<p>how can i help my child overcome a 1.98 gpa on first college semester. Do I advise that she take easier courses or encourage to try harder. Her highschool gpa was 4.3, but I am open to her just not being smart enough to handle her courses or that she just slacked. I want to help her but am not sure what is the best thing to do.</p>
<p>We can't give you any sort of useful advice without knowing the particular situation of your daughter. Maybe she bit off more than she could chew, thinking that college would be as easy as high school (or was peer-pressured into taking classes she couldn't handle by fellow high school overachiever friends - it happens). Maybe she slacked off. Maybe she's having adjustment problems, being away from home. Maybe the particular college is actually too hard for her. There are any number of possibilities. But we don't know.</p>
<p>So much depends on what happened for her this fall. Is she reporting the grades to you and talking about it, or did you just "find out" and haven't had a conversation with her yet? So sorry. I'm sure this is painful to know she is struggling.</p>
<p>most kids earn well below their high school GPA, especially their first year in college. It is a lot to get used to- & I agree it is a concern, but as long as she has a strategy or some kind of idea to stay on top of it- she should be doing better once she finds her bearings</p>
<p>Sany,</p>
<p>One of the first things I would do is find out what resources are available to help her. Some colleges have peer tutoring available. When I attended college back in the dark ages, there was a student-government-run place we could purchase old exams if the teacher had handed them in. Also, many colleges (probably most) have an office to help students with writing and that might be advisable if her problem was in English or with the grades she received on written papers. </p>
<p>I would encourage her to form study groups for her hardest classes. Sometimes this is especially good for classes that aren't considered 'hard' but require a lot of memorization like Art History or Anatomy and Phys. </p>
<p>As far as her schedule, look at her grades carefully and identify the classes where she earned under a B. If she is scheduled to continue them next semester (for example, if they're language, science or math classes), I would consider changing her schedule unless it would mess her up for graduation. If she does have to continue in those classes, I would see if there's a way to change teachers (if that's part of the problem). And she might consider <em>adding</em> an easy class (like p.e.) to pull her overall grade up. (Consider carefully what grades she needs next semester to keep herself off of probation. If she needs to earn an overall 2.0 by the end of the year, I might not change her schedule too much if she needs those courses to graduate. If she needs a 2.5, I would be more aggressive regarding the schedule.)</p>
<p>And last (but it should probably be listed first), encourage her to contact her adviser or dean for some suggestions. There may be resources she doesn't know about. If the school has a "learning center" or such it might also be helpful.</p>
<p>As other posters note, there are many reasons she may have this GPA: biting off more than she can chew, depression, adjustment, different grading standards between HS and this college, her HS didn't prepare her. </p>
<p>Also as other posters have noted, there are many options. One I strongly encourage is to visit each professor, get a break down of grades to see where she fell short (if she doesn't know), look for patterns, find out where she falls in the distribution, and ask each prof for suggestions for improvement (even if the course is over). </p>
<p>I would also explore if she's doing what she wants to be doing. I've seen many, many students who find themselves at a school or in a major not because it's their dream, but because it's someone else's dream (e.g. their parents chose their major or they chose the 'prestige' school over a better fitting school, or chose the practical degree over something they really wanted to do). Such students can really struggle because the intrinsic motivation, the inherent interest in the subject matter, the 'dream' isn't there. </p>
<p>And keep it in perspective. It's only ONE semester, and only the first. It's expected that the majority of straight A kids will not continue that trend in college and most kids have a lot to adjust to when they start college.</p>
<p>Talk with her if you haven't done so yet. When you talk with her, don't harp so much on the grades. Just listen and find out how she's feeling about being away at college. There could be many different reasons for the low GPA.</p>
<p>How does your daughter feel? Is she upset with her GPA? Does she know why she got that GPA? What, if anything, does she want to do about it? Those are the most important questions, I think. Before we know those answers, we can't really give accurate advice, and you won't know where to go with advice, either.</p>
