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<p>Absences are a huge problem at universities. Parents might be horrified (esp. given tuition costs) at how many classes their children miss. It has gotten to the point where professors of smaller, discussion-based classes must state how many absences are allowed without grade penalty and where some professors of large lecture classes will test on information the student could not have known without attending class. Unfortunately, a lot of professors just lecture from the text, so students are able to skip class; the problem arises when the student misjudges the professor and thinks that reading the text or a friend’s notes is enough. </p>
<p>As others have said, there are many reasons why a bright young adult could fail in college: lack of time management, partying, inadequate preparation, depression, tough schedule. Some kids shut down after receiving one bad grade. </p>
<p>Ray192 is correct to some degree about first year grades in CS. Our CS is in the engineering school, and so CS majors get grades comparable to other engineering majors because they have many of the same requirements. In the first year sequence, there are always a couple of intro, easy A courses that get combined with weed-out calculus and physics. As the students progress, As get harder to earn, but fewer students fail outright since calculus and first-year physics have already weeded out a lot of majors. An engineer/CS major who graduates with a 3.0 has done quite well. </p>
<p>I applaud the OP for asking for advice how to get her son on-track. The more help and understanding he gets, the better for him in the long run – as long as others don’t get blamed for his struggles.</p>