@karenparent your experience with your son sounds very similar to my experience with my first kid. I hope the best for your family whatever happens. However, i know a lot about college and what the signs are. I mean, i work at a college. at two weeks into the semester, kid number 1 came to me with concerns…vague concerns but said no problem, etc. talking with other people i heard literally each perspective you see above. I even went to a work sponsored counselor who told me it’s way too early, this is normal, etc. don’t overreact, don’t be the helicopter mom, all kids go through this, blah blah blah. so i said to child…tough it out, buck up, get serious, go to tutoring, etc.
welllllll my gut feeling was correct. around halloween we had to pick up the kid from college, bring them home, navigate immediate mental health care, withdrawal from the semester (with no tuition refund), etc. it was devastating to the whole family. it took about 3 years to fully come back and student is now plugging away at that degree. but…if you are worried at three weeks i would not wait and see. i can’t help but remember the “wait and see” that turned into an ambulance ride to the hospital with low oxygen and a lung diagnosis…i so want to let them be independent, but yeah, that isn’t always a good idea. YMMV IME with troubled freshman student, @compmom has the best advice above.