| S had a difficult few semesters and what baffled us is why he did not drop a class BEFORE it deteriorated into an F or D. He has finally understands more about managing your gpa and studies better. But it took until his 2nd semester as a junior.
We too struggled with what approach to take as parents. Ultimately, we told him that if he lost his financial aid/scholarship (which has a minimum gpa that isn't all that high), we could not afford to make up the difference. I agree that it is way too difficult to try and manage his grades from a distance. And frankly, we didn't feel we could set a specific goal (ie you MUST have a 3.0), especially when some classes/and or profs are WAY harder than others. We basically had to sit tight and wait until the next semester grades were posted. He has never been very good about sharing information, particularly when the news isn't positive. He still has his financial aid/scholarship---but barely. Bottom line though is that we made clear what the goal was: lose your money and you come home. It was up to him to figure out how to make that happen.
Several others have posted various reasons for what may have gone wrong.
I'm local to the GA Tech area and I can confirm the stories you are hearing about calculus and the number of students who get F's and D's. Many bright kids we know had this happen at Tech. Some dropped/changed majors, some left the school, but most figured out a way to survive and ultimately thrive. Tech is tough.
That said, with my S (who doesn't go to Tech), the problems were similar to those mentioned already, lack of organizational skills, not taking class attendance seriously enough (he NEVER misses class now), and a seeming inability to assess where he stood in a class gradewise until it was too late.
Unwilling to join study groups, etc, etc.
He's getting better at it, ie, understanding the importance of dropping the terrible class...however, it's just in time for his senior year and probably will impact his ability to attain admittance to grad school.
The lessons learned will be valuable for maturing and succeeding. And hopefully, if your S cares about staying at Tech, he will find a way to do what he needs. Please keep us posted and best of luck to you. |