<p>Where to begin? DS is withdrawing, on advice of his college, after 3 years, in order to salvage his GPA and good standing status. His GPA is barely 2.0. He's currently failing 3 (statistics, biology, Spanish) out of 4 courses. Part of this is his fault, immaturity, failure to attend class, which he admits. But this is also a kid who's always tested very lopsidedly in his academic abilities. He's brilliant at creative writing and acting - also very strong in history, other verbal/writing subjects. He has diagnosed learning disabilities in math - has had to withdraw from required college math classes twice, even with tutoring. He would really like to get a college degree at some point, but believes graduation is unachievable for him at any college that has core requirements in math, science and probably language. Are there any options for him? He plans to take a break and get a job for a while. But what kind of college can he transfer to with his GPA that has no core requirements? He wants to major in creative writing, his passion. I believe since he has enough credits to be a junior, CC is out of the question, but doubt he could pass a math course even in CC, so that may not be an option for him anyway. I know a lot of people take a break from college when they aren't doing well, but how do they ever get back in when they left with a low GPA? I would really like to give him some hope that his desire for a college degree isn't a pipe dream.</p>
<p>Check out University of Redlands in Redlands, California. See the information under Johnston Center - there are no required classes and students don’t even get grades, they get written evaluations by their teachers. </p>
<p>I’m sure that there are many colleges that do not have core requirements…hopefully the other parents on cc will be able to list them for you.</p>
<p>Check out Evergreen State College as well in Washington. Also no core requirements. There is definitely hope for him.</p>
<p>Thanks, missemily and iamsounsure. I had also thought about Evergreen (my stepD went there). But after that I’m at a loss.</p>
<p>What you might want to consider is getting an attorney, a specialist in education law would be my recommendation. The truth is that many schools will offer waivers for those with diagnosed LD’s. Classes can be substituted for and changed. Gathering the information from comparable universities and presenting it, first, to the disability office and then the dean of his department would probably create a situation where they could make the curriculum “for” him. Barring this, do go on to find out which schools DO offer class waivers and assist your son in beginning the process of looking into finishing up at one of these. There are many…Start online…but, there are college guides specifically for LD kids. You might get stuck getting him tested, again. But it is worth the fight. He can finish up and an attorney, or at least an education advocate, can help you to see how to make a path for him.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, poetgirl. We did give his current college’s disability office his last testing results, but they were unwilling to give him any course waivers and only offered tutoring. We were disappointed. I’ll start researching.</p>
<p>It may also be beneficial to look into colleges that waive math requirements for people with mathematics disorders, or allow substitutions. I have dyscalculia so this is something I had to research myself. A phone call to the disabilities offices of some interesting programs may be in order.</p>
<p>Check this thread here at the Dyscalculia forum: [The</a> Dyscalculia Forum - Discussion Forum: Colleges that waive math.](<a href=“The Dyscalculia Forum - สูตรสล็อตล็อกเงินไม่ซ้ำใคร”>The Dyscalculia Forum - สูตรสล็อตล็อกเงินไม่ซ้ำใคร) </p>
<p>We have been compiling a list of colleges that waive, substitute, or do not require math as we come across them ourselves. He’ll have to find one he can get into, which will add a degree of difficulty here, but this can be done. His story is a very common one on the dyscalc forum.</p>
<p>Great forum, twisted! Thanks.</p>
<p>A nifty thing to look out for as well are schools that just naturally allow substitutions. For example at my university, the school of literature, science, and the arts has no general education math requirement-- simply “quantitative reasoning.” While a lot of students do choose to take statistics to meet that requirement, it says right on the website for the LSA that there are other classes one might take and math is not required to meet the requirement-- it takes some searching, but courses with little to no math elements can be found. And then because my major, poli sci, does not require any math I can actually graduate without taking any math at all. I found this out totally by accident and REALLY lucked out, so it would be a good idea, when possible, to look at the specific program requirements at schools he may be interested in and see how those various requirements must be met. Sometimes you can find tricky little things like that.</p>
<p>Thanks, twisted. I would not have thought of that (and neither would DS).</p>
<p>S2 took only one math class for his major. It was called Mathmatic Explorations. It fulfills the math req. for liberal arts majors. I believe he had a choice between the math class and a Philosophy class of some sort (which sounded unusual to me)to fulfill the req.</p>
<p>Do most schools require a 2.5 to transfer? I think that’s it at S2’s state u.</p>
<p>Some schools require 2.0 minimum for transfer (Evergreen is one). I guess that’s one of my questions - where do people finish college if they have low GPAs? I read posts about people who took a break because they were doing so poorly, but eventually went back and did well. I don’t understand how these people were ever able to get a college to accept them again? I guess most of them dropped out of 4-year colleges early and then went to CC to raise their GPAs. I think it’s too late for DS to do that.</p>
<p>klh, there are some colleges – I don’t know which ones, but I know they are out there – that will offer a provisional acceptance, the provision being good progress in the first semester of attendance. (Some grad schools do this, too.)</p>
<p>Thanks, owlice, that’s good to know.</p>
<p>"Part of this is his fault, immaturity, failure to attend class, which he admits. "</p>
<p>You’ve gotten some very helpful suggestions, and I don’t want to sound too harsh, but taking time off should be good for this student. When a school is found that doesn’t have core requirements in math or science…he’ll still need to attend class (unless he gets a degree on-line or through correspondence.)</p>
<p>If he takes a lot of time off, and has accomplishments at work or in a volunteer activity, he’ll be able to get into another school. There are a number of places for “life learners” that pay little attention to previous college GPA…but allow some of the courses to count towards a degree. Empire State College in NY is one of them.</p>
<p>If she doesn’t post here you might want to PM Northstarmom, who has been there and done that. You could also just do a search for her posts.</p>
<p>I agree, 2boysima, and I think DS does, too. I just don’t want him to think he can never finish, if he decides he wants to after taking time off.</p>
<p>Thanks, ebeeee.</p>
<p>Has your son been tested for dyscalculia? If he has it, he might be eligible for accommodations. It would also make him feel better about his performance not matching his efforts</p>
<p>I think he has been tested for almost everything! But I’ve never seen “dyscalculia” on any of the reports - just way below average scores on math/non-verbal tests and a summary of the test results to that effect. He definitely has dyscalulia, though. The only accomodations that were offered in high school were use of calculator, extended time on SATs (he got a 330 on math, 750 verbal, 11 out of 12 writing, which gives you an indication of his lopsidedness). No accomodations/waivers were granted at his current college other than tutoring.</p>