What to do when your kid struggles academically at college?

[Anonymous]

Executive function coach is through Educational Connections, Inc., which is Ann Dolin's company here in DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My student has an executive function coach that meets with her (virtually) Monday morning and Friday morning and reviews upcoming tests, papers, deadlines, etc. They develop a study plan to the week and then for the weekend. It has been immensely helpful. I doubt we will do it all four years, but it has been a good start.

NP here. How did you find this? DC is getting their butt kicked in two classes this first semester - political science and history classes. They’ve met with the professors and the repeated comment is they aren’t analytical enough in their essays, seem to be able to regurgitate the readings but have trouble applying the concepts, etc. (This was a 4.0 kid in HS with all 5s on their 15 APs incl every social science offerring. They are feeling very demoralized.) I am not sure what kind of tutoring to even suggest that DC seek, but I suspect they need some “back to basics” type tutoring teaching them how to note take and study.

Most colleges have a writing center with tutors. Would be a great time to take advantage of this

Thanks for this idea and DC did go to the writing center but since these were midterms, DC couldn’t show them the work, so there really wasn’t anything for the center to “coach” DC on.

[Anonymous]

Weed out classes are good for them in the long run. He’s probably not cut out for the career he wants to pursue. Better to learn that now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My student has an executive function coach that meets with her (virtually) Monday morning and Friday morning and reviews upcoming tests, papers, deadlines, etc. They develop a study plan to the week and then for the weekend. It has been immensely helpful. I doubt we will do it all four years, but it has been a good start.

NP here. How did you find this? DC is getting their butt kicked in two classes this first semester - political science and history classes. They’ve met with the professors and the repeated comment is they aren’t analytical enough in their essays, seem to be able to regurgitate the readings but have trouble applying the concepts, etc. (This was a 4.0 kid in HS with all 5s on their 15 APs incl every social science offerring. They are feeling very demoralized.) I am not sure what kind of tutoring to even suggest that DC seek, but I suspect they need some “back to basics” type tutoring teaching them how to note take and study.

Most colleges have a writing center with tutors. Would be a great time to take advantage of this

Thanks for this idea and DC did go to the writing center but since these were midterms, DC couldn’t show them the work, so there really wasn’t anything for the center to “coach” DC on.

Were the midterms the first grades in the class? Now that the student knows it's an issue, he can take future writing assignments to the writing center and, perhaps even more importantly, go to office hours to talk about the ideas (not the facts). A study group to talk about the ideas and to push each other to think more critically about the reading may also be helpful.

I don't think an EF coach would be the right support for this problem.

[Anonymous]

Office hours? I think you have to walk in with an actual on topic question.

[Anonymous]

This is happening to a number of kids because HS has been so watered down. Too many kids with 4.3+ GPAs and 5s on APs are experiencing this. As others have said 12 credits is full time, get help at office hours and with tutors. CC is no place to build math skills, find a quality tutor and work all summer on math.

Realize that you are on a 5 or 6 year path now and that a change in major might be necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Office hours? I think you have to walk in with an actual on topic question.

Academic here: this is not true. Any student who is struggling in a class should absolutely go to office hours. At minimum, it helps if the professor knows that the kid is trying to remedy whatever's not working.

[Anonymous]

This was me (at an Ivy). I switched to a liberal arts with the least requirements in the social sciences. Ended up with a decent career in finance ironically (defined as not really having to work again from early 40s). If you move this way - make sure you understand psychology and know how to sell. Otherwise follow everyone else advice and transfer and get extra help. I would say change to fluff major and become bartender at biggest bar on campus…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My student has an executive function coach that meets with her (virtually) Monday morning and Friday morning and reviews upcoming tests, papers, deadlines, etc. They develop a study plan to the week and then for the weekend. It has been immensely helpful. I doubt we will do it all four years, but it has been a good start.

