Freshman DC in RM IB with average GPA

[Anonymous]

DC is a Freshman in RM IB - very bright (was accepted to all magnet programs in MS and HS), but having a lot motivation issues. As a result getting a lot of B's... DC wants to go to an accelerated med program (may be Penn State) - should we consider the option out? Does not play sports - but has leadership, community service & music experience and science fair awards.

What should parents do to help - will taking a college admission counselor help? Did you have this issue - how did you deal with this?

[Anonymous]

He needs the experience of taking the highest level of Chemistry, Bio, and Calculus offered at his high school. Unless he performs at the tippy top in these subjects, he is not on-track for an accelerated med program.

[Anonymous]

You seemed pretty intense for someone who is a freshman in h.s. I think you have to see how it plays out. Your child has to do the best they possibly can do but your putting pressure on this early in the game isn't going to help. Are you the one who wants him to be a doctor or does he?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He needs the experience of taking the highest level of Chemistry, Bio, and Calculus offered at his high school. Unless he performs at the tippy top in these subjects, he is not on-track for an accelerated med program.

DC will be in higest level of Bio, Calculus and Chemistry by the time of graduation - not sure what tippy top performance mean though - getting a high B is still B. Is only an A grade in those subjects considered performance that is aligned with DC's goal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You seemed pretty intense for someone who is a freshman in h.s. I think you have to see how it plays out. Your child has to do the best they possibly can do but your putting pressure on this early in the game isn't going to help. Are you the one who wants him to be a doctor or does he?

Oh, I am just being a Freshman parent - who does not understand all this yet. It is DC's goal to be in medical field and not mine - I will be fine with any profession DC choses as long as it ensures a future career. DC is not living up to own expectation and is getting demotivated. I want to understand what other parents did in similar situation to learn tips and tricks.

[Anonymous]

Accelerated med programs are very very competitive to get into. As a physician myself, I actually hate the programs, I simply don't believe that most 17-18 year olds can possibly know yet whether they are interested in/motivated for a career as a physician. In my experience quite a few people I know that came through those programs are unhappy with their career choice made so early and have left the field. That said, they are efficient and take the pressure off in college of getting into med school.
If he is lacking motivation and focus now, this may not be a rational choice, I think the best approach is to say "too early to worry about this" since he is in the right math/science track to go this route if he really wants to and does well enough by senior year.
Freshman year grades are by far the least important for college admissions, can perhaps use this experience to say "if you don't want to close doors and still consider accelerated or direct admission medical school programs, then think of 10th grade as a fresh start, and see how motivated you can stay"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Accelerated med programs are very very competitive to get into. As a physician myself, I actually hate the programs, I simply don't believe that most 17-18 year olds can possibly know yet whether they are interested in/motivated for a career as a physician. In my experience quite a few people I know that came through those programs are unhappy with their career choice made so early and have left the field. That said, they are efficient and take the pressure off in college of getting into med school.
If he is lacking motivation and focus now, this may not be a rational choice, I think the best approach is to say "too early to worry about this" since he is in the right math/science track to go this route if he really wants to and does well enough by senior year.
Freshman year grades are by far the least important for college admissions, can perhaps use this experience to say "if you don't want to close doors and still consider accelerated or direct admission medical school programs, then think of 10th grade as a fresh start, and see how motivated you can stay"
/quote]


+1

[Anonymous]

Yeah, why the need to acclerate?

[Anonymous]

To compact the course selection for someone who is sure of a particular profession.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of 2 young men who are now in college (one will graduate tomorrow -woo-hoo!), I'd venture a guess that your son just has freshman boy-itis. In our experience, this is best cured by the shock induced in the patient upon seeing his 9th-grade transcript. Recovery, in the case of both our sons, was complete and dramatic. The upside was that it gave the school counselor a strong positive narrative line for the recommendation letter to colleges.

Seriously, there's not much a parent can do; your son has to decide for himself that he wants to do well and that good grades won't happen via magical thinking -- you have to apply your butt to the chair. That said, we did 2 things -- 1 intentionally and 1 not -- which our sons have told us made a difference in their attitude.

