<p>My daughter will be a freshman this fall. She is in the college honors program so she is receiving an honors scholarship. After going to orientation, I am a little bit concerned about her maintaining the necessary GPA in order to stay in the program. </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating a free ride by any means. I am just worried that a major like engineering will make it harder for her to maintain that GPA. If she were in another major I don't think I would be as concerned.</p>
<p>What were your grades like during your freshman year?</p>
<p>What gpa does she have to maintain? At Pitt, neither my son nor any of his friends in engineering lost their scholarships, if that makes you feel any better.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much. Grades are a direct result of the effort put into the class. All freshmen engineering students take the same classes so there will be opportunity to make friends and have study groups, etc etc. Professors are usually more lenient with grading freshmen than when it comes to juniors/seniors. I have found that it is pretty easy to hover around 3.0 but going for straight A's is difficult. But I wouldn't worry too much if your daughter did well in HS she has the proper work ethic and should be fine.</p>
<p>She has to maintain a 3.4. I realize that doesn't sound like much, but I am concerned because there is so little room for error. I know there are weed out classes in some majors, including engineering. </p>
<p>Sure, she did well in high school and has a good work ethic. She is a smart kid but she is starting a whole new way of life while taking a high level honors calculus, physics, and an introductory engineering class.</p>
<p>SportsMama - Your daughter sounds like a very bright, intelligent young woman. My personal opinion is that you should inform her of how important maintaining that GPA will be for her career. Not to spend weekends drinking and partying but rather to spend it with other students doing research, etc. etc. Which I'm sure she is accustomed to by now. Once she realizes the vast resources and research opportunities the university offers, as opposed to her high school she will be intrigued and be more than willing to go the extra mile to get the good - not so much to maintain the good GPA but just for common knowledge. </p>
<p>You sound like a well educated person. Keep in touch with your daughter while shes away - speaking daily - and be aware of her course work, papers required, research required and stay on top of it. This can be very very helpful for her in more ways than one. Starting a new life out in college can tend to be a very difficult transition but it's a great way to form an extremely close bond with your child. Advice from someone whose "been there done that" with many years of real world experience can keep her on the right track.</p>
<p>As far as Chuy's comments - I could not agree more. She was placed in honors courses for her ability to excel in that type of environment. Most, if not all parents worry when faced with the same fears you are, but rest assure not many honors students lose their scholarships. The advanced courses cover the same material just get a bit more theoretical and give a great opportunity to advance further in your studies. Being an honor student your daughter will more than likely befriend other honor students in her courses as opposed to the degenerates who spend 4 years at college partying - which will greatly help.</p>
<p>Yes, UriA702, my daughter is an intelligent young woman--but she's also an 18 year old teenager who will be adjusting to a whole new life of freedom. </p>
<p>I almost hate to say anything, because it sounds like I am whining, but I am concerned because I feel like there is no room for making any mistakes as a freshman. Other majors seem like they might be more forgiving because they aren't necessarily so intense right away. </p>
<p>I will not be speaking to her daily (although it would be great for me, I don't think it would be good for her). She will need to be responsible for her studies, but I will be available any time SHE wants to contact ME. </p>
<p>I want her to work hard, but I hope she will be able to have fun on the weekends. I hope it is possible to do that and maintain the grades she needs. I've explained to her that time management is key. She's already planning to make a spreadsheet with times for class, studying, working out, etc.</p>
<p>I understand your situation, SportsMama. While I'm not trying to keep a scholarship, my school has articulation agreements that says that a student with a 3.5 GPA or above is guaranteed admissions to some of the top graduate engineering programs. I've talked to some current and alumnae from my school and they've all basically told me the same thing. It's hard but perfectly <em>do-able</em>. You might have to stay in on Saturday instead of going out and you might have to work much harder than others but if you want it, it will happen.</p>
<p>I also think that keeping healthy and factoring in downtime to relax is extremely important. No one can just work, work, work effectively all the time so some relaxation is necesary to keep in a peak condition conducive to studying.</p>
<p>I understand your concerns-I had them also last year for my daughter, also in honors & engineering. Our agreement is that she can always finish up at the state university if she loses her scholarship. I am happy to report that she made a 3.65 and dean's list both semesters and loves where she is. All is well for the time being.</p>
<p>Engineering school is not too difficult the first year if she is well prepared. If she took difficult courses in high school, the she won't have much of a problem. Also, it depends on how well she can think analytically. I noticed that in a lot of engineering courses/prerequisites, the ability to think through problems analytically is very important (especially in physics). </p>
<p>She also has the make sure to put her studies before everything else. That does not mean that she can't go out and have fun, but she has to make sure to review and understand material every weekday. Last year, I would usually end class at around 4 PM, then I would chill/rest until dinner. Then afterwards, it's all studying until sleep. I did this Mon-Thur. I also did some work during the weekends, but a dedication to learning the material well is very important. </p>
