<p>Does he have any wiggle-room to take the courses Pass/Fail that he will remain enrolled in this semester? A “Pass” on his transcript might be easier to overcome than a “D” or even a “C” in his cumulative GPA down the road. An F is a Fail, no matter how you look at it. </p>
<p>And yes, withdrawing from all courses is extreme, but a completely ruined transcript is a hole that can take years to dig out of, as others above have noted. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you. It sounds like his advisor is being constructive and helpful, and that’s wonderful.</p>
<p>Long story short.S is ADHD bi-polar.transferred out of small LAC.Went to local CC grew a little changed majors got therapy and we gave him some strict parameters for progress.He is now professional journalist still on meds and in therapy.I would add that if a school claims to have a support system you must expect more than lip service.Communication is key.You are not alone.</p>
<p>I wonder if the son followed through with any of the things that he told his parents he would do last week. I wonder if the parents ended up calling and doing all of the things that son promised to do.</p>
<p>I would withdraw, bring him home, and let him start with a few classes at community college. It’s easier to overcome “W’s” than a failed semester.</p>
<p>We didn’t withdraw him. H traveled to the college with the ostensible purpose of hearing S’s winter choral concert, then stayed to meet with advisors and the learning specialist, with S at his side. Prior to H arriving, S got himself fully registered for accommodations and connected with a very nice prof who has been designated as a secondary advisor.
S auditioned for the music department and was accepted as a music major. He was able to replace the course he was failing with a phys ed course.
He received his last grade today and has finished the semester with a 2.7 gpa - not up to cc standards, but in our house, we are celebrating!
I again want to thank all of you for your support and good advice. This was definitely a situation that called for our involvement, and the outcome was better than I could have dreamed.</p>
<p>That’s great! I wanted to chime in to post that if he continues to have trouble with organization, this suggestion:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Is exactly what I used to do with the disabilities office when I was in school. We met once a week to go over all my assignments for the week and she would help me make a realistic schedule for how I could complete them (try as I might, my own schedules were never realistic-- and if, say, I forgot to schedule a lunch break I would mess up the entire schedule and not be able to recover.) I would then send her an email each night before I went to bed so she could help me change the plan if something went wrong that day, so the entire week didn’t get thrown off kilter by one bad day. I also think she had a secret purpose in doing this to track what time I was going to bed… she knew if I was always emailing her at 4am we needed to try something else.</p>
<p>It made me feel less inclined to get overwhelmed and quit knowing I had to email someone at the end of the day to tell them what I got done.</p>
<p>Thanks! Ema, we’re planning to implement a version of the system you describe. We’re hopeful that it will work. cupksdad, I wish I could change my username - I don’t think the system will let me!</p>
<p>YAY!! A 2.7 when you were contemplating withdrawing alltogether is FABULOUS! I would celebrate too. Congrats to you and your son for hanging in there, and finding something that can work for him. Well done, mom!</p>
<p>As Em said, make sure your son uses the Disabilities Office. We have found them to be SO helpful. My son feels comfortable calling them to schedule tests, discuss problems with profs, etc. The staff is always encouraging and positive. They take a lot of pressure off that I used to feel, trying to stay on top of everything.</p>