<p>Great news!!! He is likely over the hump. I suspect it will only get better. Bet you feel Great!!!</p>
<p>Oh wonderful news! Iâm so glad to see it all worked out and you arenât alone. </p>
<p>My son will be entering engineering/CS in the fall and he has to sign up for his freshman courses in a month. He wants to take 6 classes and I told him he should take no more than 5 classes or 15 credit hours or maybe he should only start with 4 courses due to the huge transition to college life/academics and the tough engineering program. He keeps telling me donât worry! </p>
<p>He wants to take:</p>
<p>Calculus I - 3 hours
Physics I - 4 hours
Intro to Engineering - 3 hours
Intro to Writing - 3 hours
Advanced French - 4 hours</p>
<p>He actually would like to take Italian/Spanish too. With the above schedule that is already 17 credit hours. I have suggested to my son that he can only take one language a semester and he can take the other languages over the summer. He would like to minor in multiple languages and they offer a 3 for 1 minor program which is really nice. That is his passion. In high school his electives were always two foreign languages so he is used to having a heavy course load every semester. We will see what the advisor has to say! I also have stressed he needs to graduate in 4 years so we donât have to pay for 5 years of college. My son will have to go to summer school in order to graduate in 4 years. However, I agree with the comments made above that if you cannot handle 5 courses then take 4 due to the engineering program being so rigorous. So I will have to be open to the possibility that it may take more than 4 years to graduate. Iâm still hopeful that it wonât.</p>
<p>Is your son going to take 4 courses a semester from now on?</p>
<p>^^^If your son is going to Cornell, their language classes tend to be difficult. A lot of high performing students make the mistake of thinking they could take hardest courses possible at college and still able to do well. D1 was a math major and she tried to take maximum 5 courses a semester with one P/F. Your son could start with those classes and drop 1 if he becomes overwhelmed. D1 did find lower level math courses harder to get As.</p>
<p>17 or 18 units is quite common for the first 2 (or more) semesters in Engineering. Often difficult to graduate in 4 years without that. My S would not have had room for 2 (let alone 3) humanities/languages/soc sci courses in the early terms. But his degree required Chem in the first terms as well as Physics/Math and some Engineering/CS courses.</p>
<p>Some (many? most?) Engineering programs have detailed checklists on what needs to be taken each term to fulfill all of the requirements.</p>
<p>Four courses is a âlight loadâ for Engineering in the first two years. So you are wise to punt the issue to his advisor.</p>
<p>Hereâs a Mech Engineering example</p>
<p>Freshman Year
Fall Semester S.H.
CHEM 111 General Chemistry I Lab 1
CHEM 114 Gen Chem for Engineers 3
ENGL 110 College Writing 3
ENGR 100 Intro to Engineering 3
MATH 131 Calculus I 4
____ ___ University Core 3</p>
<hr>
<p>17
Spring Semester S.H.
BIOL 114 Gen Biology for Engineers 3
ENGR 160 Algorithms & Applications 3
MATH 132 Calculus II 4
PHYS 101 Intro to Mechanics 4
____ ___ University Core 3</p>
<hr>
<p>17
Sophomore Year
Fall Semester S.H.
ELEC 210 Electric Circuit Analysis 3
ENGR 200 Statics 3
MATH 234 Calculus III 4
PHYS 201 Intro to Elec & Mag 4
____ ___ University Core 3</p>
<hr>
<p>17
Spring Semester S.H.
MATH 245 Differential Equations 3
MECH 211 Computer Aided Design 2
MECH 212 Mechanics of Materials 3
MECH 213 Dynamics 3
MECH 223 Thermodynamics 3
____ ___ University Core 3</p>
<hr>
<p>17
Junior Year
Fall Semester S.H.
MATH 355 Methods of Applied Math 3
MECH 301 Measurements and Controls 3
MECH 302 Thermo, Fluids & Materials Lab 2
MECH 313 Materials Science 3
MECH 322 Fluid Mechanics 3
____ ___ University Core 3</p>
<hr>
<p>17
Spring Semester S.H.
MECH 303 Energy and Mechanics Lab 2
MECH 310 Elements of Design 3
MECH 321 Energy Systems 3
MECH 323 Heat Transfer 3
____ ___ University Core 3
____ ___ University Core 3</p>
<hr>
<p>17
Senior Year
Fall Semester S.H.
MECH 401 Practicum 1 3
MECH 410 Design & Manufacturing Lab 2
MECH ___ MECH Focus Track Elective* 3
MECH ___ MECH Elective** 3
____ ___ University Core 3</p>
<hr>
<p>14
Spring Semester S.H.
MECH 402 Practicum 2 3
MECH ___ MECH Focus Track Elective* 3
MECH ___ MECH Focus Track Elective* 3
____ ___ TECH Elective*** 3
____ ___ University Core 3</p>
<hr>
<p>15
The proper</p>
<p>He has backed off the 5 course load for right now until he is solid (actually a school requirement for academic probation, so I guess he is now probably free to load up once more). He figured that so many engineering students spend at least one summer on campus taking classes in order to provide a little breathing room during particularly tough semesters, that would be his plan. We are also ok if he needs an extra semester - which he probably still will. There is very little room in any engineering program for humanities electives, opting to expand your education will undoubtedly mean extra time on campus, I think it is worth it though. Despite the grades, he has had multiple job offers this summer for interesting work in the field, well paid too!</p>
<p>Oh, and he is not at Cornell (not sure how we got there!). Different Ivy a bit further south.</p>
<p>Such wonderful news! And I certainly do not pooh-pooh straight Bâs ⊠he is at a school filled with amazingly smart students. He would probably have straight Aâs at other schools. </p>
<p>He has done an amazing job. I hope he is proud of himself!! :)</p>
<p>3bysmom,
GREAT news, and hope it continues from here. Your son may actually have experienced one of his greatest life-lessons in turning this around.