<p>I highly doubt that this is an academic problem, though. There are very few reasons why someone with straight As in high school would drop to below a D average in college--the most common reason is partying and blowing off classes. Other possible reasons would be a learning disability that was masked in high school by general intelligence, being completely academically unprepared for college and somehow not knowing it at any point during the semester, serious physical illness that she didn't get accommodations for, or serious mental illness that caused her to not go to class, do work, or try. My college is known for tough grading, but students who go to class, do the work, try, and show effort almost never get Ds or Fs. It's students who don't make an effort who end up with Ds and Fs usually. I honestly can't imagine a 1.98 GPA from a student who put in hard effort and was academically responsible.</p>
<p>Your daughter needs to see that this is a problem. She needs to figure out what went wrong, and she needs to be absolutely committed to making some huge changes in her college life. I'm assuming you're paying for college. If so, you need to make it clear to her that you are paying huge amounts of money and making large sacrifices in order to give her an education. In my book, a 1.98 isn't good enough. If she didn't sound entirely committed to making changes (and keeping you updated throughout term on her progress), or her GPA was similar the next term, I would pull tuition. A 1.98 GPA simply isn't worth the money that college costs. If she has scholarships, she has almost certainly lost them.</p>
<p>If it's a maturity or effort problem, she can take a year off before going back to work (or volunteer) and take community college classes (to show the college that she's changed and is capable of the work). </p>
<p>If she's depressed, she also needs to take steps to get better. There is free counseling on almost all college campuses, and psychiatrists are usually available if she needs medication. If she can't keep up her work while dealing with a mental illness at first, she should take a term off and get counseling/medication/whatever at home until she's ready to try again. It doesn't sound like a medical issue, but if it is she obviously needs to see a doctor. If her illness is not compatible with college, she should again take time off until she's ready to return to school.</p>
<p>If it's truly an educational problem, and she reports that she's been trying as hard as she can (including tutoring, talking to the professor, going to office hours, working with the TA, etc.), and she's not taking some kind of insane courseload that she's not qualified for, she should probably be evaluated for learning disabilities. She should also talk to all of her professors and TAs in detail about her work, where it failed, what needs work, etc.</p>
<p>Sorry, I'm not in the crowd who thinks this is normal and that she'll do better next term without making any big changes. This is not an A student in high school dropping to Bs or even to Cs in college. This student has below a D average. There is a much larger issue than normal college adjustment or minor depression or "biting off more than you can chew."</p>
<p>I don't want to be harsh on you, Sany, but you really need to find out what's going on and then make a plan to deal with it. It's most likely immaturity, partying, and not putting forth any effort whatsoever. The same thing happens to lots of kids, but you need to get a plan to deal with it. That may require coming home for a while to work or commuting to a nearby college and living at home for a year or two of college. Or she may be able to continue at her current school with a plan for academic success (when and where to study, what classes to take, forming study groups, attending office hours, getting papers proofread, talking to the TA, going to tutoring, etc.) and a plan to make changes in her life (leaving a sorority, changing housing, getting new friends, etc.), all while keeping you continually updated. She can make a complete turn-around, but it won't happen by itself.</p>
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<p>Um, 1.98 is essentially a C average.... (4.0=A, 3.0=B, 2.0=C, 1.0=D)</p>
<p>Ah, I can't count. Sorry. :) I don't feel like re-evaluating the situation now that I know the actual GPA, so take and leave whatever sounds appropriate.</p>
<p>I am a former college professor whose older son, a very smart young man who entered the college of his choice with major merit aid, earned a .96 (yes, you read that right) average his first semester in college.</p>
<p>With my son's approval, my husband (a college prof) flew to the college and met with S and S's advisor, who helped S select spring courses that seemed to meet S's intellectual and other needs. The college, knowing that S was very capable, but also was disorganized, also allowed S to keep his merit aid for spring semester, and enrolled him in an organizational workshop the college counseling center offered. S seemed very pleased with everyone's help.</p>
<p>Result? S flunked out of college.</p>
<p>Two years later, I accidentally found S's blog and learned that S -- who before college had been socially conservative (by his own choice didn't date, spent most of his time either at home or working. Since he didn't even drive then, and depended on us for transportation, we know he really was at work when he was supposed to be) had been partying hard starting in college. We even had visited him in college and taken out some of the friends that we later learned he was partying with, but we didn't see any indication that they were partiers.</p>
