I also don’t know my Ds grades. She says they should be all A’s and maybe a B. They don’t officially come out till the 5th…which I think is insanely late!
1 Like
D has to keep a 3.5 for her 27, 500 a year merit so grades are very important to both of us. If no merit then I would not really care about her GPA much as I do now.
9 Likes
I never knew my older daughter’s grades. At dinner the other night we were talking about D21’s first semester gpa, and she revealed that she finished her first semester freshman year with a 2.8 
Glad I didn’t know about that! She had a really rough first semester with her health and personal issues. Being the hustler that she is, she worked diligently to raise it to what she needed to get into the business school after sophomore year and ended up graduating with 3.4. Son-in-law, who also went to the same university, said he only had a 2.6 after first semester but I have a feeling his grades suffered at the local watering holes 
6 Likes
Count me as another that doesn’t know my kid’s grades. I did ask him how he did. He said, he thought pretty well. Which I think means he hasn’t checked either. I think he granted me access? But I have no plans to check.
5 Likes
My D’s official grades were released a couple days ago and she finished with a 3.91 (one A-minus (3.7), the rest As (4.0)… I won’t revisit the +- discussion but grrrr) She had expected another A-minus in chemistry so was very excited it ended up as an A. She has her eyes on med school so her sGPA is especially important to her.
I don’t ask about her grades or have access to her portal, but she usually brings them up occasionally and she definitely shared her excitement at the official grades. Because her merit is dependent on maintaining a 3.3, we have an agreement that she’ll share her semester grades with us. She’s pretty open with us about these things so if she does struggle in a class later I’m sure I’ll hear a lot about it during the semester (complaints, dramatic tears, etc)!!
7 Likes
I don’t have access to a portal, but my son willingly shares his good grades with us. I would definitely ask if he didn’t share on his own because I want to make sure he is successful at school and not suffering from imposter syndrome or not knowing about resources available to him if he needed them.
3 Likes
My daughters both share their grades with us. They’re proud of their hard work and we are proud of them. If they didn’t share I would probably ask, because it would be out of character. Older daughter has a scholarship requirement of a 3.5, so that’s always a consideration that can’t be ignored.
4 Likes
@milgymfam how does the scholarship GPA requirement work with study abroad when the study abroad has such a different grading scale? I’m so curious how that works.
I think they naturally share because it’s always been the case the last 12 years :). I probably would’ve asked because my kids like to know options. That, and I’m paying for their college so they said they owe it to me to tell me their grades and classes they are taking. My son showed me the grade portal and went thru the assignments and the grade. I started to laugh because he was going full Parent Synergy App (our school district uses this platform) and I’m like, “Guy, I just asked how school is going and if you’re still happy with your decision.” 
Not having grade portal info was actually nice and it hasn’t bothered me. I think I would’ve looked and been stressed out as he progressed. I just have the payment portal. But the imposter syndrome is real. Other than the one class, I asked S21 about how he thought the caliber was and he said the classes are manageable and he felt confident he could succeed. That was good to hear.
4 Likes
Maybe it’s just my boy but if your kiddo got a booster from a major chain drugstore AND forgot to bring their card home, you can still access the records. In CA some places require patrons show booster so this was a must for us.
-
Walgreens—open up the app and register if haven’t done so. There should be a section for health records. If it’s an error, go to the Prescription widget on the app. Go to prescription history. You should see the info there. Download or print the PDF if you need to. I’d send a copy to the family practitioner for records.
-
Some states also have a digital record file and you can get that info to add to apple wallet. My child used the home landline so we can’t get the text with the security code. Go figure. But that’s an option for you.
CVS, Target should also have the same. Record capability. They said you can go to the Rx and they can either have you fill out a form and they will send you the record or they can just give you the info then and there.
1 Like
Initially, my daughter was very determined to prove she could live independently, once “liberated” to college.
So there was this unwritten understanding, that I would/could no longer helicopter. Although I laid out bait of financial rewards for good semester grades - there was no taker! Occasionally, the conversation topic of a final or paper-due offered the opportunity for a follow-up question, and at least I got a reassuring sense that things were well-enough.
Fortunately, the car insurance agent pointed out that the “Good Student” discount also applied to college students. I casually mentioned the need to document that “status” upon renewal time, and was promptly offered a print-out of the current transcript. That was my first chance of an overall (good) picture.
After that I stopped stressing, and it became easier to trust that her work-ethics had carried over without parental supervision, and that college-life/big-city distractions were being balanced appropriately.
Another good thing was LinkedIn: As they are looking for internships etc., the Career Centers seem to make that part of their “to-do” package. “And just like that…” (to quote Carrie Bradshaw 
), they seem very comfortable to list their GPAs, visible to all 
.
(So, effectively, I converted from open helicopter-parenting, to more subtle stalking. At the end, none of that was ever needed, fortunately. She just was nominated early for ΦBK.)
8 Likes
Super proud of my two kids as they achieve excellent grades at a top school. However, my wife and I were clear from the beginning that college is a chance to live more independently, but as long as we pay the bills we get to monitor grades to protect investment.
1 Like
That is a great reply which made me chuckle at least a couple of times. Love it!!
Update: S was thrilled to show me his Russian final exam grade and the oral exam grade. So……I then cautiously asked what the final
Grade in the class was. He then spontaneously added that he doesn’t know the rest of his grades until they post them and that the teachers are still grading some finals apparently but assumes a B+ and A’s. Hmmmm……I couldn’t quite help myself inquiring once he opened the door a little, lol!
3 Likes
She had to put an application in with her scholarship program to get permission to study over there. When they approved it, they exempted her from the fall/spring grade reporting for this year. She did have to send her the narrative comments she got from the tutors, though.
1 Like
That makes sense, thank you for explaining - each school seems to have their own method of deciding how grades and study abroad work.
I don’t have access to my son’s portal (only the parent part to pay tuition bills lol) or grades either, nor do I want them. I do ask about his grades though because his merit scholarship and our ability to pay for his education depend on him maintaining a certain GPA. His weakest subject has always been Math and he had his first business calculus class this semester. I encouraged him to attend the twice a week Supplemental Instruction sessions and he finished that Math class with a 97. I don’t hound him or hover but we talk weekly about how classes are going and I definitely encourage him to find/use the resources available on campus.
6 Likes
Yes, and her school does as well. Her scholarship is from an outside organization, so it was entirely separate but parallel to her college’s process. Her college doesn’t record grades from any study abroad- they’re all counted as pass/fail. Oxford doesn’t even give grades to visiting students, though, as they don’t sit for exams.
2 Likes
Hey just found this, fun to read! wrt grades, I think I am similar to what I am reading from most others but just wanted to share a story of a friend of mine, at her son’s college they gave students the option to view grades online and he opted out. So throughout the semesters he did not know his grades. He went directly to college without going to school at all so grades were alien to him. He didn’t look at them and neither did his mom. Imagine her surprise when a friend congratulated her upon learning via FB that her son had received an academic award. One of the son’s classmates had congratulated him there and news spread. She then asked her son about it and he had no idea so she told him to check FB and then he found out that this was a big deal.
1 Like
Happy that my D shares everything. 4 A’s, 1 A- 3.95 GPA
She had a rough semester adjusting to being away so proud of her for doing so well. Just missed the last A.
2 Likes
My D18 only gave me access to the bill portion of her portal. My D21 gave me access to everything with the warning that if I hover too much she will take it away.
2 Likes