D is a freshman and has a D in Anatomy & Physiology. I think she can pass the class, but likely with a D. She was a nursing intent, but will be changing as a C is required, and no do-overs are allowed. This is a 4 hr class and she currently has a total of 12 hrs. Had 15, but she was spending so much time on Anatomy so she dropped a very reading intensive class.
D has been identified since early with significant language disabilities/dyslexia and memory deficits. She is studying a ton, study groups, tutoring, seeing the prof. Anatomy is not working out for her due to the extensive memorization and vocab. This very small LAC is probably somewhat above her level and definitely above her high school preparation, but she loves it there. We are ok with taking 5 yrs. to graduate due to her issues.
Would you recommend your child stay in the course, earn the 4 hrs, and fill a science requirement? Or drop to save what will be a very major hit to her GPA? She has low B’s in her remaining classes. This semester’s financial aid will not be affected. Her significant financial aid from several sources will be affected in the future if GPA benchmarks aren’t achieved. I want to hear opinions and if we are missing something we should be considering?
My son is dyslexic and dysgraphic so I understand. A few questions. …is she registered with the disabilities office? Would the professor be willing to giver her an I and let her spread it over 2 semesters? They did that at my son’s school with his required writing and he spent the second semester with a grad student.
What is her new intended major? My son is cs so he can avoid all the big reading classes.
There are many, many resources, from note takers, tutors, etc but a & p is heavy duty memorization. What would the science requirement at the school for non science majors?
I personally don’t get too torn up over a low grare here or there. It’s not anecessary indication of intelligence or effort for kids with ld’s.
She will not have to return FA for this semester. I was surprised. My bigger concern is losing several scholarships for future years that require a 2-2.8 GPA, and how the D would make that difficult to achieve.
She is registered with Disabilities and is receiving extended time, using Livescribe, audiobooks, etc. That would be a great question to ask her prof. about using 2 semesters, but I doubt it since this is a lab/science course.
Her new major will be accounting. She has skills in that area, but always loved human body systems. She’s had recurring medical issues and is very health aware, so went to a nursing major originally. Yes, trying to avoid big reading classes. Reading on audiobooks is a real blessing, but takes approx 4x as long as sight reading.
Her school’s science requirement is 2 classes, one with lab, for non-science major. She has 2 years each of HS Bio and Chem, so I think she would be fine in a non-science major science class.
I also don’t think a D on a transcript is the end of the world, especially not in the major, but it’s the financial aid I’m most worried about.
I am surprised that a freshman taking the Anatomy & Physiology. These are very hard upper Bio classes that my own D. took in Junior and Senior years after she took many college Bio and Neuroscience classes. Maybe it would be helpful taking lower Bio classes prior to re-taking these 2? I do not know the requirements of the nursing program though, as a pre-med my D. could not afford many B’s, she had to make sure that she has enough background before she register for the next class.
Can she really drop it at this point without it affecting her GPA? Let’s put it this way: are you comfortable with paying for her tuition if the aid is gone?
My D is an allied heath major at a small LAC and is taking a full year of A and P this year - one this semester, one next semester. Many nursing and allied health majors in her classes. Pretty standard at her school to take A and P freshman year.
She was required to take this Anatomy & Physiology class fall semester, freshman year. Her advisor told me 90 students start as intended nursing majors; approx. 50 end up in the major sophomore year–so I’m assuming it’s the weed-out course. It’s working
Yes, she can drop it at this point without it affecting her GPA because she is currently passing. Her transcript would show Withdraw-passing, but it would not affect her GPA. If she withdraws while failing, (which could be possible after the next exam early Nov) then the F would be calculated in her GPA. I think a Withdraw-passing will have minimal future employer impact, especially since it won’t be her major.
No, I can’t pay full COA without the aid. That’s why I think it’s very important to protect the GPA. I’m also worrying a bit about her mental health. She’s prone to anxiety about school issues, due to her LDs, and I’m certain she’s doing the “right” studying tips and trying her hardest. I’d tend to feel differently if this were a partying/non-studying issue.
I understand your dilemma. My son is in a similar situation with A&P first semester of freshman year. He is also an athlete, and due to travel has had to miss some classes. He had a middle school diagnosis of mild dyslexia and working memory issues, but is not registered with the diablities office. I am sure the memory issues are impacting his perfomance is the course. The class is required for his major, although he didn’t have to take it first term, and proably should not have. He did not get to set his own schedule. I have been trying to stay out of this situation and have encouraged my son to speak with his teacher, advisor, etc. He is meeting with his advisor today. I am curious whether you have let your daughter find out all of her options or whether you have stepped in at all?