<p>After his disastrous second semester of college, S did not return home, but went off on a paid summer internship (had some professional skills that were very advanced) followed by a 6 month temporary job 3,000 miles from home in that same field. S is now 24 and has never returned to college nor has he returned to live at home. From what we can tell, he does seem to be getting his act together, however, since after years of spotty employment, he has been employed at the same job for a year, but his life has been a rough ride, nothing we would have imagined based on how he was in h.s.</p>
<p>My advice is to have your D come home and go to the local community college until she gets her grades to an acceptable level. </p>
<p>It is not normal for a student to have the kind of grades that your D got first semester. Based on my experience as a prof, mother and college student, I have never seen a student whose grades were at such a level unless the student: was partying (i.e. drinking and/or druggging) heavily or was having serious emotional problems -- the type that could be life threatening.</p>
<p>I did see students with the kind of records your D has who told their parents that their grades were due to difficult classes, mean professors, adjustment problems, etc., but whom I knew really were spending their time partying, including skipping classes and showing up high to class. Unfortunately, due to federal privacy laws, when their parents called me to get info, I couldn't tell them that their kids were lying to them.</p>
<p>Your D probably will deny what I'm suggesting, but I hope you will take my advice seriously. If I could do it over, I would have taken my S home after his disastrous first semester in college. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you and your family.</p>
<p>Both of my college kids have seen this happen. Sometimes it's kids who are handling freedom badly (drinking, partying, blowing off school, starting to fall behind or being intimidated and then giving up, being used to breezing through high school classes). Sometimes it's kids who are poorly prepared by their high schools (wanting to be a science major but being blown off the curve by kids with better pre-college preparation). Sometimes it's kids who are homesick, unhappy with their school, or dealing poorly with roommate or emotional problems. Sometimes its kids who got pushed into too heavy a course load by a college based on great high school grades, who can't handle so much work. Sometimes it's professors, who haven't communicated what they're looking for adequately (although as long as some students score higher, I'd be hesitant to blame the professors!).</p>
<p>As a high achiever, she has to be very upset right now. It's time for a talk, as others have already written. Does she know what went wrong? Can she fix it, at this school or somewhere else? What does she want to do? She'll be on academic probation, so will need to meet with her advisor and work out a plan (fewer credits, maybe switching majors, using resources at the school to assist struggling students). </p>
<p>My older kid didn't have a great first semester too (too much partying, and he didn't understand how the curve would work against him). I told him that he had to achieve a certain minimum GPA that would show he was capable of doing college work. If he couldn't achieve that GPA at that school, either it was the wrong school or he wasn't ready for college yet. I told him some of the options if he couldn't achieve the GPA (coming home and picking up credits locally until he had figured things out, going to a cheaper, lower-tier school so he could still get a degree but I wouldn't struggle financially for his partying, etc.). They were fair options, and I didn't set the bar at an unreasonable GPA. Fortunately, he realized how much was on the line and did great the second semester. He switched majors to something that was more interesting to him, transferred (most of his credits transferred but not his 1st year GPA) to another school, did well, and is now a 3.75 student who was invited to apply for his school's graduate program in his major. </p>
<p>I'll never forget that sinking feeling and momentarily feeling like all of my dreams for this kid were over when I learned his first semester grades though. Hang in there, it can work out ok!!!</p>
<p>I do know of a bright student who had a similar average (in this case, it was over a 2.0 but I think below a 2.5) and it was for academic reasons. In this student's case, he undertook a very difficult and obscure foreign language for the first time in college and earned a D. His other grades were fine (Bs) but just one D in a 5 or 6 credit class will pull the gpa down quite a bit. I've known of another student who had a similar situation with math. However, the student was <em>always</em> bad at math and struggled in college. The other grades were ok (again, Bs and Cs) but math was always a D. That's why it's important to look at the transcript carefully. If the student failed one class, the solution is easier than if all the grades are low-- which would point to a different kind of problem (partying, illness, ld, etc).</p>
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Your D probably will deny what I'm suggesting, but I hope you will take my advice seriously.
