High School class of 2011

[Lisa loves Pooh]

DD's grades are terrible! She took 4 courses, and so far 2 Cs, 1 D and 1 unknown. This spring may be her last semester away. If she doesn't show marked (and I mean very marked) improvement next semester...like all As....she'll be home in the fall going to community college. She'll lose her bright futures scholarship, which is only a couple of thousand dollars of the whole picture, but hey, we need those couple thousand dollars! We're just not going to pay for her to party. I'm sick to my stomach over this!

Sorry--popped in wondering why an old titled thread was still kicking and realize you guys are chatting about your college freshmen now.

Anyway, your post caught my eye.

When I was a freshman, I had a difficult adjustment and my grades suffered in my first semester. I was also at risk for losing my scholarship. I had to buckle down (and did) in the spring, but got so close and missed the GPA by a fraction. My saving grace was a back log of 6 credit hours from Dual Enrollment that happened to be A's. It pushed me over and I learned to not EVER come *this close* to losing that scholarship again. (It was Florida Academic Scholars at the time.)

I was able to calculate what I needed in the spring to pull it off. So there is a way to figure it out now--and then she can also schedule her class selection accordingly by tossing in some easy ones to boost the GPA. I had an easy on that I had to drop due to injury. But overall, my class load was much easier than freshman year.

(And I am well over a decade post-bac and my oldest is only in middle school, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt. Best wishes that your daughter turns the corner.)

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Oh boy sorry to hear about her grades Cruisinfamily! I don't think it is that unusual for freshmen to have trouble 1st semester. She did well in high school and I am sure will pull her GPA up in the spring. Try to not worry and just enjoy the time she is at home.

DS has been home all day with us. It has been so nice! I haven't had him home for an entire day for a long time!!!! He says he plans on sleeping all day on Monday while the rest of us are at work and school.

 

[minkydog]

DD's grades are terrible! She took 4 courses, and so far 2 Cs, 1 D and 1 unknown. This spring may be her last semester away. If she doesn't show marked (and I mean very marked) improvement next semester...like all As....she'll be home in the fall going to community college. She'll lose her bright futures scholarship, which is only a couple of thousand dollars of the whole picture, but hey, we need those couple thousand dollars! We're just not going to pay for her to party. I'm sick to my stomach over this!

Have y'all talked about the grades yet? What was her take on the low grades? I dont' put too awfully much stock in first semester grades. There are number of reasons why a student falters. There is more to going to college than passing tests. Just learning how to organize your time and energy is a very big hurdle for a lot of students, not to mention the whole being-away-from-home-and-family stuff. DD18 had some difficulty adjusting to college. She nearly quit at mid-semester, but she managed to pull herself together. Her GPA is an unimpressive 2.50, but she passed everything so I'm not going to be too upset about it. I think her grades will improve next semester.

I was a great HS student, graduated in the top 5, but college cut me off at the knees that first semester. i went from easily making straight As in HS to barely being able to drag myself to class as a freshman in college. College was a HUGE adjustment for me! Thankfully, I recovered, got my feet back under me, and brought my GPA up to a reasonable(at the time) 2.80. Eventually, I was back to making As and Bs, graduated nursing school top of my class, and went on to have a nice life.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Wise words, Minkydog! How is your husband?

 

[cruisnfamily]

Thanks for the kind words all. But I think this may be the norm for her unfortunately. She never was a great student in high school. Took some honors and some regular classes. Did the bare minimum and got all As and Bs. Final High School GPA about 3.2 unweighted, 3.60 weighted. She just doesn't have the real desire to do well. She's never studied at all. Just shows up, does all the work, does whatever you tell her but not one little bit more. Always does well in categories like classwork and homework and then gets 50s on the tests. That's how she's always done it and that's what she's doing now.

Right now for 1st semester college she's looking at a GPA around 1.68. And honestly, I think next semester will be more of the same.

I don't know what to do(as far as hauling her back home or not). I'm so sad.

 

[agnes!]

Thanks for the kind words all. ... ... I don't know what to do(as far as hauling her back home or not). I'm so sad.

Hope things get better.
agnes!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Does she want to return to school? Is she feeling overwhelmed? Has she requested tutoring at the help center? Maybe if she goes in before the tests they could help her be better prepared for the test.

You have a couple weeks to talk to her and try to figure out what is best for her and for you. It is hard to send her back thinking you might waste the money! Plus it has to be hard on her self esteem.

 

[geffric]

Have y'all talked about the grades yet? What was her take on the low grades? I dont' put too awfully much stock in first semester grades. There are number of reasons why a student falters. There is more to going to college than passing tests. Just learning how to organize your time and energy is a very big hurdle for a lot of students, not to mention the whole being-away-from-home-and-family stuff. DD18 had some difficulty adjusting to college. She nearly quit at mid-semester, but she managed to pull herself together. Her GPA is an unimpressive 2.50, but she passed everything so I'm not going to be too upset about it. I think her grades will improve next semester.

.

wise word... dont fret too much about 1st semester grades..so much to adjust to..but i agree Agnes, that if she doesnt figure it out than she needs to figure it out at home for a year going to a less expensive school..

 

[ctinct]

Picked my dd up yesterday. For the first time, I drove there and back in the same day. Over ten hours in the car, but it wasn't too bad because she drove some of the way back.

In a perverse sort of way, I was gratified to see her tearing up as she said goodbye to her friends who were still on campus. Such a contrast to her sobbing in my arms as I left her there in August, saying she wanted to come home because she didn't know a single soul.