<p>You also need to have some kind of innate aptitude for math and science, but since your daughter has a scholarship, I will assume that she can handle it. It is a lot of work, but not impossible. I go to Umich and I got a 3.8 first semester and a 4.0 second semester.</p>
<p>I had the same concerns exactly one year ago for my engineering son starting his freshman year. He needs to maintain a 3.0 to keep his scholarship & 3.4 to stay in the honors program. The first semester he struggled a bit (got into a math course that was a little over his head) & ended up just shy of a 3.2. He was put on probation from the Honors college, along with a number of his friends. That humbled him quite a bit and the second semester he really buckled down (although he still managed to have a social life) and ended up with a 4.0.</p>
<p>I was worried that the "minimum gpa thing" would put too much pressure on him, but so far so good. He tends to be a procrastinator, so I think it will keep him on track and give him a goal to work for. And the Honors program is good because it surrounds him with kids who are all in the same boat!</p>
<p>Give your daughter a chance... she will most likely do better with the little nudge that the minimum gpa will give her (especially when you cannot be there to give her that nudge)!</p>
<p>If your daughter daughter will be attending a big private school her grades will be inflated either way. Keep in mind that her big classes might tend to have huge curves (this differs from school to school)</p>
<p>Well, if she's in honors classes the giant class/giant curve thing might not apply as much. I'll bet her engineering classes are the same though, and those will be the tough ones. I really do think she'll do fine though. I maintained a higher GPA my freshman year of engineering at a school with about a 33% first year drop-out rate for engineers and while I'm not dumb, I'm not some perfect score 5.0 in highschool person either. She'll be fine.</p>
<p>Please please please don't tell your daughter to "put her education before everything else." While the academic aspect of college is important, it is only one part of the whole experience. Doing well in engineering courses is not very difficult (only time consuming). Many of the basic courses are plug-and-chug (with some foreshadowing of later design courses). The traditional engineering course has one problem set per week which is peanuts when you spread it over a few days. </p>
<p>Make sure she knows how important it is to make friends, talk to professors, and enjoy the environment she's living in.</p>
<p>It is possible to do well AND have a great time. It isn't how much work you do, it's how you do the work. When she's in class she should be listening for big ideas and intuitive concepts, not mechanics for solving problems.</p>
<p>"I want her to work hard, but I hope she will be able to have fun on the weekends. I hope it is possible to do that and maintain the grades she needs."</p>
<p>khoda, I believe that academics should come first, but I definitely see college as a whole experience. I have encouraged her to check out the many opportunites for clubs/groups/organizations at the Welcome Week festivities. </p>
<p>I was starting to get worried that being an engineering major would preclude her from having the great college experience I am envisioning for her. Listening to the people on here it sounds like she just needs to be an outstanding time manager--no more procrastination! </p>
<p>Oh, and of course yesterday she mentioned something that ended with the words ". . . if I stay in engineering." Well, I hope it's what she wants because she turned down a full tuition scholarship at another university because they don't have an engineering program! AAGGHH!!!!!</p>
<p>You're right, academics do come first in the sense that if there's a direct conflict between academics and social life you should go towards academics. For example, if you've got a test tomorrow you need to do some studying for but there's a huge party going on tonight, you should be studying.</p>
<p>The "If" thing might have just been her messing around, but remember that many schools have between a 1/3 and 1/2 drop out rate for engineers (that includes people transferring to another major) so while it'll be horribly frustrating since she turned down the scholarship, she won't be the only one. But as I've said over and over, she made it into the honors program, she can make it through engineering.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your help on this board, chuy.You are always there to lend a helpful word/ear to anyone who asks--even if we sometimes ask some ridiculous questions. </p>
<p>I am probably just going through the parental side of the anxiousness that my daughter must be feeling.</p>
<p>I don't doubt that she can make it through engineering. I am just hoping it is what she wants and she doesn't get herself into a hole (gradewise) that she can't get out of, thus losing her scholarship. I hope she learns to manage her time so that she is able to do well AND have fun because college is a special time of your life. </p>
<p>She already made a pretty big commitment towards engineering by turning down the full scholarship. I don't know your daughter, but that makes me think she probably wants it bad enough to keep with it. </p>
<p>I was in a surprisingly similar situation just a year ago (turned down getting paid well over 5k in excess scholarships for just first semester to take a chance and go out of state so I could study my branch of engineering, turning down the scholarships, both school and private, was the hardest part) and I've never regretted my decision. Sometimes it gets hard both academically and financially, especially around finals and billing time, but I just remember that I'm getting the opportunity to study what I want to do for the rest of my life around some of the best people in my field. That to me is worth it, and I would not have made the decision I made if it wasn't worth it to me. Just don't read too much into her "if" comment, she's going to be just fine.</p>