My S had one W and it was no issue – he got it to a top 5 grad school for his disipline. I expect one W would be preferable to a poor and overly-stressed semester.
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Has the OP shared the state of residence of the student ?
from NJ.
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@PepperMilo i know your son isn’t there with you yet on transfer but have you looked at any of the suggestions above to see what you think might fit?
If skating is that critical, it seems reasonable to find a school within minutes of a rink vs an hour.
I know he might not agree. I also know he might want to stick it out in business there be changing to a social science. I think if he keeps a 3.0 overall and in major, he will likely be fine job wise. Hurt for getting some but not most. The risk is if he falls below and he’s right there.
We are coming up with a list of schools. I’m fine with him taking a semester off, transferring, going abroad, whatever. I think there are many factors here: stress/overwhelm of school work, sadness that this didn’t turn out the way he hoped, isolation, loss of the community. I’ve advised him to drop a class - or two - this semester. I flew out this weekend to get eyes on his living situation, how he’s eating, and to mom him for a couple of days. This is when being far from home is hard at 19, as sometimes it might just be a weekend back home that takes the pressure off.
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Mom is always the best recipe 
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Your son is in over his head it seems, but he now has to finish the semester, unless he is able to get a medical withdrawal due to mental health. That would require a doctor signing off.
Honestly, you are the one paying and you do have a bit of sway here. My kids had their own struggles in college, and while it’s important for them to be independent, you are still supporting him financially and that means something. It seems unlikely that he would seek the medical withdrawal path for the semester, but I’d insist on him taking the W for the one credit class, at least.
I’m not a sentimental person and I drew out my trump card when I had to. Maybe your son will get upset, but I definitely think his intense workload is not helping. He can be mad now but will probably secretly thank you later.
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I’m not sure I understand your comment. I will make him drop one class (a 3 cr that has a high volume of work). I don’t know how a medical withdrawal works or what it means on his transfer.
I wish I had insisted that he didn’t go back this semester.
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If he had a medical diagnosis of depression or other mental health issue, he could probably withdraw from Purdue for the semester and leave. He would get no credits. His standing would be as if he hadn’t started the semester. It would be a medical withdrawal and generally won’t be held against him. I don’t actually think withdrawing from one class is a huge problem for his transcript as long as he can keeps his grades up. Regular withdrawals perhaps have a more negative connotation on a transcript.
You can Google their medical withdrawal policy.
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There is no reason to initiate a request for a medical withdrawal. (A medical withdrawal could haunt him in future years for example if a security clearance is required for a job.)
OP, you understand your son’s situation; the workload is too demanding and he is not a STEM person. Transferring is the answer.
I know plenty of people who have taken medical withdrawals… how on earth could that “haunt you”, let alone for years?? What exactly are you implying here?
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If for “mental health reasons”, it could have a negative impact if one needs to apply for a security clearance for a federal job.
Many of my neighbors are in positions which require a security clearance and I have been interviewed several times regarding their applications. Always surprised at how many decades are covered.
There are lots of things that make security clearance difficult, time-consuming or impossible. I just fail to see how this is relevant to the OP’s son’s situation. If he qualifies and wants a medical withdrawal, then that’s his answer. I have also been interviewed for both family members, colleagues and friends. And sometimes the “issue” is beyond anyone’s control.
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How does he qualify ?
And no, a medical withdrawal was not raised by the OP or OP’s son; it was raised by another poster.
Regardless, please move on as there is no need to argue the point.
Since CC is not a debating society I will let this drop.
But a physician can request a medical withdrawal without specifying which body part, which portion of the anatomy, which disease, which condition is involved. The college doesn’t adjudicate between Crohn’s disease, cancer, MS, an eating disorder, a fractured tibia, severe allergies, etc. and tell one kid “You can deal with this on campus” and another “You’d better go home for chemo”. That’s not how it works.
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I think OP’s kid is overburdened - but he seems to like it.
I don’t know that business at another school will be much different. I hope he chose it for love (it’s clear he doesn’t love it) but I do wonder if other majors would suit more. We know many kids choose a major for perceived employment opportunities, and I won’t say it’s necessarily wrong (at least their thought).
I do think - sounds like OP loves to skate and has to go to Indy to do so which makes it impossible - so I do hope they pick a school that’s got skating within 15 mins or so of campus (and with a way to get there and back) - which might be an emotional win plain and simple (if it makes the student happy).
The OP also mentioned nice weather - hence the list of those two things I built above.
I don’t think the student would consider a full-on withdrawal if mom can’t even get them to leave one class.
I agree that transfer and dropping a class is the answer. In the short term, you may want to hirer an EF coach to help get him through this semester and set him up for sucess and less stress at his new school.
Hi everyone. This is a little off topic, we now need to get out of a lease for next year, and would appreciate advice. There are some facebook sites for Purdue sublets, but not sure if that will cover all our bases.
Is he signed with others (on one lease) or is it you sign for a room? Typically, there’s a cancel clause - either you pay x months rent or you pay until you find someone. If it’s a room rental (like a 3 br with 3 leases), you can often find someone, especially if the location is good. You might offer a sweetener - like you’ll pay one month or 1/2 month.
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Is there also a parents’ facebook page you can post the sublet on? At my S’s school the sublet pages were overrun by scammers. As tsbna said read the lease, perhaps you can totally get out of it for a penalty like one month’s rent and avoid the sublet situation entirely.
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