<p>Glad to hear that your son is back in. His background looks almost identical to our son’s. He too started last year in the Engineering program with 30 plus credit hours from High School and AP. I am sorry your son and you had to go through this anguish- my only thoughts are these. Although our son was fairly “unchallenged” by High School, he took a conservative approach at UIUC, by only taking 14 credits first and second semester… first semester was a breeze, but by second semester (due to “easier” credits brought in) the classes ere getting more challenging, and for the first time in his life, straight A’s were off the table. Fortunately, by not taking a heavy workload (6 or 7 classes) he was able to work through it, and end up with decent grades. I would encourage your son to not take on too many credits per semester, it should still be possible (by maybe taking an online class or two during winter and next summer breaks) to even wrap it up in three years, and take advantage of all those pre college credits, as well as saving a buttload of money. I empathize with the communications part, it is extremely grueling trying to have open candid conversations with teenage boys… I wish you and your son all the best, sounds like there is an opportunity to have things work out, even though not according to original plan.</p>