<p>Your S may already be addressing this on his own.</p>
<p>When my S struggled in one course each of his first two terms at a tough school (sophomore transfer), this usually reticent son did tell us. He was worried. This gave us the opportunity to advise - which it turns out we didn’t really need to do. To my amazement, he had already visited prof ofc hours, found a new study partner, ordered a different text from the one the prof used… In other words, he was handling it on his own. But he was still very worried and feared his efforts wouldn’t pull him through.</p>
<p>What we did was let him know that we were in his court and that we’d be happy to see him just pass each of these courses. Just pass. I think that lifted a weight off of his shoulders - the fear that he would let us down. He eked out a C+ in each of those classes - this kid who had never seen anything lower than an A-/B+ even in college.</p>
<p>I’m bringing all of this up to agree with you and others that sometimes they need to learn - through that mid-term grade experience - what it takes to the get the A’s and B’s in their new academic environment. And if they are motivated (and it doesn’t sound like you have worries about your son’s motivation), they will re-group most likely.</p>
<p>If he is not motivated, too much into the social life… then that is a different type of problem. Involves asking if he is attending all (ALL) class sessions, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t know what GPA your S needs to retain the scholarhip. Even with those C+ grades once each term, S never had a term GPA lower than a 3.0. And his overall GPA, now in his senior year, is quite a bit higher than that.</p>
<p>I do think that you can find a way, following others’ suggestions, to check in with him on how it’s going. See if he needs help. See if he needs your support and vote of confidence. IDK if my S would ever have used an organizer or agenda, if I’d gotten him one. But if you are able to chat your with yours, you might be able to figure out what would help.</p>
<p>As a footnote: the midterm grades may not be curved as yet. Some faculty only seem to curve the final grade. So, depending on the class average where he has the C or D… the ultimate grade may be different.</p>