<p>My rising college freshman S is a major procrastinator that had to be poked and prodded and reminded most of the way through high school. Had I not had on-going electronic access to his grades and assignments his grades probably would have been quite a bit lower. I asked him whether he wanted me to have access in college and I was surprised to hear him say that he does at least for the first semester. However, I'm starting to feel like I don't want to have access and that he should just take responsibility on his own without being accountable to me.</p>
<p>Another point to add here is that he received a full-ride merit scholarship and must maintain a certain grade point to continue receiving it.</p>
<p>This kind of thing was mentioned in a thread recently and a lot of parents said they expect access. I would wonder if perhaps the knowledge that you will know if he fails might be enough to spur him along without you having to prod him. Perhaps that might make you both feel more comfortable. I don’t know how it is at your S’s school, but at mine grades are not posted to the online account until they are final. It would be too late by then for parental intervention anyway. All you could do is provide him the knowledge that he cannot in any way hide his performance if he doesn’t do his work.</p>
<p>The only part of my student account that I gave my parents access to is my financial account so they can help me interpret bills-- my university has messed up a few times and I like to keep a few pairs of eyes on things. I am paying the entirety of my educational expenses myself, and as such my parents do not expect access to my grades. However, if it became apparent that I was not performing well enough to graduate in four years, they would stop cosigning my loans. </p>
<p>That said, I am honest about my performance. If I am doing my best I think my parents will be forgiving, and so I am not afraid to be honest-- best to prepare them ahead of time if I know I am not succeeding. I just prefer to disclose that information myself on my own terms rather than allowing them access to my grades online. If they were paying things would be different.</p>
<p>Absolutely. We are in the same boat with the scholarship. My D is a great student, and I don’t have many worries, but forewarned is forearmed.</p>
<p>I didn’t see any reason to have direct access to my son’s grades. If they’re old enough to be in college, they need to be responsible enough to organize themselves to get decent grades. HOWEVER, my agreement is that H and I don’t kick in our share of each semester’s payments until S shows us his grade report.</p>
<p>S also knew that if his average fell below 3.0 his scholarship required, we would not make up the difference. S loves his college. Consequently, even though S worked far below his capabilities in high school and used to only show us high school grades when prodded, he has been a dean’s list student throughout college and has very proudly shown us his college grades as soon as they are available.</p>
<p>I really do see college as his experience, not mine, so have not nagged him about grades, assignments, etc. It has been amazing how a young man who almost didn’t graduate from high school due to procrastinating about getting assignments in has managed to do very well in college despite having a demanding major, several productive ECs and working a job. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.</p>
<p>If he hadn’t earned a 3.0, however, H and I would have had no problems not making up the gap left by his not meeting his merit aid requirements.</p>
<p>If our kids want their tuition paid, we will have access to their grades. End of story. :)</p>
<p>That’s a tough spot. We “weaned” outselves off the daily grade viewing etc. after freshman year high school. That said, neither of my boys are on a full ride scholarship either which carries with it an inherent risk that is financial. My suggestion is to compromise. Tell your son you would like to know his scores at mid-terms and go from there. Tell him you want to talk to him at least once a week and then you can ask him how he’s doing. You could go so far as to ask him to self report. If he knows you can peek he might be honest since he will know you can “check.” My oldest son’s school had a freshman mid-term progress report after mid-terms given to all freshman plus a mandatory advisor meeting which I thought was a great idea. I did ‘check in’ with my oldest at that point but I asked him every week how he was doing. His college does not post any grades until after finals with the exception of the freshman year progress report mid-term so I couldn’t have “seen” how he was doing in progress even if I wanted to. We can “see” his final grades but generally he knows pretty much what he grade will be by the end of the term. Since that usually occurs when he’s home for Christmas or home for a spring visit he generally “looks first.” I feel for you because it is one of those “leap of faith” moments. I’ve got another one heading off in a couple weeks and I’ll fret about him, too, until the end of the first semester. I’m more nervous about him because he “thinks” he can “easily” get a 3.5. I told him I’d settle for anything above a 2.5. </p>
<p>We have friends who let their son run wild in HS with virtually no supervision as they were going through a huge divorce and he graduated at the tippy top and went on to a very selective college and totally bombed and flunked out. We have friends whose kids were B+ in HS and have done spectacularly in college. It’s all a leap of faith for everyone sending kids off and it’s pretty much “on the kids.”</p>
<p>We had access to our kids final grades in the courses…our deal was we saw those grades or we didn’t pay the bills for the next term.</p>
<p>BUT we did NOT have access to the kids grades on an ongoing basis. To do so, our kids had to sign a much higher level of “access” than we felt appropriate for a college student. The access we had was for the final grades and to see all things related to the Bursars office. We did not have permission to see test grades or talk to our kids’ college teachers about their grades on a day to day basis. Note…our high school uses Power School and we could see each and every quiz, test and grade every day if we chose to. This was not even available at either of our kids’ colleges. </p>
<p>I guess I understand the need to monitor some kids, but also, when is it time to let these kids become independent? I guess we felt college was that time. I should add that our kids did tell us the good, bad and the ugly…so we knew…but we didn’t find out except from them.</p>
<p>My D tells me what her grades are. She did get a dean’s list letter at home last summer. I have no reason not to believe her. I’m not directly paying her bills (she has a 529 from her grandparents in addition to her scholarships) so I don’t feel ownership of her grades.</p>
