My son is at University of S Carolina. For whatever his reasons were he got F’s 2nd semester so his overall GPA is now
1.485. my question is this…is it mathematically possible for him to take summer classes get all A’s to bring his GPA up to 3.0 to keep his scholarships? I am sick over this!!
No. I’m assuming he’s a freshman and has about 30 credits (or attempted credits). Even if he took a full regular semester load of 15 credits (which would be near impossible in the summer) he couldn’t bring a 1.485 GPA up to a 3.0. More likely he’d be taking 6 or 9 credits over the summer, which would have an even lesser impact on overall GPA. Do the scholarships have a probation period? At my daughter’s school if your GPA falls below 3.0 you get put on scholarship probation, and as long as you get a 3.0 every semester thereafter, or bring the overall GPA back to 3.0, you retain the scholarship. What is his school’s policy? How many F’s did he get? Were there any extenuating circumstances?
He needs to talk to the his counselor at college and see if he can go on academic probation and work his way back up. Some schools will allow the scholarship to remain in place for a semester or a year while that happens.
The deeper question relates to how this happened. Were there extenuating circumstances that need addressing (physical or mental health, death in the family)? If not, is he really ready for more college? Do you think it would be better for him to take a leave or leave to work? There are a lot of debates on this here on the forum at times so there is no one path, but if he has loans, it can get really tough having to pay back loans for failed classes with no degree.
I think you need to 1) try to understand what is going on and why his grades dropped to F’s. 2) have him talk to his advisor about creating a plan to move forward (assuming he is not dismissed by the school). 3) as noted above it is highly unlikely that he could take enough classes to bring his GPA up to a 3.0, – also typically only classes taken at a student’s home school count towards the GPA (classes taken at other colleges often transfer in as a P/F grade) so classes taken at a local school near home may not help the GPA.
I hope you can help him get sorted out so he can move on and have a successful college experience.
You/he should check with the school about grade replacement. Some colleges will eliminate the original F and replace it with the grade earned the second time around. Other colleges will only average the two.
Good luck.
http://registrar.sc.edu/html/students/grade_forgiveness_faq.stm indicates that South Carolina allows up to two repeated course grades of D+ or lower to be replaced by new grades in the GPA calculation if the course is repeated.
However, if he has 30 credits of 1.485 GPA and repeats during the summer two courses (8 credits) that he initially got F grades in, then the maximum possible GPA he could have is 2.551 if he earns A grades in those two courses.
There are GPA calculators available online (do an internet search) where you can enter classes/credits/grades, and then add additional data and see “what if” scenarios. That way you can see what is mathematically possible.