<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>
<p>Here is the link to the Academic policies (ie probation)
[title</a> | Illinois](<a href=“http://admin.illinois.edu/policy/code/article3_part1_3-110.html]title”>http://admin.illinois.edu/policy/code/article3_part1_3-110.html)</p>
<p>This may help clarify the situation. Good luck! Sounds like it is going to work out!</p>
<p>Our S finished his 3rd semester with a 2.04 average, technically getting off probation. Nevertheless, something is not right. My H and I agreed that he needs a semester at home at a local CC. This is what the UofI dean suggested back in June, by the way. Our S agreed. He is in the process of withdrawing from UofI, intending to return in August.</p>
<p>Is this a withdrawal where he would have to reapply or is he eligible for a leave of absence?</p>
<p>Sorry I can not reply to your PM because I have fewer than 15 posts. S has withdrawn from UIUC for spring 2013. We are carefully communicating because he says he wants to return for fall 2013. We have not heard back yet from UIUC Eng, probably due to the holidays. I think this should be similar to what students on internships do (that they don’t need to reapply). We will see. We urge S to ask advice from UIUC registrar and Eng to learn the best steps to take.</p>
<p>It is hard to know if S’s low grades are caused by 1) depression, 2) weaker study skills that are improving or 3) adolescence. It is probably a combination. H and I want to protect him from serious problems due to depression, but S needs to develop stronger study skills and to mature as well. S has an appointment with his MD to double check on his depression medication. S will see a dermatologist for his acne. S has taken steps to enroll in a local CC.</p>
<p>My son is a Mechanical Engineering student (freshman) at UIUC and is doing fine. My daughter, however, is a junior at a top school on the East Coast. We live on the West coast. When she was a freshman, she developed a major depression. We got her some counseling over the winter break and sent her back to school for 2nd semester. Her counseling continued sophomore year. This year (Junior year), she was planning to study abroad 2nd semester. It was brought to my attention by the counseling staff at her school that she had developed an eating disorder. We did not allow her to study abroad, needless to say. In fact, after many discussions with her over the phone and further encouragement from the campus phychologist, we finally got her to agree to take 2nd semester off and enter a program to deal with her depression. I did some research to find a program that will work for her. She came home at the end of the semester and began the program on December 28th. It is a very intensive program to help her deal with her depression and eating disorder problem. (She had neither of these problems prior to going to college.) By the way, she has been on the Dean’s list every semester so she is doing very well academically, but not so well emotionally. Your son’s depression might very well be the cause of his problem. Please get him some intensive help for it. It can be awful. You might want to have him work with a psychologist (in addition to the MD who is prescribing the meds) to give him the cognitive skills to learn to deal with his depression longterm.</p>
<p>I wish you luck as you work through this. I completely understand your worries.</p>
<p>UIUC dropped our S so he did not end up withdrawing. Since he was on probation for fall 2012, he was required to earn a 2.25 GPA and he didn’t achieve that. We encouraged him to attend a local CC and he’s taking piano, art history and cross-cultural communications(!). Next step is to connect him with a therapist. On his own, he is looking for a job. He is trying to do this, if for no other reason, because he is extremely bored.</p>
<p>It is so sad that he finally got dropped out of engineering. But u shud know that your son is not stupid, he is wise, only that UIUC is a very hard school for transfers. Your son was beginning as a transfer since he was over freshmen level, which means he had to meet hardcore courses that caused the depression. I was a transfer engineering junior in fall12, I had a 3.5 gpa & I was used to Acing. But I actually got on probation because I did not get my TGPA and cumulative gpa above 2.0. I knocked a very hard sophomore-junior course that honestly crashed my grade as I brought an F home. I had honestly never done a 3-credit hour course that seems like an impossible 8-credit hour course, lots of students aced, I really thought they were aliens. Come spring13, that same course messed me up again, it kept my TGPA below 2.0. But I managed to bring my cumulative gpa above 2.0 & did well on other technical courses, which saved ma ass from getting kicked off. Also my overall gpa is still above 3, so counselors saw some hope in keeping me. What I think is that your son constantly failed to show a big improvement in gpa for 3 semesters which is why they dropped him, usually they give only 2 semesters to prove it. Buy u shud know that it is definitely hard for transfers here, many of my transfer friends who used to ace were also on probation. Am lucky, I brought some A’s in summer & i feel less depressed now.</p>
<p>“I knocked a very hard sophomore-junior course that honestly crashed my grade as I brought an F home.”</p>
<p>I’m sorry this happened to you, but maybe others can learn from this. </p>
<p>First, know the deadline to drop a class with a grade of “W,” withdrawn. A “W” does not affect your GPA. I realize the drop date comes quickly, but you should have an honest talk with yourself. Next, decide whether you’re going to cross the finish line in good shape vs. having to be dragged across the finish line or not finishing at all. This is a TRUE sign of maturity. </p>
<p>Parents, if you are footing the bill, make sure you have access to your student’s account. For this, you will need your student’s Enterprise ID, which is the part of his/her email address before the @ symbol. You will also need his/her password. Check on things from home.</p>
<p>You should also know that FERPA form your student signed could have been withdrawn by your student before you left the campus.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with racking up gen ed requirements at your local CC. It will also give your S time to mature. Many, many, many high-school grads are not ready for the rigors of university life. When he returns to UIUC, he will be better prepared for the intensity required of engineering students.
