Struggling college student

[Anonymous]

Not on academic probation as yet - has just above a 2.0 cumulative GPA. But this last semester was terrible. One more like it, and they will fall below 2.0

[Anonymous]

I would suggest having your student reach out to the disability office to see if more supports can be provided and to see what is available. Also investigate on campus resources for students in general. Many have tutoring centers. Can your student make an appt weekly? Also what about seeing if you can find an older student (jr or sr) to fill this role? Does it have to be a professional?

[Anonymous]

What accommodations are already in place?

Every school has a tutoring center, often with free student tutors, but sometimes there is a limit on number of sessions. Request a tutor for each subject at start of semester. You likely won't find one person who can tutor every subject and sit with student daily.

Does student attend all study sessions offered by TA (if offered)? If not encourage to do so.

If she/he is taking 5 classes a semester, try 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope it is OK to post this here. I have a struggling college student. Very bright, but gets caught up with anxieties and cannot get work turned in and ends up with failing grades. At best, underperforms.Without getting into details, what they need to stay in school is the equivalent of daily in-person study hall with a tutor. Please don't question this conclusion as it will derail the thread! And has been reached after consultation with student and professionals. The issue with executing on this solution is that they are in a small liberal arts school in a small town. Does anyone have experience creating this sort of structure for their bright but academically struggling college student? Details would be appreciated.

I have not heard of any university/college providing this level of support, but we did find Landmark provided a lot. Did the professional who suggested this provide more input about where/how you get this? Is the person familiar with support systems at this level? I don't want to derail the thread, but we researched and visited many universities and not one offered this.

[Anonymous]

Totally different tack: dear friend’s child had this problem. Dropped college after 2 years and enrolled in Navy. Schooling there in nuclear program. Is absolutely thriving, top of class with military structure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used an executive function tutor from Ann Dolin’s company for freshman year. It was virtual and the “package” I think was 30 hours. She had access to Canvas or whatever platform the college used. They would meet in 30 minute blocks once or twice a week and develop a schedule of what would be done when. At the end if freshman year I think we had 10 hours left and she didn’t need to use them sophomore year. I highly recommend it. I think it was around $1500 (?) but money well spent (especially if you consider the alternative of wasting a semester at $30,000)

This was going to be my suggestion. Education Connections is the company and we’ve been impressed with the quality of tutoring for EF (for high school).

[Anonymous]

OP mentioned that part of the problem was sourcing the help in a small town. I wonder if a high school tutor or teacher would take on the job. Could be worth at least a call to the local high school counselors’ office to explain you’re looking for a daily academic tutor and see if they have any leads or if they’ll help you post on a Listserv to find a daily tutor.

[Anonymous]

-try first 2 years commuting from home
-only take a max of 4 courses
-get an online tutor or in-person for each course
-get an exec func coach for big weekly picture
-you govern the weekend study schedule to make sure that it happens

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP mentioned that part of the problem was sourcing the help in a small town. I wonder if a high school tutor or teacher would take on the job. Could be worth at least a call to the local high school counselors’ office to explain you’re looking for a daily academic tutor and see if they have any leads or if they’ll help you post on a Listserv to find a daily tutor.

I’m the PP. Educational Connections is all online fwiw

[Anonymous]

You may want to call all the tutoring centers in the small town and see if they offer the sort of study hall you want. I noticed the other day a tutoring center near us was advertising this sort of thing.

[CareDream]

Our kids have a tutor which has been helpful. We started in November with an Executive Function Coach and it’s been a game changer for us. She’s terrific! I got her name from a friend (she was given the name from their schools counselor). She works with both my kids (separately) and has one of the most reasonable rates I’ve come across. Counselors at school can be a great resource!

[Anonymous]

If I may add my perspective, I have a freshman with learning challenges and multiple-level based approved accommodations at a small college 2 hours away from N. VA.

