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Call your D and ask her.</p>
<p>College students are legal adults, and as such, parents have no right to any of the student records. There’s actually a federal law that protects such information.</p>
<p>So, in short, other than asking your student, you can’t get that information. And should your kid decide it’s easiest to “improve” his grades when talking with parents, there’s nothing that can be done to verify that information.</p>
<p>A “really good” college student, in my opinion, is one who is doing the following:</p>
<p>1) Staying out of trouble with the police and college authorities (and I personally would add “not getting pregnant/making someone else pregnant unless the couple has made a decision to have a child”).</p>
<p>2) Managing well in terms of responsible handling of money, time, and roommate situations.</p>
<p>3) Meeting his/her own goals in terms of academic and extracurricular achievements (or taking steps to do so or to develop more appropriate goals). I’m specifically NOT mentioning a particular GPA here because the GPA that’s needed is dependent on the individual’s goals and plans. (A premedical student and a future journalist whose collegiate life is devoted largely to working on the campus daily newspaper have dramatically different needs in terms of GPAs and devote very different amounts of effort to academics.)</p>
<p>4) If a freshman or sophomore, adjusting well to the college environment (or taking steps to improve the situation if things are not going well).</p>
<p>5) If a junior or senior, developing plans for what to do after college and taking steps in preparation for those plans (e.g., seeking appropriate part-time jobs or summer internships to provide work experience in preparation for getting a job after graduation, using the campus career center to help with job hunting, taking tests such as the GRE or LSAT, seeking undergraduate research opportunities if interested in research-oriented graduate school). Some underclassmen, such as premedical students, may also need to be thinking about such things.</p>
<p>^^^ I don’t have any data. However, I woulld ike to think at least 50% of student body at any schools meet your ideas.</p>
<p>One that comes home every once in a while!</p>
<p>Personally, I think a good college student is evident through his passion for learning and advancing. This quality will tell you how successful he or she will be in life.</p>
<p>I hope it would be even higher than 50 percent. I would like to see the vast majority of college students be successful (by my criteria). </p>
<p>I do know, however, of quite a few students who don’t meet my criteria – including students who have gotten into trouble related to alcohol or other matters, students who have not been successful in getting the kind of grades they need to meet their own goals, and students who have no clue about what to do after graduation and haven’t done anything to plan for life after college. I don’t think I’m setting the bar too low.</p>
<p>A really good college student is one that pays their own way!</p>
<p>I believe my D is a really good college student because of the growth and maturity I have seen in her. The progression from adolescent to adult is wonderful to see. She was always a good kid with good grades and that continues. The real change is watching her take charge of all the things she needs to do and how she deals with the obstacles that are thrown her way whether it is caused by her own school or some other outside influence.
It is also nice to see her develop friendships with other kids as they become adults. It seems to me that these friendships are different than those she developed when she was a child. Not better mind you just different.</p>
<p>To me, a really good college student is one who makes the full use of as many opportunities as possible. College is a really unique experience. A good college student not only takes advantage of the classroom (and therefore has a “good” GPA, whatever that means for the student and the courseload), but study abroad opportunities, his or her peers, undergraduate research, the career center, social life, and all the things that make college college. There’s more to a college education than the classroom.</p>
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<p>Students can sign a FERPA form giving whomever they choose the right to talk to folks in college AND have access to their student records. My kids both signed this form…because it also included our ability to talk about their BILLS with the bursar’s office. Neither of them wanted to troubleshoot bills! </p>
<p>So…if your kid signs giving you permission…you can gain access to whatever they give you permission to access. I can access EVERYTHING for my kids but have never done so…never needed to as they give me their grades and such. But I have talked to the bursar’s office about bills.</p>
<p>I happen to think my daughter and son were both “really good” college students. DS graduated in four years with a great GPA…got his masters in two…and got a job. We are very proud of his accomplishments. Undergrad degree was from a fine, well recognized university. Grad from a conservatory.</p>
<p>DD will graduate in four years with two majors from a fine university also. She has worked hard, done well, has done more than we might have expected given her very busy course schedule, and has grown into a remarkable young lady.</p>
<p>To me…this is what makes a “really good” college student. It’s not all about GPA and ECs like in high school.</p>
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<p>I don’t agree with this. Neither of my kids had “high GPAs”…DS did not graduate with honors, and DD won’t either. STILL…they are REALLY good college students. Just my humble opinion. It’s not all about the grades in college…it’s what you actually DO.</p>
<p>I am also not in the camp of “highest GPA” means good college student. I would rather my kids have above average GPA, made good friends (life long friends if possible), took advantage of what the school had to offer, than to have 4.0 GPA. I told D1 not to spend all of her time in studying while in college. Last thing I wanted for her to be was a bookwarm.</p>
<p>When do our kids get to stop having to act like performing seals and get to pursue their passions at their own pace? I agree with the posters above. Quality of life should trump quantity of GPA. My new mantra.</p>
<p>I am sure Ted Kaczynski and Amy Bishop were good students at Harvard. That makes them super good ;)</p>
<p>I was never concerned about my D’s ability to adjust from high school to college w/ regards to G.P.A. She has always been a good student, socially active and continuously seeks out new challenges. The day we said our goodbyes at her dorm, the best advice I could give her dealt w/ time mmgt. It was also stressed during her Orientation. I’m happy she listened . She carries a 3.7 into her junior yr. while Pres. of Panhellenic .She is looking forward toward her internship this summer while preparing to take her G.R E.'s</p>
<p>DadII asked: “In college, where would parents call to get a full feedback?”</p>
<p>Do you have reason to be concerned? I told my DD when she started college that my financial support was contingent the same requirements as the school’s financial aid: she needed at least a 2.0 GPA and to be making appropriate progress toward her degree. I told her that I wanted to see her grades & transcript along the way to verify this. She opted to simply give me the login to the student account where this can be checked. That lets me see her grades, overall GPA, and things like whether or not she has completed distribution requirements. </p>
<p>I was only requiring the bare minimum because of my previous experience with my son – who fell below those standards & was not forthcoming with me about his status.</p>
<p>Because college students are adults, I don’t really see a need for more “feedback” than the information that would be in a transcript. My kids actually both gave me a lot of feedback along the way when things went well – sharing good news of whatever honors came their way.</p>
<p>A “really good college student” is one who:</p>
<ol>
<li>Is invested in the educational process and highly motivated to do well. While a high GPA often flows from this, that is not the only or even an accurate measure. GPA can vary and fluctuate for a variety of reasons from the rigor of the major and school in general, rigor of individual course, the vagaries of professors, to difficulties a student may have.</li>
<li>Meets challenges head on with determination to work through difficulties.</li>
<li>Cultivates interests and activities that broaden their understanding of the world around them.</li>
<li> Maintains balance in their lives and learns how to live responsibly as an independent, competent adult.</li>
</ol>
<p>Dad II…what are you really trying to find out in this thread?</p>
<p>Which colleges did your s end up applying to, Dad?</p>