I wish you and your S well!</p>
<p>@ Rxpert, why in the hell would a mom monitor a student’s life like that? Students are in there 20’s already and don’t need to be reared like babies, mom check up on u all the time.
Honestly, I would never disclose any of my passwords to any mom…</p>
<p>If I were dropping $50K a year for tuition, then I would like to know how he/she is going</p>
<p>yes, u do drop 50k. but at some point every teenager needs more independence. stuff like checking student performance should go away. its my future, i will be the one to worry about my performance</p>
<p>@akaMB, If the student is solely financially responsible for their education (ie. the parent is not contributing), then yes complete independence is a stance that you can take. However if the parents are significantly contributing financially to their child’s education, then the parents may decide to monitor things a bit more closely as they are actually “investing” in their child’s education.</p>
<p>It’s been 2 years since S was dropped from UIUC as an Eng student. During that time, he worked as a waiter and attended CC. He matured. He did not enjoy CC and we engaged with a college counselor who helped him find a school to transfer to. Very few schools were willing to give him a second chance. He was accepted at a small, private college on a non-matriculated basis. Good news: he just received his grades and did very well. He’ll now be admitted as a Mech Eng major at the college. During this time, he lived at home and commuted to the college. That seems to work best for him. He’s much more relaxed and happy.</p>
<p>@Carolynmama, I think it’s great that you got back to us here on CollegeConfidential to let us know how things have gone for you and your son. You also bring up a great point. So many talented high school students, with many APs and credit for them come to college with an unrealistic idea of the “step up” that college represents both in the speed at which the material is presented, and its difficulty level. Some overload themselves their freshman year, and some are not mature enough to handle being away from home, managing their time, and developing the study habits required in college. Many people fall behind and get in academic trouble.</p>
<p>That having been said, your point about very few schools being willing to give him a 2nd chance is a problem. He got in trouble because he lacked the maturity he needed to obtain good grades. His past college record should not be a life sentence, and there needs to be a discussion on how to give these students a 2nd chance, once maturity has been obtained; to let them try it again. I’m happy to hear he did get that 2nd chance at the program that he was interested in. That needs to happen more often. Admissions offices routinely regurgitate the “we do a holistic review of the entire application”…one often wonders how holistic the review can be when the better/bigger colleges get 30-40k applications for their available seats. I wonder if there would be a way to wipe the slate (academic record) at least partially clean to implement the “do-over”.</p>
<p>I know there will be hardliners out there that will say that’s life and you can’t escape your past. I disagree. You don’t fail unless you stop trying, OR no one gives you a second chance to succeed where you were unable to attain a successful outcome the first time. Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player of all time, failed to make his high school varsity basketball team his sophomore year. He didn’t give up, was given a 2nd chance to prove himself, and we all know what happened next.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son.</p>
<p>Yes @Balthezar he got a 2nd chance at what turned out to be a good fit for him. He and his college counselor searched for schools that talk about transfers on their admissions pages. Even better, this school has a transfer admissions counselor. </p>
Carolynmama, thanks for sharing your S’s story. My son got dropped from Purdue first year engineering last week. We are crushed and are slowly recovering and planning next steps.