<p>I have access to our son’s and daughter’s stuff. There’s nothing really posted in the online stuff though WRT grades. The system has a slot for mid-term grades but maybe 10% of professors actually post the grade. I ask our daughter how she is doing from time to time and ask her about bills and reminders and she looks them up for me. Our son tells us his grades as he gets them. He has a 3.92 GPA - it’s not like we need to tell him what to do with his coursework - even if we knew what his coursework was about.</p>
<p>I expect to see S’s final grade report each term. He’s a rising freshman, and underperformed in high school. He seems enthusiastic about college and wants to do well, but I want to make sure he stays on track. It’s a lot of money we are paying, and he needs to prove he is past his high school antics and is truly taking his responsibilities seriously.</p>
<p>martina, some times getting final grades are too late. You need to followup monthly. We discoverd our dd was behind in her biology class after two months in her HS freshman years. we immediately put her and the teacher in a conference and found out why. That put my DD and the teacher on alert and my DD eventually caught up the work and now she wants to major in Bio. It was probably a transition problem.</p>
<p>I think there will be an adjustment again when she goes to college, this time I will followup with her work more closely, but not nagging her each step of the way unless there is a major hiccup.</p>
<p>D gave us online access to grades and financials. But I only go online to pay her bills. She knows she has to keep a 3.0 for her scholarship, so she’s in charge of that one. One of the hardest things we’ve done since she turned 18 was learn to turn over the administrative reins to her. I ask every once in a while to make sure things get done in a timely manner - such as renewing passport, change of address forms, etc. She’s actually turning into a semi-responsible adult!</p>
<p>Many people I knew with scholarships were so worried about their grades without any input from their parents. I had to sign a letter to allow the university to release my grades to my parents. In my opinion, by the time the grades are posted, the damage is done. You are better off staying on top of your student and helping them at the first sign of slipping grades. Usually mid-term grades don’t show an awful lot, since the finals are such a large percent of the final grade.</p>
<p>Well said, tractorfarmer.</p>
<p>I recall that during Orientation, we were told that we could have access to the first semester grades, and after that, we were cut off. It seemed reasonable to me. D’s an adult now, and I’m finding that the less I’m involved in running her life, the more responsible she becomes. Weird.</p>
<p>My parents expect that I give them access to bill payment/financial account as well as grades, especially since they’re paying my tuition. I tell them how I’m doing with school, and I’m fine with them checking my grades whenever. What’s there to hide? </p>
<p>They expect me to be mature and to take care of my grades, especially since I’m planning on graduate school. They won’t be there to check my grades every moment or every day, but they could if they wanted to. I don’t think it’s a ‘violation of privacy’ or anything. </p>
<p>I have to keep a ~3.5 before being put on academic probation for the Honors Program. I’m definitely going to be watching my grades and not partying every other night, and my parents know that.</p>
<p>We paid most of the bill for our oldest (state school), and expected access to his grades if we wanted them. With S2, we do not have access to his grades or anything else, but that is because we are not paying a dime toward his education – full (merit) scholarship, and he even ends up making money on it. However, this is a private college, and he knows that if he loses the scholarship because of a low GPA, he is out of there and coming home immediately. I don’t expect that to happen.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t want access to my kids’ college grades, although I do expect them to report final semester grades. Both boys have always been open about grades so it’s never been an issue.</p>
<p>I guess I can understand a parent having direct access to high school grades, to help a young high schooler stay on top of work and develop good study habits. But by later high school and college? I think LasMa is correct - to some extent parental involvement can forestall a student taking full responsibility for performance.</p>
<p>In most classes there will be no way for you to have online access to each and every grade earned in a class. Some teachers will use an online system (like Blackboard) and post grades there, others record grades the “old fashioned” way – in a grade book. Due to FERPA laws your son’s teachers are not be permitted to give you information about his grades or talk to you about his academic performance. </p>
<p>Most colleges have academic support services. If you believe he could use help adjusting to taking responsibility for his work, you could suggest he set up an appointment.</p>
<p>A big part of college is learning to take responsibility for decisions and making deadlines. When a student’s grade is low in a class I will often hear him or her say “my teacher gave me a _______ (insert low grade).” I point out to my students and advisees that teachers do not give grades, students earn grades.<br>
Students may fail a class, be put on academic probation, suspended, lose scholarships because of a GPA dip. These outcomes are a result of decisions they make. Often when these things happen it is a wake-up call and students change behavior and step up. </p>
<p>It is highly unfortunate when the behavior leads to the loss of a scholarship, or suspension, but students know the consequences of their actions, have access to academic support services, an academic adviser, the professor during office hours, and often to TAs in larger classes. If they are struggling they need to take advantage of resources as soon as they see a problem.</p>
<p>I was not a particularly motivated HS student. My parents made it clear to me that I needed to maintain a 3.0 GPA in order for them to continue to help me financially with my education. That was strong motivation to stay on top of my work. I did much better in college than I had in HS, and even better in graduate school when it was my own dime (and decision to go back to earn a graduate degree).</p>
<p>Good Luck with the transition :)!</p>
<p>^^^ I was going to say – can parents have access to online blow-by-blow progress in individual classes in college? D graduated in May and S is a rising sophomore. It never occurred to me to even ask for that sort of access. We expected them to authorize us to get their final grades, since we’re footing the bill. All the rest of it (making sure assignments were done on time, tracking progress, etc., etc.) was/is up to them. Independence is a learned skill.</p>