NP here. How did you find this? DC is getting their butt kicked in two classes this first semester - political science and history classes. They’ve met with the professors and the repeated comment is they aren’t analytical enough in their essays, seem to be able to regurgitate the readings but have trouble applying the concepts, etc. (This was a 4.0 kid in HS with all 5s on their 15 APs incl every social science offerring. They are feeling very demoralized.) I am not sure what kind of tutoring to even suggest that DC seek, but I suspect they need some “back to basics” type tutoring teaching them how to note take and study.

honeslty the feedback that your DC is getting should help them learn how to respond in the essays. Its a learning experience. if all else fails, see if they have a writing tutor kind of situation who can help. My DD is doing a philosophy minor and in the process had to learn an entirely different way to write essays, also was a straight A student in HS. Now that she's a junior, she's got it all figured out, but it was a little bit of trial and error and talking to professors to get feedback.

Does the school have a Writing Center on campus? This can help a lot with peer reviews and guidance. They still have to write the paper but it was extremely helpful for our freshman. However, it sounds like the student likely wasn't prepared for college writing, even with the outstanding HS grades. It's not uncommon. College expectations are a shift. Our student recently shared with us his learning rubric for an essay - it was longer than the paper! Reading through it I was surprised by the level of details they wanted in the first paper for the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was me (at an Ivy). I switched to a liberal arts with the least requirements in the social sciences. Ended up with a decent career in finance ironically (defined as not really having to work again from early 40s). If you move this way - make sure you understand psychology and know how to sell. Otherwise follow everyone else advice and transfer and get extra help. I would say change to fluff major and become bartender at biggest bar on campus…

What does this even mean

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is happening to a number of kids because HS has been so watered down. Too many kids with 4.3+ GPAs and 5s on APs are experiencing this. As others have said 12 credits is full time, get help at office hours and with tutors. CC is no place to build math skills, find a quality tutor and work all summer on math.

Realize that you are on a 5 or 6 year path now and that a change in major might be necessary.

Yeah, my 4.4+ GPA kid with a ton of APs struggled her first semester. She retook intro bio/chem classes that she’d gotten an A in and a 5 on the AP exam and got a C and B- respectively. She’d never had to actually study before and it was really rough for her. Finished freshman year with barely over a 3.0. The good news is that she buckled down, learned to study and her GPA is almost up to a 3.7 now. So, don’t lose hope; it could just be a rough transition.

[Anonymous]

The problem is not grade inflation. The high AP scores mean they know information. That’s good.

What most “high-performing” HS kids can’t do is write. If your kid actually wants an education and to grow their communication and analytical skills, they need to learn to write well. Encourage your kids to lean into the task, not avoid it.

Kids are oftentimes bad at structuring an argument, supporting their argument with specifics (they talk in conceptual terms), considering and rebutting alternative viewpoints, and writing concisely and clearly.

[Anonymous]

The pace and intensity of college is hard to replicate in HS - APs provide a knowledge base - but we have seen our kids think they know more than they did and the rigors of college were an awakening. It's great that the professor provided detailed feedback. Kudos for your kid for seeking out this and for now having a much better idea of what to work on. Not all professors will do this and it's even harder to know what to do. College is more than just academics - its about learning to learn, learning to advocate, being humbled by a class, and finding out how to succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is not grade inflation. The high AP scores mean they know information. That’s good.

What most “high-performing” HS kids can’t do is write. If your kid actually wants an education and to grow their communication and analytical skills, they need to learn to write well. Encourage your kids to lean into the task, not avoid it.

Kids are oftentimes bad at structuring an argument, supporting their argument with specifics (they talk in conceptual terms), considering and rebutting alternative viewpoints, and writing concisely and clearly.

Op here.

Interestingly, my kid can write fairly well. They are doing well in English and related classes but simply can’t pass the high level math required for their major. They are exploring other majors now. Ultimately, my kid isn’t likely to work a traditional job; I’m fairly confident they will launch their own business (based on the multiple businesses they’ve run already).

I just want them to get a degree. I think they’ll regret it if they drop out.

[Anonymous]

We’re in the same boat and just encouraging him to keep going. He may have a repeat some classes in the summers. I don’t have any advice but to try to stay positive. We also don’t talk about grades/schools with every phone call. If he’s doing well socially/emotionally then that’s half the battle.