when first semester doesn't go as planned (or at any time in college)... Good article

[Anonymous]

College transitions are hard. According to this, about 24% of first time college students drop out in the first 12 months.

On this DCUM site, we see so much about how to get your kid into ..., but probably not enough discussion of how to support kids through the challenges of college. And it happens to a lot of kids! Even the kids who had 4.5 gpa's and got into competitive schools, as well as kids with 2.8 gpa's who are mostly doing o.k., but hit a difficulty along the way. Can we normalize the fact that kids are not pawns or robots who just churn out good grades and live to make their parents proud? Also, can we normalize that pursuing any higher education or other productive path is GREAT! There isn't just one "ideal" way to go to college. (I'm looking at those posters who denigrate various colleges/universities.)

https://grownandflown.com/first-semester-college-does-not-go-as-planned/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College transitions are hard. According to this, about 24% of first time college students drop out in the first 12 months.

On this DCUM site, we see so much about how to get your kid into ..., but probably not enough discussion of how to support kids through the challenges of college. And it happens to a lot of kids! Even the kids who had 4.5 gpa's and got into competitive schools, as well as kids with 2.8 gpa's who are mostly doing o.k., but hit a difficulty along the way. Can we normalize the fact that kids are not pawns or robots who just churn out good grades and live to make their parents proud? Also, can we normalize that pursuing any higher education or other productive path is GREAT! There isn't just one "ideal" way to go to college. (I'm looking at those posters who denigrate various colleges/universities.)

https://grownandflown.com/first-semester-college-does-not-go-as-planned/

Thank you Tony the Tiger ! Yourrrrrr GREAT !!!

The referenced article is too simplistic.Typical DCUM reader has probably conquered the listed concerns at some time in junior high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College transitions are hard. According to this, about 24% of first time college students drop out in the first 12 months.

On this DCUM site, we see so much about how to get your kid into ..., but probably not enough discussion of how to support kids through the challenges of college. And it happens to a lot of kids! Even the kids who had 4.5 gpa's and got into competitive schools, as well as kids with 2.8 gpa's who are mostly doing o.k., but hit a difficulty along the way. Can we normalize the fact that kids are not pawns or robots who just churn out good grades and live to make their parents proud? Also, can we normalize that pursuing any higher education or other productive path is GREAT! There isn't just one "ideal" way to go to college. (I'm looking at those posters who denigrate various colleges/universities.)

https://grownandflown.com/first-semester-college-does-not-go-as-planned/

Thank you Tony the Tiger ! Yourrrrrr GREAT !!!

The referenced article is too simplistic.Typical DCUM reader has probably conquered the listed concerns at some time in junior high school.

I didn't read the blog but I appreciate the OP's point. Transitions can be very difficult. There are a fair amount of posts from parents of kids who struggle in the first year or later. This forum can be helpful in these situations but also so mean and stupidly competitive.

And yes, the best and the brightest can struggle, and fail. As parents, our job is to prepare our kids to be independent but also to know when to ask for help. Too few people know how to do the latter, or when to stop asking for help and figure it out on their own.