When during high school touring colleges and helping my DD to compile a list of schools to apply too, I kept a sharp eye on what I heard and read regarding how each university stacked up as far as supporting accommodations. I would even join each school's facebook parent page, when I could as a parent of a non-matriculating student, and would read any post regarding accommodation support. And what I learned was confusing. Some would say a university was excellent in supporting accommodations when other posts would say the university was awful and it was the exact same university being discussed.

Now with my DD in her 2nd semester, I now see the full picture and that it really comes down to the student themselves whether they receive all of their accommodations. When my DD began at her college last August already approved for a list of accommodations, at the start of the semester she received multiple emails with over 12 attachments of forms and steps that she had to take in order to put those accommodations in place. Filling out the multiple forms, securing professor signatures, submitting forms, etc, etc. Because of FERPA and because other policies, no one but the student can set the actual, specific-to-each-class/professor accommodations in place and it was A LOT. The steps were overall fair and necessary in theory but in practice it was a lot for a student who needs the accommodations due to poor executive function issues. I immediately saw the irony of the situation that a student who has poor EP is the very student asking to follow steps requiring excellent EP and stepped in to help my DD from afar discussing each step with her. So from what I learned so far in this journey helping my child is that the student really must advocate for themselves in receiving the accommodations they are entitled to. It is completely up to them on the college level.

Most universities support a student that needs accommodations, but it is 100% up to the student at the start of each semester to confirm that all the pieces are in place for the rest of the semester. My DD just finished this process at the end of her first week of classes this semester as the process must be completed again each semester and it unfortunately took much time and priority over anything else she had to do this week. Just wanted to share my observations and experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I may add my perspective, I have a freshman with learning challenges and multiple-level based approved accommodations at a small college 2 hours away from N. VA.

When during high school touring colleges and helping my DD to compile a list of schools to apply too, I kept a sharp eye on what I heard and read regarding how each university stacked up as far as supporting accommodations. I would even join each school's facebook parent page, when I could as a parent of a non-matriculating student, and would read any post regarding accommodation support. And what I learned was confusing. Some would say a university was excellent in supporting accommodations when other posts would say the university was awful and it was the exact same university being discussed.

Now with my DD in her 2nd semester, I now see the full picture and that it really comes down to the student themselves whether they receive all of their accommodations. When my DD began at her college last August already approved for a list of accommodations, at the start of the semester she received multiple emails with over 12 attachments of forms and steps that she had to take in order to put those accommodations in place. Filling out the multiple forms, securing professor signatures, submitting forms, etc, etc. Because of FERPA and because other policies, no one but the student can set the actual, specific-to-each-class/professor accommodations in place and it was A LOT. The steps were overall fair and necessary in theory but in practice it was a lot for a student who needs the accommodations due to poor executive function issues. I immediately saw the irony of the situation that a student who has poor EP is the very student asking to follow steps requiring excellent EP and stepped in to help my DD from afar discussing each step with her. So from what I learned so far in this journey helping my child is that the student really must advocate for themselves in receiving the accommodations they are entitled to. It is completely up to them on the college level.

Most universities support a student that needs accommodations, but it is 100% up to the student at the start of each semester to confirm that all the pieces are in place for the rest of the semester. My DD just finished this process at the end of her first week of classes this semester as the process must be completed again each semester and it unfortunately took much time and priority over anything else she had to do this week. Just wanted to share my observations and experiences.

We found this too. It was strange to suddenly expect some with EF issues to pay attention to so many emails, meet with professors, advocate, get paperwork signed, and submit to disability office. Some disability offices just approve accomodations and email professor to say here it is. We would have preferred that,

[SunnyDays]

We had someone recommend a coach to us and it’s been great. We’ve seen the progress! They work on things like organization, time management and other skills. My son has really been benefiting from the support. And he doesn’t even complain which is a big win right there! lol 😆

This is our first experience using a coach, maybe we just got lucky with this one but it’s working out great. They’ve been terrific!