1) If your son is showing up late to class, goofing around during class, and/or not turning in homework, you can take away privileges. We did this -- intentially, of course -- and it showed that we were serious in expecting effort. Note that we didn't say we expected a certain GPA or outcome, just the effort.

2) It's a little late in the game for this, but you might suggest that your son find a summer program at a college or university that interests him. It doesn't have to be an academic program, but can be anything he might enjoy doing for 1 week. After 9th grade, both our sons went to a 1-week residential sports camp at a university known for its program in that sport. At the time we simply saw it as a chance for them to focus on this sport for a week and get some high-level coaching; we certainly didn't see any connection with academics. Both now say that the camp was a real kick in the pants for them -- they figured out that if they wanted to go to a school like that, they would have to work hard. (The funny thing is that they both ended up at a rival to the university where they attended camp.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To compact the course selection for someone who is sure of a particular profession.

But a 15 year old can't be sure of anything. And sounds like he's not motivated enough by the profession to work hard in 9th grade. I'd let him focus on HS and worry about college in a couple of years.

OP, I thought the IB part really didn't start till 10th or 11th grade? So isn't he in a regular, although challenging, MCPS curriculum right now? What will moving schools achieve? If he wants to pursue medicine then moving to on level classes isn't going to be the right path.

Maybe talking to a counselor about career options and what is required to pursue various paths would be helpful. I'm sure there are viable options to this accelerated program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of 2 young men who are now in college (one will graduate tomorrow -woo-hoo!), I'd venture a guess that your son just has freshman boy-itis. In our experience, this is best cured by the shock induced in the patient upon seeing his 9th-grade transcript. Recovery, in the case of both our sons, was complete and dramatic. The upside was that it gave the school counselor a strong positive narrative line for the recommendation letter to colleges.

Freshman boy-itis is a quite common ailment. In the case of our own patient, we are hoping that a treatment that harnesses the patient's own natural competitiveness, in combination with a much-anticipated visit to an older sibling's new university next fall, will effect a cure.

If it's too late to get into a college-run sports camp and you don't posses a college-age sibling, how about planning a 2-3 day vacation this summer in the vicinity of an appealing college? Hit Monticello and then UVA, or maybe NYC with a side serving of NYU or Columbia or another of the many universities there. Then give him a good (but not over-bearing) dose of reality about how selective these schools and Penn State are.

[Anonymous]

Feel comforted by the term that boy-itis happens, kids recover. I did not know about the sports camp route. Thank you...I lerned from another mom of Freshman that they already have visited 3 university. Seems like that might help my DC. Have to plan something quick for summer based on his choice. Emergency measures required now to turn the train back on track. Please keep writing - helps me immensely and a big THANKS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of 2 young men who are now in college (one will graduate tomorrow -woo-hoo!), I'd venture a guess that your son just has freshman boy-itis. In our experience, this is best cured by the shock induced in the patient upon seeing his 9th-grade transcript. Recovery, in the case of both our sons, was complete and dramatic. The upside was that it gave the school counselor a strong positive narrative line for the recommendation letter to colleges.

Freshman boy-itis is a quite common ailment. In the case of our own patient, we are hoping that a treatment that harnesses the patient's own natural competitiveness, in combination with a much-anticipated visit to an older sibling's new university next fall, will effect a cure.

If it's too late to get into a college-run sports camp and you don't posses a college-age sibling, how about planning a 2-3 day vacation this summer in the vicinity of an appealing college? Hit Monticello and then UVA, or maybe NYC with a side serving of NYU or Columbia or another of the many universities there. Then give him a good (but not over-bearing) dose of reality about how selective these schools and Penn State are.

I'm the poster you were responding to, and, yes, I'd say that natural competitiveness is a great asset in fighting off freshman boy-itis!

[Anonymous]

Hey OP - just wondering, maybe the high school he's in is a poor match and that's why he's not doing as well as he could be. My HS grades weren't that great and in retrospect the high school I went to was a terrible fit. I loved my uni and my GPA there wound up being 3/4 of a point higher than my HS GPA.