Can you describe how he came to his conclusions? about his course-load, etc. On his own, by talking to fellow majors, to you, to advisors, by meditating LOL???
Your story is inspirational and instructional- Thanks!</p>
<p>I donât know which school you are talking about;however, if it is Cornell, it is very common to have grades like this.I know of several super smart kids who majored in engineering there and had very mediocre grades. Cornell also has the reputation for being the least graded inflated school among the ivys.</p>
<p>Great news, 3bysmom!</p>
<p>Like the others, Iâd also be interested to know what happened, and particularly if anyone at the school (like an advisor or prof) did anything that was helpful.</p>
<p>Wish I could say that the school did something to help, but he was pretty much on his own. He went to his advisor right before the spring term started and the advisor told him that he would indeed be placed on academic probation (although official notification did not come until late february!) He told him to drop down to 4 classes and that he would need to check in with him every 2 weeks (last he heard from him - hence my comment above). S1 and I made a plan that outlined the following:</p>
<p>S1âs Goals for 2011</p>
<ol>
<li> Determine extent of disciplinary action for fall grades
a. Speak with advisor
b. If advisor is non-responsive, file petition for new advisor by 1/12 in Engineering office</li>
<li> Identify healthy stress relievers
a. Run 4-5 miles 3-4x/week
b. Call Momma
c. Go to CAPS
d. Get to bed before midnight on school nights</li>
<li> Limit distractions
a. Limit video games to weekends
b. Go to Library on Monday and Wednesday âpartyâ nights
c. Buy Do Not Disturb sign to place on door
d. Explain to friends this means NO DISTURBANCES!
e. Study at my desk â NOT in Solarium or on bed
f. Sit in the front of the class (from FIRST day on!)</li>
<li> Identify system of rewards for goals accomplished<br></li>
<li> Achieve a 3.0 gpa for spring semester 2011
a. Acquire a tutor for 371 and 350 by 1/12 and identify weekly meeting time (maybe Monday or Wednesday nights?)
b. Attend all classes
c. Do not bring laptop to class
d. Complete all assignments
e. Attend each Class professorâs office hours to introduce yourself within first two weeks of class.
f. Go to Office hours at the FIRST sign of any challenge in a class.</li>
</ol>
<p>ASK FOR HELP!</p>
<p>Looking at it now, it seems simple and âmiddle school-ishâ but what he needed was some really concrete steps and action items in order to move forward. He was so stuck that he couldnât even begin to imagine how to dig out. Btw, the âcall mommaâ was his idea, not mine! We have discovered that this school and program is very much a âsink or swimâ kind of place. Compared to S2âs school it is remarkable how different two Universities can be.</p>
<p>How unbelievably mature ⊠no wonder he has climbed out of the abyss. You must be so very proud of him!!</p>
<p>3bysmom - itâs a great list for any college student (including call momma). I remember D1 used to call me when she was stressed before and after a major exam.</p>
<p>Hâs favorite talk with our kids since high school was âdonât fall behind.â He said once you fall behind it is very hard to dig yourself out. He gave a much sterner âdonât fall behindâ talk to D1 when she went away to college 4 years ago.</p>
<p>âAsk for helpâ is very important, a lot of students donât go to office hours, they think they could (or should) do it on their own. </p>
<p>Itâs a real confidence booster to your son to know he could do the work. Now he knows he is just as capable as other students.</p>
<p>i agreeâthis list is a good one. thanks for sharing and felicidades!</p>
<p>3bysmom,
congratulations to your son, and to you.
thank you for posting the action plan listâŠ
I am really happy for you!</p>
<p>Great news! I love the action plan list. When our S who just graduated was having trouble, I wish we had made a concrete plan of action. We talked in generalities about getting help and not getting behind and so forth, but I donât think he was clear on some of the details. It took 2 semesters of tanking/withdrawing before finally he accepted help from his good friend who arranged for âhomework partiesâ twice a week. </p>
<p>However, the good news we can report is that he did graduate (yesterday!) and pulled his gpa up to 3.1 something, and even won a prize for his senior project. AND got the job of his dreams. </p>
<p>We are thrilled and proud of him for not giving up when he might have. And hope he learned some lessons for the future. :)</p>
<p>I bookmarked 3bysmomâs list. Excellent suggestions. Some are obvious, but sometimes these kiddo need to see reality printed on a sheet of paper.</p>
<p>3bysmom, congrats to your S! What an accomplishment. I hope he is feeling very proud and that he sticks with the plan going forward. Clearly he has the goods to get through the program!</p>
<p>Congrats to OP and S, mommusic and S, and everyone else with the backbone to take on too much, retrench and reconsider, and dig themselves out of a hole! </p>
<p>OP - That is a wonderful list to keep at hand, and thanks for sharing it with us.</p>
<p>Congratulations, 3bysmom and mommusic! These are really encouraging stories.</p>