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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My college freshman called me last night nearly in tears. I spent two hours on the phone with her, giving her emotional support and talking her through her options.

She has a once a week class she absolutely hates, and wanted to drop. The "extended drop" date (meaning, you could drop but not add) is later today. The class was cancelled the second week, so she had to make a decision based on taking only one 3 hour class.

Due to some technicalities, it wasn't clear she would be allowed to drop or withdraw from the class. Another big issue: this class is required for her major, which she had been doubting. She talked about selecting an adjacent major instead, but of course, there was no reason for her to pick a new major last night.

Long story short: she met with a professor in that department this morning, and decided to take the class pass/fail (dropping/withdrawing is not an option). To her, this is a pretty good solution because it takes some of the pressure off. To me, this is terrible - now she is shutting herself out of the major and when I look up the adjacent major, guess which class is also a requirement?

I feel like she tried to think it through (great job reaching out to the professor and talking about careers, etc), but she really doesn't understand graduation requirements or other majors.

I assume what's done is done, and I don't know how to handle it. I'm all about supporting her and letting her make her own decisions, but this feels like impulsivity/anxiety ran the show here, with potentially large consequences.

And when I asked her a few questions over text, she got mad at me.[/quote]

You are much too involved. There is nothing for you to handle. Honestly, it doesn't sound at all like you were just listening and giving emotion support, it sounds like you were trying to steer. No wonder she got mad at you.

Power down the chopper. Let her handle it. [/quote]

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