| One of my kids finished his first semester with very, very disappointing grades. I saw pictures on his Facebook that indicated he was partying. He had tried to pursue a science major even though math/science was never his strength. We spent an unhappy Christmas break discussing what had gone wrong. The kid refused to admit that partying was part of the problem, and blamed the science/math classes.
I told the kid that staying at his school was NOT an option if he lost his scholarship due to poor grades, but he had choices. He could transfer to an easier school but transferring would be more possible if grades were better. With rock bottom grades, his transferring options were limited. Another option would be to take some classes at Community College, to bring up his GPA and show that he was capable of doing college work.
Kid went back to school determined to get his act together. Changing majors made a huge difference, since the classes in the new major were much more appealing and interesting to him. The fear of being forced to leave a school (and telling his friends what happened) was big motivation. Semester #2 was much, much better - enough so that the final GPA for the year preserved his scholarship by a whisker. While studying a lot harder, he did some transfer applications.
With his improved GPA, this kid did elect to transfer to a school that had a stronger department in the new major. He transferred with his head high, knowing he could have stayed in School #1. The transfer was his choice, not a forced option because he had lost his scholarship. On the positive side, he left his GPA and those awful first semester grades at School #1 behind, and was able to start a new GPA at School #2.
The hardest part of that year was admitting what went wrong. Was it partying, tough classes in an area where he didn't "click," the frat, the GF, sleeping through classes, skipping classes, not doing the reading, not understanding the material, etc.? Sometimes brilliant kids just don't have good study habits, since they've been able to get good grades in high school just by reading the material on the bus on the way to school. Another factor may be the preparation for college the kid got in high school. Some high schools just don't give students the preparation that other schools do. One of my kids was telling me that it's amazing to him that many students in his Calculus class were struggling with a particular problem but he had done this problem in 8th grade in our school district. Even in his honors dorm, with really smart kids with good SATS, much of the material was new to them. When grading on a curve, it doesn't take too many math geniuses or kids who had that material in a high school class to skew the curve and hurt the students who come in a little less prepared.
I've been in your shoes, and it's heartbreaking. However, I can tell you that there absolutely can be a happy ending. My kid with the awful first semester has made dean's list ever since he figured out the problem(s) and changed his major to something that he actually enjoys. He's now looking at professional schools. I never would have believed that he could turn things around so well. |