Son Flunked out of College During Covid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son went to college during the beginning of Covid. Complete disaster. He stayed 3 semesters. He was at school with online classes. He didn't even meet with a counselor until his sophomore year.

He is now 20 and ready to return to college, but wants to go somewhere else. Any other parent dealing with this. How do you explain grades? Is the horror of Covid a good excuse. What are kids doing.

I know there were a lot of kids like him. How are colleges looking at them?

Please help.

OP thousands and thousands, tens of thousands hundreds of thousands kids attended college during covid and did not flunk out.

While covid was a thing it is not the only reason your kid failed out. It is not even in the top five. Try again.

Grades they go to community college for two years. Then they transfer.


Everyone has different coping skills. It absolutely is a reason.

[Anonymous]

I left before basically flunking out, with a really low GPA. I went part time for one semester and worked full time and then applied to a small college that had a lot of hands on classes and internships built into their program. I was open and honest about what I had been through in the essay and why I was changing majors. I focused on why I thought I could be successful there and my goals for the future. I was accepted, graduated with a high GPA since my transfer credits (that weren’t Fs) went in as a pass. I did much better at a small school like this than a large university, which I previously attended.

[Anonymous]

21:35. This was the 90s. No covid or excuses.

[Anonymous]

Life is journey and path is not always straight. You or son start calling and researching options. Start with the school he failed out of or other schools he was accepted to out of high school. Of course there will be some no’s but you only need one yes! Community college could be option but don’t assume it is only option. If you are Maryland, try UMBC. 20 is young, lots of turns in future ahead!!! GL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son went to college during the beginning of Covid. Complete disaster. He stayed 3 semesters. He was at school with online classes. He didn't even meet with a counselor until his sophomore year.

He is now 20 and ready to return to college, but wants to go somewhere else. Any other parent dealing with this. How do you explain grades? Is the horror of Covid a good excuse. What are kids doing.

I know there were a lot of kids like him. How are colleges looking at them?

Please help.

OP thousands and thousands, tens of thousands hundreds of thousands kids attended college during covid and did not flunk out.

While covid was a thing it is not the only reason your kid failed out. It is not even in the top five. Try again.

Grades they go to community college for two years. Then they transfer.

Nailed it.

Ahhh there are two clueless ones here. Did you know that thousands and thousands of kids DIDN'T go to college too during COVID? Were you not on here when everyone was complaining about how the class of 2020 was screwing over all the next classes because they were taking gap years and deferring? Do you not know the overall college enrollment is down post Covid? Do you know that thousands of college kids (and teens) committed suicide during Covid? Did you know that thousands and thousands of college kids were kicked out of their dorms overnight which left kids and families scrambling to figure out how to navigate what to do next. I know the parents of kindergarteners were struggling but have you thought about the kids taking online organic chemistry?

OP this is an easy one. Take some classes at community college while doing applications. Colleges are seeing a lot of these kids. Reach out to admissions for schools where he is interested and have him talk to them. He will be fine and do great. A little maturity and no Covid makes a world of difference.

[Anonymous]

Community college.

That should do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son went to college during the beginning of Covid. Complete disaster. He stayed 3 semesters. He was at school with online classes. He didn't even meet with a counselor until his sophomore year.

He is now 20 and ready to return to college, but wants to go somewhere else. Any other parent dealing with this. How do you explain grades? Is the horror of Covid a good excuse. What are kids doing.

I know there were a lot of kids like him. How are colleges looking at them?

Please help.

OP thousands and thousands, tens of thousands hundreds of thousands kids attended college during covid and did not flunk out.

While covid was a thing it is not the only reason your kid failed out. It is not even in the top five. Try again.

Grades they go to community college for two years. Then they transfer.

Nailed it.

Ahhh there are two clueless ones here. Did you know that thousands and thousands of kids DIDN'T go to college too during COVID? Were you not on here when everyone was complaining about how the class of 2020 was screwing over all the next classes because they were taking gap years and deferring? Do you not know the overall college enrollment is down post Covid? Do you know that thousands of college kids (and teens) committed suicide during Covid? Did you know that thousands and thousands of college kids were kicked out of their dorms overnight which left kids and families scrambling to figure out how to navigate what to do next. I know the parents of kindergarteners were struggling but have you thought about the kids taking online organic chemistry?

OP this is an easy one. Take some classes at community college while doing applications. Colleges are seeing a lot of these kids. Reach out to admissions for schools where he is interested and have him talk to them. He will be fine and do great. A little maturity and no Covid makes a world of difference.

What a nightmare. Covid was horrible for my DS (2nd-3rd grades) but I can see it must have been even more terrible for kids who lost out on transition years like K, 6th, freshman HS and college.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm in the same situation with my son and just wanted to say that I feel your pain. For whatever reason, some kids who were previously good students changed or regressed during the pandemic. Mine was one, despite parental support, counseling, and medication. He is absolutely lost.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't blame Covid - that just sounds like an excuse because it is. "It wasn't my fault!"

He should be open about the fact that he was too immature for college, he then succeeded in community college and is ready to try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son went to college during the beginning of Covid. Complete disaster. He stayed 3 semesters. He was at school with online classes. He didn't even meet with a counselor until his sophomore year.

He is now 20 and ready to return to college, but wants to go somewhere else. Any other parent dealing with this. How do you explain grades? Is the horror of Covid a good excuse. What are kids doing.

I know there were a lot of kids like him. How are colleges looking at them?

Please help.

OP thousands and thousands, tens of thousands hundreds of thousands kids attended college during covid and did not flunk out.

While covid was a thing it is not the only reason your kid failed out. It is not even in the top five. Try again.

Grades they go to community college for two years. Then they transfer.

While I get what you are saying, two of my friend's at top 20 schools had to withdraw completely because they were failing. The isolation from COVID sent them spiraling. They took a year off after withdrawing and are doing fine now (back at their original schools). While many kids got through the mess of COVID, some didn't. I don't think you can discount the impact on a 100 year pandemic on some kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Life is journey and path is not always straight. You or son start calling and researching options. Start with the school he failed out of or other schools he was accepted to out of high school. Of course there will be some no’s but you only need one yes! Community college could be option but don’t assume it is only option. If you are Maryland, try UMBC. 20 is young, lots of turns in future ahead!!! GL

UMBC is fairly competitive. DD tried to go there as a summer student with a low GPA at another college and even that took a discussion with admissions and clarification that she did not intend to transfer there because they were concerned she could not handle the coursework. Community college - even just a semester or two - is a much more realistic choice and will end up giving OP's DC more options.

OP, FWIW I know a few kids in a similar situation. It was a tough time to be transitioning to college, and the kids I know are all going to community college and planning to transfer to a state school after that.

[Anonymous]

A potential alternative to community college would be to take a few classes somewhere local as a nondegree student. GMU, for example, allows this, or at least used to allow it. Relative who partied himself out of a more selective school took a few classes at GMU, impressed the professors favorably, and was able to be formally admitted.