Those that brought up Mudd, Caltech, MIT etc. wasn’t because anyone thought the OP kid went there, only to show that even the most intense STEM schools out there require humanities. But no matter what college or university you go to there are going to be requirements.
OP, your argument is " He studied those subjects in high school. ". Well, he also studied STEM subjects and you find it worthwhile to further his STEM education in college…likewise it’s important to further the study of humanities.
Yep, if he doesn’t do a good job in the humanities or other required classes, his gpa will suffer. My daughter the engineer had to work twice as hard in the required English and social science classes, but she did it. My daughter the history major has to pass a math class and 2 science classes. They are very hard for her.
He needs to start taking the required courses, one or two at a time. Or in the summer at a community college.
If his reason for struggling in such courses in the past was writing, as it is for many students, make sure he makes use of the Writing Center at his campus. It looks like the website is http://lrc.umbc.edu/tutor/writing-center/
If your kid is an awesome test taker…see if there are any CLEP tests he can take that will satisfy these course requirements…and what score he would need to get to,satisfy the course requirements.
Personally I think he would benefit from actually taking these courses…and broadening his horizons a bit.
Presumably the latter, since http://catalog.umbc.edu/content.php?catoid=12&navoid=605#Advanced_Placement__AP__Examinations says that “Credit earned through Advanced Placement examinations may be used to satisfy the General Education Requirements, satisfy course prerequisite, as elective credit or toward major requirements in many instances (please consult the academic department).”
If the son struggled with those types of courses in high school (humanities, social sciences) it is likely that he either opted not to take AP offerings in those areas and/or opted to skip the AP exams for those subjects and/or took the exams but did not score well enough to qualify for AP credit. I’m guessing it is the first - that he opted to take AP’s in STEM courses but not for English & History.
Nothing wrong with that - it is a legitimate choice in high school. But it does leave the student unable to test out of the requirements in college.
Maybe his adviser is guiding the student to help GPA? This is almost the end of freshman year, wouldn’t this sort of credit issue would have been clear last year?
His gpa in his major usually is what matters for career/grad school purposes. He merely needs to get acceptable grades in other courses. If he is planning on medical school he definitely needs the skills taught in the non STEM world. Engineers are the same as everyone else- multifaceted.
Ditto on the college’s writing lab if that is a weakness of his. ALL students benefit from being able to compose well written items.
I had the opposite personal situation. I did everything I could to avoid any STEM classes in college. I could not imagine wasting my time on math when there were history and English classes calling my name. I took CLEP tests.and got enough credits to cover math and science. I am now planning to have my son work with his math tutor and take the CLEP so he can spend more time on the subjects he enjoys.
Another option for the OP might be what I had my D do - take science and foreign language at the local community college over the summer. As long as you get a C (or whatever grade the home school deems), you get the credit for the course but it doesn’t go into your GPA. Ironically, because she was so relaxed about it, she got A’s.
Yet another option is to take a course pass fail. D took math and, again, was so relaxed that she wound up with a B, which was better than she had ever done in HS.
She graduated summa cum laude with none of those horrible STEM courses damaging her GPA…