<p>I agree with most posters here. The most important thing is to teach him that his actions have consequences. This is a critical life lesson. And to be honest, fair or unfair, I don’t even think it should have to do with how much he’s been gaming versus studying. I’m assuming that since he chose this college with these GPA standards, he thought he’d be able to meet those standards. He’s not meeting them. If you bail him out without consequences, you will be teaching him that no matter how little or much he tries, in the end, if he fails, mommy and daddy will bail him out. That is a very bad lesson. The sooner he learns that his actions have consequences, the better. This is going to be difficult for you - with all of us - because the temptation is to help our children, since they’re so young. But I would calmly - as calmly as you can muster! - explain that because of his grades, he has lost his merit scholarship, and will now have to take out loans that <em>he</em> will have to pay back. You can sweeten that - give him a carrot - by telling him that you will help pay the loans (I think he needs to be partly responsible for the loans no matter how well he does) IF he does better next semester, but be prepared for him not doing well and having lots of excuses why. He’s in a good situation because you CAN bail him out. Perhaps in the back of his mind, he knows this. In my own case, I wouldn’t be able to bail my children out, so they always know they’re on their own. This is harsh, but it does have its pluses, in that they know if they mess up, there are huge consequences. My oldest DID mess up - not even his fault, really - and he now has a few thousand in loans to pay back. Trust me, it’s a great (expensive) lesson. They eventually will realize how foolish they were and they won’t want to repeat it. Be prepared now for either plenty of excuses or a complete lack of understanding what the loans really will entail. Either way, he’ll come around eventually. Best of luck. Being a parent of young adults is VERY challenging!</p>
<p>I disagree… Totally understand if one truly has no financial choice in the matter but maybe even then, they should just transfer to a more appropriate (cheaper, easier) school. </p>
<p>But it seems rather strange and expensive way to teach a lesson. How on earth did any kid win merit scholarships if they hadn’t already learned their actions had consequences? Why not have taught this in the prior 18 years? Whose fault is it really if only now you are involving banks and interest to teach a lesson you had 18 years to teach already? Justifiable if you can’t afford it but this otherwise just seems silly. </p>
<p>There are way too many reasons kids might not be able to sustain their gpa regardless of effort. I’m a professor… I see this all the time. Not all kids come in prepared or skilled. Maybe the fault of the crappy highschool they went to, or their own ‘only average’ intelligence and unlike highschool ‘hard work’ in college will only take you so far. Sure you think your kid is brilliant but you simply might not have clue how challenging the work load or how unprepared your student is relative to others. I especially worry about kids in engineering or com sfumato have parents who have never done this major. Or ones that imagine ‘poli sci’ because it’s only ‘arts’ should be an easy A. I wonder what college they went to themselves. At our university, approximately half of freshmen fail calc 1. It’s not a weed course…students from across the university enroll in this course offered by the math dept. But it is brutal and everyone works their butt off in that course…,yet half fail. Physics? The average is around 58%. </p>
<p>It just seems so unfair to make arbitrary rules when you as a parent really can not know all the circumstances.</p>
<p>After reading the fine print on the scholarship, the good news is that his overall GPA will be reevaluated each spring and he can renew his merit scholarship later on if he gets it back up to 3.0. He can also take summer courses in an attempt to get back to 3.0. I think our strategy right now is #1 encourage him to make a major effort towards improving his grades this semester (He has never gone to office hours or attempted to get any help at the tutoring center etc.) even though he only has about three more weeks #2 encourage him to select less challenging courses for the spring semester #3 enroll him in summer school. He doesn’t have to take physics but he has to take three semesters of some kind of science courses. He could take an honors psychology course but it is already full for spring. He has to get at least a C in calc 1 for his major so I guess he’ll have to get some kind of tutoring. He will then have to take two more courses that count towards math credits. He is already signed up to take an introductory philosophy course that will lead to two logic courses that count as “math”. Regardless of how difficult intro calc and physics are, I know he has not put in enough effort. He had major senioritis last year so he didn’t work particularly hard in AP calc or physics, last*year, either. We could afford to cover the cost of his tuition but he also has five younger siblings for us to put through college, so we will expect him to borrow money if he doesn’t put in the effort to get back on track.</p>
<p>There might be a curve on calc, without knowing the professor’s grading system, you might get excited for nothing. so go to the office hours and ask how he is doing and how can he improve in the final to get over the hump. Perhaps his 60 is a c after all.</p>
<p>you are so lucky to be able to pull off a merit scholarship with only a 3.0. In my college, it is 3.5 and they will drop your merit if it is a 3.49, not negotiable.</p>
<p>Really 5 more kids and you have the extra for him to attend. </p>
<p>Dd is on a partial scholarship and needs to maintain a 3.0. She is a chemistry major and I have no idea how hard or easy this will be for her. I told her she needed to keep the scholarship or she needs to transfer to a different college or change majors. . I am not paying extra for her to attain this college just for fun. I mean it and she knows the deal. I don’t feel at all like I owe it to her to keep giving.</p>
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<p>It is not a financial option for us to bail out our son should he loose his merit scholarship. He understands that. </p>
<p>I’m not following the logic of loans. The school is either too difficult for the student or they are not making the effort. Either way, they need to come up with a new plan, in my opinion.</p>
<p>It’s a tough thing but here was the “deal” we struck with our kids. IF they had lost their merit awards, they would have had to make up the financial difference or transfer to a less expensive school. If they had to retake a course to get a higher grade in the summer, it was on their dime. We paid the total rest of their schooling. They knew were were serious.</p>
<p>I would have this kiddo take out the loans in his name (hopefully he has the Staffords available) for the term IF his grades fall below the cut off for that merit award…IF you spoke about this in advance of him attending school. If not, you might want to strike a compromise…beginning NOW. Tell him this is his first and only chance. You will pay for the ONE semester he needs to bring those grades back up to qualify for the reissue of the merit award…if he doesn’t make it, he will have to pick up the difference.</p>