<p>Well now Madaboutx - that’s a whole other issue…kids flunking out of college. Due to combo of poor preparation but also bad advising. Colleges need to invest more in advising the students that they admit.</p>
<p>There is grade inflation in hugh schools. </p>
<p>Kids get to college thinking their previous methods of studying will be more than enough to pull those same grades. They are usually wrong. </p>
<p>No grade weighting, either. </p>
<p>Weeder classes try to knock out those who cannot perform. </p>
<p>There is more time between classes, often less grade inputs, less hand holding by professors, and often less interaction between instructior and student. </p>
<p>If you went to a school that might ave been a reach, then realize you are also cimpeting with all the best and brightest, so grades are maybe going to be a shock at end of term. </p>
<p>College is a big adjustment. Not everyone will be successful at it. It takes time to learn how to learn and what is quantifiable, and how to perform.</p>
<p>Interesting that the same folks who find it terrible that CPS has such a low success rate and thinks they should be doing better, just let colleges off the hook. Of course, there are HS grade inflation, weeder classes and less hand-holding by professors. However, college success rates can be increased through better advising.</p>
<p>I am not sure how my statement led you to believe that I have let Chicago high schools off the hook. </p>
<p>I am speaking about the majority of high schools throughout the country.</p>
<p>When I was a high school student, there was one valedictorian. Nobody got over a 4.0, even when taking AP and honors classes. </p>
<p>Now, the climate is different. You can have dozens of students with well over a 4.0.</p>
<p>No, I meant not to let colleges off the hook - with regard to advising.</p>
<p>Colleges absolutely do not do a good job of advising students. It is a system which favors the student who figures out how to get services. That will never be the majority, either. Kids will think they are failures because they did not ace Chem, like in high school, when really few students will ace the college version of Chem. </p>
<p>The best community college transfer school in my state has a proven track record - they transfer the majority of students into 4 year system over every other school in California. They have an excellent advising system - even so, the transfer director told me, kids have to seek it out.</p>
<p>Agreed, Sam. My kid is suffering - yet succeeding - at a top school due to poor advising. Oh well. I can’t imagine if you combine poor college advising with terrible HS education.</p>
<p>Kennedy, </p>
<p>It is a major problem. I have a kid who is like yours - but her initial thought was that she was not good enough first semester. Her college is rigorous and nearly everyone was a high ahiever like herself. </p>
<p>I stressed seeking every resource - writing center and tutoring and planning out schedule based on classes, taking harder distribution requirements in summer (she is a Div 1 athlete) and listening to her academc advisor about which classes to take, and when. </p>
<p>Advising often makes the difference between graduation and dropping out, success or failure in a soecific major.</p>
<p>I agree completely about advising. My kids are high income but first generation and both really suffered from poor advising. I often say that first gen students could use real support, not financial, in learning how to navigate college because the parents have no frame of reference to help them.</p>
<p>My son’s private school does everything on iPads and in the specific school it is the greatest thing ever. I can’t say enough good about the program. It has been transformative.</p>
<p>I’m in college and I just don’t see what advising is needed. Look online to see what classes are required for you to major in whatever. If you have a question, send an email. Sign up for those classes. Do the homework, study, pass, and take some more classes. Eventually you graduate. Easy. What piece am I missing?</p>
<p>Here is an example for you. My d took and did well in science AP classes in high school. When she got to college, based on what was listed online, the general freshman advisor put her into two 200 level science classes with labs in her first semester, along with three other classes. She wasn’t ready for that in first semester of freshman year, but didn’t know that and as a family with no history of college, we didnt know what we didnt know and couldn’t help her ask questions that would have given her a better outlook. Not everyone is as wise, experienced or fortunate as those who never make mistakes. Which mistakes can be very costly when there are only 8 semesters to work with.</p>
<p>So the issue is that the adviser should have said “Hey, that seems like too heavy of a load. I recommend against it.” but didn’t? I guess that makes sense. But it seems like a lesson learned and one that’s only going to happen first semester freshman year. Was this before October 2005 when you joined this site? I would think now this site could provide better advice than an adviser could.</p>
<p>No, the advisor chose the classes and the student wasn’t experienced enough to question that and neither were the parents. Had she had a more personal advisor who understood that those classes were given Every semester or who knew that not taking two lab classes that semester wouldn’t have thrown her off track in the department, she would have been much better off. At that college, people are advised by whomever is available in any department until a major is declared and advising is always done with limited involvement. Some people don’t know what they don’t know until it bites them.</p>
<p>As far as this site, same thing. If you don’t know what questions to ask you can’t get answers. I didn’t go to college, it wasn’t until after my daughter’s experience that I even learned that you didn’t have to take what you were given, and I had no idea about things like catalog years or co-requisites. My d2 has had amazing advising, and there are still things that her advisor has helped with that aren’t readily found in the catalog, like substituting a thesis for certain required classes.</p>
<p>That is hysterical, Vladdenschutte. </p>
<p>Sometimes this site has advice that is that is dead on accurate. Sometimes, it is not. </p>
<p>I especially like the threads where high school students are advising other high school students about college admissions minutae. Information is not always accurate. </p>
<p>You can get on a thread here with 10 different people and end up with 10 different subjective opinions. </p>
<p>With regards to an on-campus advisor, they can speak about actual professors, workloads, whether to take lab and lecture same semester, what path might be based for a certain career track, etc. </p>
<p>Just as you can do your own taxes or come up with own schedule for college, sometimes expert advice is worth it in long term. </p>
<p>Also, your mileage may differ - some schools have excellent online systems for students to navigate different majors or minors or concentrations, which assists a student in plotting their classes over four years. Others are much more complicated.</p>
<p>Sounds like the adviser was the problem then. Advisers shouldn’t be picking out classes for students. What school is this where the adviser picks classes out for the student?</p>
<p>Maybe it does depend a lot on the school. I guess I should say, at my school, I don’t see the need for advisers. Maybe if another school does not have the information infrastructure that my school has they need good advisers, but more importantly they need to get that information infrastructure up.</p>
<p>For instance, D’s academic advisor recommended she take a higher level math class off campus, because otherwise the class was undoable with the other classes that semester. Also, class would transfer in with requirement satisfied, but grade wouldn’t count as part of GPA. </p>
<p>Also academc advisor helping daughter figure out two different career options/grad school paths - which require similar prerequisites, but some additional requirements that must be met throughout undergraduate years for one of them. There are also shadowing opportunities in chosen career, but if you are not identified as interested in going that direction in department, you might never know it is available. She is also helping her maximize classes so that if eligile for minor, she can do with double dipped GE classes.</p>
<p>Many colleges have advisors for orientation where they assist you with picking out classes. </p>
<p>Some advisors are better than others.</p>
<p>No, it was the school’s advising policy, not the advisor.</p>
<p>My d2 was doing senior year degree checkout and showed the advisor the planned classes and was told that the thesis takes the place of one. That isn’t listed in the catalog or on the website, but it is listed on departmental checklist.</p>
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<p>What school is this? This sounds bad. If a school can’t even get this basic type of information up on the internet I wouldn’t trust them.</p>
<p>I went to an exceptionally good university which made a mistake with my grad check in my senior year. I was a transfer. </p>
<p>My advisor ended up making a screwup based on catalog year and requirements that made me end up with an extra 4 classes for graduation, and lost my double major. It cst me tuition and time. </p>
<p>I found out 1 week before expected graduation. </p>
<p>Clearly, the buyer must be beware - there are good and bad ones at every university. Getting things in writing and double checking what you know, or asking what you do not know is a good thing for every student.</p>