DS got his grades yesterday. In addition to his AP credits he was able to take exams and get credit for 2 classes or 7 hours. He took 18 hours first semester and 21 hours second semester and has a 4.0 overall…also he will begin an internship in mid-May. He is a bit bummed that it is remote but at least he will get some experience.
He has a friend group that he likes and is actively involved in intramurals. He also gets up twice a week at 6 to drive to an offcampus facility to continue an EC he enjoys. Also got a 14 on the Putnam.
Hours will come down I think. His uni limits the courses you can test out of so he took courses that he already knew the material for to get them out of the way…He has not been as challenged academically as I would have hoped but organization has not been his strength previously and he definitely improved this year.
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My S21 also got a lesson in how time consuming labs can be. He still wants to minor in bio and happily can now say goodbye to chemistry. CS going well. He has zero plans for the summer at the moment. Will likely work and a take an online CS class. Had to quit D1 rowing as it was too much but a good growth experience.
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S21 is home for the summer. No major plans but to work and save up money!
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Congratulations - which university does your D go to? All the best !
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D21 got home Wednesday and by Friday secured a full time summer job that pays really well. This will allow her to only have to work about 10 hours a week next year which is a nice weight lifted from her shoulders. We have a couple family trips this summer to balance things out. Having her home has had a calming effect on me. Something about having my family together again just feels so good!
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Proud Dad. First year of college in the books with a 4.0.
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Wow. That’s awesome. D21 doesn’t know anyone with a 4.0 even just for first semester! Lol. Second semester grades not out for another couple of days…
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D21’s roommate is on academic probation and will be switching schools and majors.
No 4.0’s here either. Still proud though, but with the quarter system, she doesn’t finish up until around 6/10.
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My Dd has a 4.0 this year, but she said that this semester was particularly easy (she wishes the classes were more spread out into other semesters).
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Colgate a little more difficult than Miami of Ohio…lol…
Colgate is a grind! Intro to Psych (one of D’s classes first semester) is some crazy weed out class with a full 40% of the kids getting a C or lower and the four required core courses are super difficult. Here’s the reading list for the first one - all of these were read in full. Can’t come to class unprepared. Twelve students in class and discussion is a full 30% of your grade.
- Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism (Monthly Review)
- Charles Darwin,The Origin of Species(Harvard)
- W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (Penguin Classics)
- Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Communist Manifesto (Pathfinder)
- Friedrich Nietzsche,On the Genealogy of Morality (Hackett)
- Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (Harcourt) - .
Not for the faint of heart and all freshman have to take the four core classes no matter your proposed major. I think I mentioned it before but D said she’s going to be “so crazy smart” by the time she graduates. Ha!
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No 4.0 for S, but he did really well. He also doesn’t know anyone with a 4.0.
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Wow, I did not know LAC’s had weed out classes. Thought that was a big Uni thing.
I have no idea what my daughter’s grades are or what her gpa is. I honestly love having that whole monkey off my back and hers. To each their own.
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Freshman year went so fast x 2 kids. Both kids are happy with their school choices, classes, extracurriculars and new friend groups and indicated that internships are the goal for next summer and not coming back to the nest.
As @picklenut6 mentioned - I am also so happy to have the monkey of high school and grades off my back - even though I put it on myself and it was never put there by my kids. How I wish I knew what I know now and I would like to think I would have nagged less, compared less, not invested so much mind space on the social and parent crap - the kids are alright and a lot of that is because of them and not me.
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I know exactly what the grades are for both my kids. They both send me their transcipts each semester/quarter. I never ask for them. 
D18 just graduated and sent me her entire transcipt from all 4 years (3 1/2 technically) of college. I know her GPA right down to three places to the right of the decimal point. 
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I ask my son for his end of semester grades. I never checked grades in HS, but I want to make sure my kid is successful at school. If he is struggling, I want to be able to help him get help.
A lot of URM kids will struggle with imposter syndrome and not knowing that there are resources available to help them. I am not going to let my kid potentially struggle in college and close the door on opportunities he may want to pursue later.
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My kid just finished finals yesterday, so no grades yet. On the parent portal, he gave me access to billing, to his grades (because we pay–his reason), and to his schedule (in case of emergency–my reason). I really only need access to billing, but these kind of threads make me check the grades. Which I just did. No 2nd semester grades, but he did get a 4.0 last semester. Does he have fun? Are his classes too easy? Now I wish I hadn’t checked…
He has signed up for 3 labs next fall and was worried about the course load. Mostly because his humanities class will be so reading intensive. I asked him, what’s the worst that could happen, you don’t get an A?He said, oh, yeah, I guess that’s fine. Indeed.
He did have two oral final exams, each semester, which would have terrified me, I think, but would have been a useful experience. Spanish and humanities classes.
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It’s funny, I never checked grades in HS for my 3 daughters, I knew their college GPA’s because they told me (I didn’t know my oldest’s but her diploma said summa cum laude). My sons were a different story, ds16 is adhd and executive functioning issues went nuts in high school, had to get him some help with doing and turning in assignments. Once he hit to college I was THRILLED to be out if it, to this day I don’t know his college GPA and he graduated in 2020. His non adhd brother was fine until Covid, all online for 1 1/2 years. He turned into the king of missing assignments, and unfortunately teachers were extra accommodating and he made it through. Went hand off in college, unfortunately didn’t realize he was actually battling depression and anxiety and tanking his classes. Fortunately it became very apparent in October, he took a medical withdrawal, and had been improving with medication and therapy. I wish I had trusted my gut (my husband assumed it was senioritis). I did get tuition insurance because I felt something might be wrong, they paid. So, my twins will not be graduating college at the same time, hoping he can have success locally in the fall.
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