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<p>If I were in the D's place, and my mother believed some stranger on the Internet's speculations about the cause of my academic troubles over what I told her (and yanked me out of my school, my new home, go to to some community college because of it), I would be devastated and furious.</p>
<p>It completely depends on the types of courses she is taking. A lot of time people go to college thinking they are going to be a doctor or whatever, take hard science/math courses and do poorly. The response to this is simple: choose a completely different major. So many kids try to "stick it out" and end up worse for it. Better to move on quickly to something easier.</p>
<p>If it's just general ed requirements she's earning such low grades in (relatively easy classes) then there's something else going on that needs to be looked into carefully.</p>
<p>sany, if its any consolation my first quarter gpa at Ohio State was in the sub-2.0 category and I went on to a PhD program at Cornell in engineering. For me the adjustment to college level work threw me for a loop but I did adjust and did fine in subsequent quarters.</p>
<p>So there is no reason for your daughter to panic or become discouraged. She does need to honestly determine where the problems lie however. For some students it is as simple as time management. For others a lack of discipline and seriousness with the academic side of college life.</p>
<p>originaloog, you are the exception rather than the rule. Most kids who do poorly in science/math "weeder" classes are well-advised to find something else to study. They are called "weeder" classes for a reason. This may not be the situation of the OP, but it is important for people to realize. The colleges are actively trying to weed out students, people should take the hint more often than not.</p>
<p>I would not yank a kid out of a college because of one bad semester. </p>
<p>However, a GPA just below 2.0 is low enough to warrant trying to figure out the cause. A meeting between the student and the academic advising people at the college would be a good first start. </p>
<p>Very often, students choose programs that are ill-suited for them. Others do not realize how much material they are expected to master for each test in a college (as opposed to high school) course. Others have trouble with writing. and still others have personal problems that distract them from their academic work. </p>
<p>At this point, finding out the cause and addressing it is top priority. Giving up is not a good idea (unless the student has already lost a scholarship she needed to stay in the college).</p>
<p>One of ours had a rocky start. H threatened to pull child out of school to local CC if things didn't improve. Spring semester was worse (not quite Northstarmom's S, but close). The school had a plan, though. Summer school, in residence, if GPA gets to probationary status child can return for fall semester with limited credit load.
H and I discussed this, let child decide to continue. We decided we would support continued progress as long as the school was making it available. We required counseling sessions at academic advising, among other things.
It was one of the best decisions we made for this child. The road was not easy; there was at least another probationary semester. This child has since graduated from the original school and is gainfully employed.</p>
<p>We did have a family policy that we would pay for college if our students 1. took out student Stafford loans and 2. agreed to repay us for our investment if they did not complete a degree (from any institution, not necessarily the one they started at). Our child decided to continue knowing our policy.</p>
<p>I am a big believer in springing for tutoring help. This can make a HUGE difference. Many kids don't know how to find a tutor, think it makes them look "dumb", or don't want to take the time. Fortunately, my son has always understood that there are situations where he needs some individual help (usually math or language) and he isn't hesitant to ask. I actually found him a great tutor for a freshman year course through someone I know on this forum who was a student at his school. He went from not believing he could pass the course to getting an A-. If my kid asks for a tutor, I will pay. He doesn't ask because he has slacked off and hasn't done the work and needs bailing out- he asks because it is a hard course and he wants to do decently.</p>
<p>A 1.98 sounds horrifying compared to what we are used to discussing on these threads (h*ll, a 3.9 sounds bad on these threads.....), but it IS a C average and could be the result of two hard weeder classes. The jury is out on what the future holds. Could make a great recovery or could tank further.</p>