and that it is perfectly fine to use such supports. There is no stigma and no disadvantage. It seems as if your D is beginning to realize what she needs to do. She may be placed on academic probation after this semester, but I imagine she will have the opportunity to pull her grades back up in the spring as long as she continues to attend class, do the work, and keep in contact with her professors and advisors.</p>
<p>If she finishes the semester below 2.0,she’ll likely be on Academic Probation. She will be allowed to return in the spring but will have to do well enough to get her gpa back up to the minimum level to be allowed to continue. </p>
<p>My S2 had a horrible first semester. His university allows freshman to retake up to three 100/200 level courses in which they made a D or F and use the new better grade as a replacement to give the gpa a boost in the right direction. S2 took advantage of the “retakes” in the spring sem…got off probation and did well from there on out. Check to see if retakes are offered at her college. Hopefully, she’ll reach out for some help now that she knows she needs it. It really helped S2 when he finally started going to the pre- test review sessions that some profs. offered.</p>
<p>She still has time to get her grades up before the end of the semester. Good Luck to your D.</p>
<p>Is she attending all of her classes and doing the assignments?</p>
<p>Time management is the number one skill freshman need to succeed. Easier said than done. My own kid - a stellar student - earned the first C of his life first semester freshman year. Not surprised by a blip but there has to be progress. Hopefully there is still time to redeem the D because that will be hard to recover from on a transcript. What would concern me is that this isn’t even the class she dropped, so I assume that one she was failing.</p>
<p>She need to make academics her priority - and believe me they all SAY they are working hard, but my question becomes, are you working efficiently? She needs to visit her professors during office hours to make sure she is on track with what she is focusing her studies on. The best part of visiting a professor during office hours is the high likelihood that you’ll meet someone else in that class, in an advanced class etc. And then too… if you are showing up to class, taking advantage of office hours and making a concerted effort. Teachers notice. That way, when you hit a wall, become overwhelmed, feel clueless and lost… the first time they see your face won’t be the day before the final. They typically aren’t that interested in those that don’t engage until the final hour. Go figure.</p>
<p>This said… I allowed a blip, but we made it clear to all our kids… they have a year. We don’t expect perfection, but we do expect them not to waste the opportunity as well as our hard earned money. For as much as school is about them, we have to feel good enough about it. After all… Our money is a terrible thing to waste!</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice. She, after receiving midterm grades ( with encouragement from us) started using peer tutors and even an organization coach. Hopefully this will help. </p>
<p>The advertising professor, the class in which she has the D offers to clarify concepts but is never available to her except through email or phone conferences and it is one course
that does not have a tutor available. I must also add the professor encouraged to drop the course more than once, but she felt she could not since she had previously dropped economics. She has not missed one of his classes either. I do give her credit for trying to stick it out.<br>
She is learning what she has to do, I hope it is not too late.</p>
<p>“Our money is a terrible thing to waste.” Too funny.</p>
<p>Seashore3, see whether her advertising textbook has a study guide. There may be one on-line. Do a Google search of the textbook name and its publisher. Publishers often have on-line quizzes, outlines and flash cards that are useful.</p>
<p>Seashore, glad your daughter is being proactive! One thing in your post bugged me…I am under the impression that office hours are required by the university for every single teacher. Why is he unavailable? I would recheck the syllabus and see when he is supposed to be there…maybe there has been a communication breakdown and if she talks to him after class and uses the “I am confused…I would like your guidance, but I showed up for office hours last week and you weren’t there.” DD had ADHD and an iep in high school too, and is doing dramatically better in college. I know she would say that attending office hours is a key strategy for her.</p>
<p>We checked for a study guide for her advertising text, there is not one available. MyD has given us access to her email so we have seen the interaction with the advertising professor, I also checked his syllabus and he has office hours by appointment only. She has gone early to class to speak to him too. I think at this point she is very intimated by him.
Yes, she ADHD and focusing is her issue. She does take medication.</p>
<p>Why does he only have office hours by appointment, and has she made an appointment? Doesn’t the college have a standard number of hours that professors are required to establish? Honestly, if it were me, I would consider calling the disability services office or the office for the umbrella school (e.g. business and communications) and simply ask if professors are required to establish office hours. My guess is that he is not a full time prof, and comes after working another position, but I do not see that as an excuse to not meet student needs.</p>
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<p>Most colleges I know of do not have a minimum set hours requirement for Prof’s office hours. In fact, while they encourage Profs to set office hours, it’s not a mandated requirement and whether office hours exist and the manner in which they are usually left completely up to the individual Prof. </p>
<p>I’ve had a Prof at a summer Ivy course not have set office hours as he followed what seemingly was a common practice of delegating office hours work to his TFs. At my LAC, I’ve also had Profs who not only make themselves available during office hours, but sometimes even allowed us to drop by their homes and/or call them late right before midterms/finals weeks.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, one common theme I kept hearing even from the most dedicated Profs who have generous office hours and go out of their way to help their students is that only a minority of students usually bother to even take advantage of them and most aren’t the ones who are “at risk” academically.</p>
<p>Is this instructor an adjunct who is also working elsewhere? That would be my first guess for someone who doesn’t have regular fixed office hours.</p>
<p>I feel like this conversation is not really going anywhere… Yes, office hours are important and it’s been established that OP’s D should do everything in her power to meet with her professor but there’s not much left to say on that subject after that. </p>
<p>Instead, I’d like to recommend that she use her classmates for help. Every class has at least a few ‘A’ students, she should seek them out and ask to study with them or get their help after class. Too many people don’t ask for their peers help but that can be the most beneficial sometime. I was in an Econ course last year and did really well on the midterm and had a few classmates come up to me and ask to study for the final together. Those that studied with me aced the final (even those who got Cs and Ds on the midterm). Use this resource!</p>
<p>The ‘professor’ is called an Affiliate Instructor. You are probably right, he has other responsibilities. My D emailed him early Sunday and asked for a conference, but has yet to receive a response.
I appreciate all responses. We hope she makes it through. She is a great kid that wants to be successful. Fortunately, she is resilient, at least we hope.</p>
<p>Seashore, how are the other students doing in the class? Frankly, I suspect that he/she is not a prof. dedicated to teaching… maybe she SHOULD drop this class, and start fresh next term. Also, she should enlist disability services in setting her up with an advisor who can help her identify classes for next term that will match her with supportive professors if possible.</p>
<p>Most small schools need your tuition money. They will likely give your D even more than one semester to get her GPA up if the GPA is trending upwards.</p>
<p>Google “college” and “executive function disorder.”</p>