She took the lead by meeting with her advisor, then contacting financial aid as the advisor suggested. D talked with me after that meeting and forwarded me the financial aid emails. It’s an expensive school–she knows she won’t be there without aid.
With her permission, I have since spoken with her advisor and today, her disabilities office advisor. They are in favor of dropping the course since that will not affect financial aid and her GPA, and staying in will probably ultimately affect both.
Her working memory tests at 5-10th percentile over the years. She gets through subjects and into long-term memory by sheer excessive studying and hard work. I think the pace and volume of memorization is just too much for her in A & P.
Thanks for the posts. They have helped me clarify my thinking. Her school is super supportive and I am also extremely thankful for that.
If she drops she’ll be down to 9 hours? Is this still full time hours? Check to see if lack of hours affect her financial aid. For some scholarships she may be required to have so many credit hours an academic year. ( but might can make up some in summer). Just something to check.
I am sure that she will eventually get over her disappointment of not being able to pursue what she thinks is her dream career; she will definitely appreciate the relief from the stress and all the extra time that she can now use to get better grades in her other courses. Good luck you her!
OP, I just wanted to say how impressed I am your daughter’s actions to seek help and keep her school/advisor informed. Very responsible - that speaks volumes.
She’ll be at 8 hrs after dropping. From my discussions, I believe it is considered full-time since she had 12 hours on the “snapshot” day, which was the day they could drop without it showing on the transcript at all. It’s considered “attempted, not completed”. The financial aid director emailed aid for this year will not change. I was surprised, but the fine print in the handbook confirms this.
She is required to have a certain number of hours at the end of freshman year, but they transferred in 15 hours of dual credit from high school, so she does have a buffer.
abasket–thanks. We worked very hard in high school for her to learn to advocate for herself and make appropriate contacts. She still likes to check in with me and run ideas by, but I’m proud of her working hard on the adjustment to college.
I’m of the firm belief others want to help, but one has to put themselves out there and ask. This is child 3. S1 did flunk a class while not availing himself to any of the available resources…I didn’t intervene at all and he took his lumps, but this is a different situation.
We did seek out a school for her where we thought there would be a bit more hand-holding and less falling through the cracks than some. Like insurance though–you never know how that works out until you need it!
I think you did the right thing. My youngest has similar learning issues and has very poor working memory. She started out as an Animal Science major but multiple science courses each quarter pushed her anxiety through the roof. After 3 yrs she is taking a break to figure out what her next step will be.
Through the disabilities office my D was able to get a Minimum progress waiver. This allowed her to bypass the requirement of passing a certain number of units per year to be in good standing. This also allowed her to have the benefits of a full time student while taking less units. She came in with a good number of CC units so while she always took a reduced load she could have finished in 4 yrs with some summer school.
My D also found that the same subject taught by different professors could have dramatically different results based on the teaching style.
What has been frustrating for my D is that she has to work so much harder and the results are not as great as others. Also that she knows she is smart yet due to her disability she isn’t always able to produce top grades in some classes this eliminating some future careers.
It is actually part of life to realize that some careers are more compatible with our talents and skills than others. Sometimes people go into fields with urealistic ideas of what their profession will entail and have no idea about the strenuous physical demands or other requirements of the profession. This is one of the reason that shadowing or interning is a good idea, to have a better idea of what the job will entail. I know a woman who is very petite (under 100 pounds) and under 5 feet tall. She was a butcher and expected to carry trays that weighed over 50 pounds. She kept getting injured because her body was NOT designed to handle such loads easily. Similar situations occurred with slender, petite EMTs and physical therapists, AFTER all their training and work. They all had to look into other fields that would work with their size.
It is tough that physical, mental, emotional and other attributes DO affect career options, but that is how things go.
Yes, some go into medical fields and expect to only do pediatric work with little bodies but end up working with morbidly obese people that are “dead weight” and their slender frames have a hard time hefting such loads. Lots of folks in the medical profession end up treating folks that are quite different from the minature dimensions they had imagined. I have suggested this to some friends with very petite kids who wanted to go into PT or nursing to work with babies and young kids.
Both my kids have always been about 5% for weight and height and are accordingly poor fits for jobs that require regular lifting of heavy weights. Fortunately, neither of them have indicated any interest in fields that would require this. The closest D came was thinking she might want to be the camera person, knowing the equipment can be VERY heavy. Fortunately, she’s chosen other aspects of the cinema field that aren’t as physcially strenuous.
