<p>My son has been "consistently inconsistent" throughout school. Usually starts the marking period terribly in all subjects...Cs, Ds, Fs. Then turns it around and winds up with Bs overall. He's now in college and the pattern is continuing. However, now he needs to keep a B average to maintain his scholarship. We can afford the tuition without the scholarship, but naturally appreciate having those extra funds. (But $ isn't my concern at this time). I realize he needs ownership of this problem, but I will speak to him about his note-taking and study skills, but has anyone else dealt with this? Any suggestions? (I'll look to see if there's an academic help center as well.)</p>
<p>Is he going to class? My S2 was a similar type student in h.s. His first semester of college was awful due in part to the fact that he skipped/slept through a lot of classes.</p>
<p>If it’s always worked for him in the past, then he really has no incentive to change right now.</p>
<p>The biggest problem might be that it could take more now to pull it up to a B than it has in the past and he might wait too long to find that out.</p>
<p>PackMom, yes I’m confident he is going to class.
mathinokc, you’ve hit the nail on the head. That’s my fear.</p>
<p>how do you know he’s getting bad grades…did he tell you?</p>
<p>^^^another problem! I think fear can be a great motivator, so I guess you are going to have to be kind of mean. Some kind of contract/ list where you take away his car, fraternity privileges,etc. …transfer to the community college. If it is going to cost you more it should cost him in a way he really feels. Maybe dig up some of the many threads on CC where this has happen and show them to him. It is a tough problem especially if there are curves in the classes so students have magical thinking about the end grade.</p>
<p>lol, yeah just telling him he is responsible for any lost scholarship $$ might help. </p>
<p>"The biggest problem might be that it could take more now to pull it up to a B than it has in the past and he might wait too long to find that out. "</p>
<p>Very likely to happen in college, especially since much of a course grade is usually focused among 1-3 tests/assigments throughout the term. </p>
<p>What it sounds like he is doing is understudying to begin with and then adjusting his studying habbits afterwards to acheive the grade he wants. In college, you should do the opposite, because one bad grade on the 1st test (that is often worth 20-40% of your grade) can kill your GPA AND you have no idea how hard of a tester/grader your new professor is - if anything you should overstudy for the first major test/assignment and then adjust downwards if you find out you overdid it. </p>
<p>Plus: If he is only shooting for B’s, in this economy!, he’s probably not ready for college yet - as he’s clearly there for other reasons, meaning other than getting a job and/or well educated, that are taking priority. College is only going to get more difficult from here on out.</p>
<p>Did you tell him that you can afford and or are willing to pay tuition if he loses his scholarship? I hope not. If you havent, then I would make sure you told him that if he loses his scholarship it will be up to him to figure out how to finance his education.</p>
<p>Our kids both had scholarships at their private universities. We were VERY clear. If they lost the scholarships, we would NOT allow them to continue attending these schools where we were footing the balance of the bill. They would have been coming home to an instate public university. They knew we meant it, and grades were not an issue for either of them. </p>
<p>I agree with the above poster who said it might be harder to bring grades up in college. </p>
<p>One of our kids was very good about getting tutors when needed, and that was a huge help.</p>
<p>If he’s having problems in a class, the normal advice is some or all of the below</p>
<ul>
<li>Make sure he’s attending class and taking notes.</li>
<li>Make sure he’s participating in class. There’s a difference between being in the classroom and really being engaged.</li>
<li>Make sure he’s reading the assigned reading <em>before</em> the appropriate class. This includes reading the section to be covered in math class, too, so that you’ve seen it all before the professor explains it.</li>
<li>Make sure he’s doing all assigned work – required and optional</li>
<li>Visit the TA during the TA’s office hours. Ask questions about what he doesn’t understand. Try to figure out what he did wrong on assignments. Ask how to prepare better.</li>
<li>Visit the professor during the professor’s office hours. Ask questions about what he doesn’t understand. Try to figure out what he did wrong on assignments. Ask how to prepare better.</li>
<li>If it’s a class with “problems” like math or some sciences, work extra problems. Often the answers to the odd ones are in the back of the book. You’d be surprised how many test problems are there in the book, or just like one but with different numbers.</li>
<li>If it’s a writing intensive class, visit the campus writing center to get help on the writing process and assistance editing the paper</li>
<li>Form a study group with other people in the class</li>
<li>Get a tutor</li>
<li>See if there’s an academic skills center and do some sessions there are study skills, note taking, etc.</li>
<li>Using an hourly calendar, plan out every day. Show when you’re in class, when you’re eating, when you’re participating in activities, and when you’re working. Then, add in study time. Identify each block by what class you’re studying for. You may want to be as specify as “Re-writing History notes” or “Working Calculus problems.” Be sure and leave time for relaxing with friends. Work hard (and focused) when it’s time to work and play (without having to think about work) when it’s time to play.</li>
</ul>