^ I stand corrected then. I still hope the best for you and your daughter.
Well @LadyArwyn , we are in that mode too. I was reading up on previous posts, and toying with not paying for his college after freshman year if he is still on academic probation. He’s not putting in the time, and gaming is an issue for him.
I haven’t blocked anything yet, but also thinking about taking away any non-cash money so he can’t buy games and so on online.
Everything was “fine” during the semester. Sometimes I wonder if he is too social for an engineering school.
I am sorry to hear about those kids who are struggling. The first year can be challenging with newly acquired independence. I wonder if sometimes kids get so overwhelmed realizing they dug themselves into a hole and they can’t find their way out. My son (HS class of 2012) was a bit like this.
So sorry, @ladyarwen. I also have a child who scores well on tests but has been haphazard with turning in homework. It’s sooo frustrating! Best wishes as you and she work through this.
Does anyone here know anything about Brandeis? DS '17 just got a letter of interest from their track coach. I ran a NPC on them and came back with a net cost of $8600 (!?!) but he would be in the bottom 25% as far as GPA. I know nothing about them at all, and it’s hard to get a feel from a college website. How much support is there for students who need extra help? I saw that only 50% get need based aid, which makes it seems like a bunch of very rich kids…if he were to get in, would a country kid with relaxed (cheap!) tastes in clothes find a place to fit in?
@LadyArwyn - sorry to hear this. It sounds like she may need professional help with her on-line addiction and inability to focus. Hope it all works out.
@LadyArwyn – sorry for your daughter’s struggles. Definitely check with the school. Some schools have a GPA posted but their actual policy differs. I know of one school that lists a 3.0 requirement but the actual requirement is simply “making academic progress”
Merry Christmas! My daughter has been home for almost a week now and it has been wonderful to have her here. Hope everyone is enjoying having their young students home for a while.
Merry Christmas as well! Mine finally came home 2 days ago and it is soooo wonderful to have him back. He came bearing gifts… he stopped on his way to the airport and bought a box of handmade chocolates gift wrapped, containing the Hepburn mix. It was Katherine Hepburn’s favorite chocolate shop in NYC.
My daughter’s school seems inclined to give her one more chance, but it’s not official. She has been required to attend an advisor counseling meeting - three days after school begins. We’re thinking it’s a good sign that they didn’t just send her a disenrollment letter and tell her to clear out her dorm room. The only class they have dropped her from is chem. She will have to repeat the first course instead of taking the second course.
Hope everything works out @LadyArwyn and that you can enjoy the rest of the time with your daughter while she is on break. Seems like some good mother/daughter talks and maybe some mental health support might also be helpful to break through the issues.
What a relief, Lady Arwyn! Hope she can turn it around next semester.
Popping in from the Parents of 2016 thread to ask if you have any banking tips to offer. What has worked or not worked? I will be researching student credit or debit cards and in person banking options this week.
Happy Holidays! Hope you’re all enjoying time with your kids. S’15 came home with case of pneumonia! 
Not that serious though… he thought he just had a cold (no fever) … day 7 on meds and he’s feeling back to normal. #:-S We had a great Christmas. He’ll be home until 1/17.
^^ per question… a simple debit card is working fine for S’15. He barely spends anything. 
@Cheeringsection, here’s something to think about re: banking. We worried about this issue and it turned out to be a big nothing. We live in CA and D15 goes to school in WI. She has credit union savings and checking accounts with very limited options on free ATM usage (one CU more than a mile away from campus which would be a $3 bus ride in the winter so she may as well pay the ATM fee at a non-network ATM that’s closer). What we accidentally found out while trying to figure out how she could pay for a bus ticket through the college’s accounting office was that the accounting office accepts students’ out-of-state checks and will cash out-of-state checks. So, D15 has a free “bank” right on campus in the form of the Accounting Office. All we had to do was order a box of checks (which was not free, but it seemed the most practical long-term choice for us). They also make change: smaller bills and quarters for the laundry. So, check into that option when your kid makes their final decision.
@Cheeringsection, we were lucky that the very small town D’s school is in had a branch of our bank (Wells Fargo) a block or so off campus. She kept her checking and saving account, which I can also access, and we got her a Wells Fargo student credit card. The credit card has ~$1,000 credit limit, which is enough that she can buy a plane ticket home (across country) in the event of an emergency. She also get “money back” on the credit card for both using it and paying her bill on time. Having a linked saving and checking account enables us to transfer money to her if necessary. I like the linked accounts because it gives me peace of mind.
@Cheeringsection Consider Schwab checking. I did that with two of my kids. All ATM fees for any ATM are refunded. No minimum balance. You get a gold debit/ATM card, and there’s never a transaction fee here or abroad. I did it as a joint account so I could send cash. No minimum balance, although you have to also open a no minimum balmce brokerage account. Only downside is that there are few branches or Schwab branded ATMs to make a despot. But I can use the phone app to make a photo deposit of a check that clears the next business day.
Thanks all for the banking tips! I have been able to confirm that the university will cash a student check. Also our local bank which allows online banking has a branch close to campus. Research done!
Greetings! I have been lurking but have not posted. Both of my kids are set up with Charles Schwab. They can use any ATM they want and all of the fees are reimbursed every month. One kid is in-state but my other is 11 hours away.
Oops I see your research was done. Good luck!
@LadyArwyn - UGH on your D’s semester. Your posts made me hyperventilate 'cause I can totally see my D’17 doing something similar should she ever go to college. I hope your D sees the light and buckles down next semester. Perhaps the fear of flunking out will help her.
We’ve had a good time with DS so far. He thinks he did really well last semester, but I don’t think he has his grades yet and I don’t ask. At his LAC, they don’t count grades from the first semester, although apparently a student can choose to have them count if they want to. We met up with him in DC and toured around for a couple of days while also visiting with his cousin & wife, then we all went to Philly to visit the rest of the in-laws. DS actually came home a few days before the rest of us since his friends were staying in our house taking care of our dogs and he really wanted to hang out with them. It was really odd and nice to come home from work yesterday and have him on the sofa watching sports on TV like old times. I’m glad he doesn’t go back until 1/17.