To the poster whose daughter ls having a tough time with her grades---does she have a particular major or career in mind? I'm in agreement with those who suggest a community college. It would give her the credits she needs but with support from home still in place, and save you money to boot.

Hey, how long do all the moms and dads think it will take until we hear, "I'm bored?" My bet is Wednesday here.

 

[geffric]

Bored?? I dont think so..at least not for him..why??
working lots of hours, GF is here, roommates are here too plus he leaves for NY next week for a week with HS friends.. so bored may be out..

.now the older one...he was bored at thankgiving..so the 2 weeks here will be LOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG.

 

[ctinct]

wise word... dont fret too much about 1st semester grades..so much to adjust to..but i agree Agnes, that if she doesnt figure it out than she needs to figure it out at home for a year going to a less expensive school..

Forgot to mention that I'm in agreement about first semester grades. It is a big adjustment to doing so much more of your work outside the classroom as compared to high school---and no one checks to see if you are doing it. I think even a lot of colleges recognize this. Merit scholarships at my dd's school require a certain gpa in order for a student to keep the scholarship all four years, but the bar is actually set lower for freshman year.

 

[geffric]

One school that we looked at recognozed this and set the scholarship review to after sophmore year..

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I don't think mine will be bored. He has pretty many plans in place. Some with friends from college (a trip to Silver Dollar City) and some with high school friends he has not been able to see as they are at different schools. He has spent a couple days here with us too. And his cousins will all be in town for some of the break, so that will be fun. My sister and I are so excited to have all the kids here on the same day! It is the 26th but that is close enough!

 

[minkydog]

DD18 is keeping busy. She has been VERY helpful with taking care of her dad while I'm at work. She gets up with me in the morning, feeds Christian and gets him on the bus. She's there to meet his bus in the afternoon, too. In between times she is fixing meals for her dad and me. And somehow she has been able to squeeze in 3 dates with "Nick", 4 sleepovers with her best girlfriends, and has sung with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra 3 times. She's only been home 10 days! I'm exhausted just watching her.

 

[kbeverina]

agnes--I'm sorry I didn't see your other post before now, but I'm glad your daughter seems to be doing better.

cruisnfamily--hang in there. There is only so much you can do at this point. I do understand that sick feeling. When my son seemed to be struggling mid-semester, I really did feel sick about it. There was one night he called me at 2:45am, just to talk. Hopefully she can put this semester behind her.

My son has been home since last Saturday and it's been nice. He's been in a good mood, the last few weeks of school he seemed much better, not homesick anymore. He's been talkative and hanging out with me, telling me stories about school. He's back to the kid he was before senior year when he couldn't wait to get out of here and go to college.

Most of his friends didn't get home until this weekend, so he'll probably be out and about the rest of break.

 

[disykat]

It's been fun having our son home too. So far he's done lots of sleeping, then the new girlfriend was here for two days. We really liked her!

A bunch of his high school friends are traveling with their families right now.
They'll get back around the time we leave to visit our family, so that's kind of a bummer. Hopefully they'll have a few days, probably right over Christmas, to hang out. We leave on the 27th, so I'm hoping he'll have people over on Boxing Day.

We saw a bunch of the college kids at church this morning. They all look so different and seem so grown up! I could see people thinking the same thing about my son.

My son is waiting on one more grade to get an idea of his GPA. So far so good. He's in a real crunch since he did AP and has no GPA from that, but needs to declare a major before next term. The major he's interested in is very competitive so we'll see.

 

[geffric]

OK I admit it..I did miss him..

He had "the band" over and they just jammed..last year I was secretly complaining about the noise but now I just was so glad they were here...silly isnt!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Does she want to return to school? Is she feeling overwhelmed? Has she requested tutoring at the help center? Maybe if she goes in before the tests they could help her be better prepared for the test.

You have a couple weeks to talk to her and try to figure out what is best for her and for you. It is hard to send her back thinking you might waste the money! Plus it has to be hard on her self esteem.

Oh she DEFINITELY wants to return to school! Loves it, is in a sorority, lots of friends, etc.

She did try really hard, for her. Definitely worked harder and studied more than she ever did in high school. But I don't think she quite knows how to study and work hard. And the efforts she put in just didn't work out for her. We're probably looking at all Cs and Ds.

So she needs to try harder still! Much harder. And I don't think she knows how. She's going to have to get some help. But I don't want to "drive" this. I want her to grab the reins and run with it. But unfortunately when she doesn't know what to do, she just sits back and is silent and does nothing. Which of course isn't going to get her anywhere.

Hey, how long do all the moms and dads think it will take until we hear, "I'm bored?" My bet is Wednesday here.

Mine will be bored very quickly. Unless all her friends are constantly available, she'll be longing for the dorm and the constant companionship. She's supposed to be working at her old job during break but unfortunately they don't have many hours to give her. Let's hope it gets very busy at the grocery store for the next 3 weeks!

 

[agnes!]

It's interesting...DD's grades are through the roof (Dean's List) but she's not crazy in love with her school (and there's a lot behind that statement). I hope things work out better for her this next semester, y'know? I think she's ready, oh so READY, to be out interning or working *now*, but it's all the prerequisites...

I just want her to be happy, she deserves it .
agnes!

 

[cruisnfamily]

So the grades are in....D, C-, C & B. That's a 1.93 GPA. But we've had a couple of talks about school and she understands that in order to return in the fall she'll need very marked improvement this next semester. Keep your fingers crossed!!