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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My DS had a very hard time academically at CMU last year; however, he decided to give it a try by coming back this year.  Based on the past two weeks, he feels like it is going to get much harder and he will not make it.  Today is the last day to drop classes for a full refund.  He wants to take off at least this semester to decide what he will do next, possibly transfer to a state school in Virginia.   He admitted that CMU is a difficult place to succeed even when he spends at least 70 hours a week to study and it is effecting his mental health.

Anyone with kids dropping out of CMU recently?  [/quote]

Totally let him do whatever works for him. His mental health is more important. He is a smart kud, who'll find something where his hard work makes him happy and successful.[/quote]

OP here.  DS just confirmed that he cancelled all of his classes for this semester and going home once he can find someone to take over his lease.  He will take off this semester and is looking into transfer.  He still wants to major in Computer Engineering at another university.

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Good for him.  I am certain he can transfer to another program with an environment that is more healthy for him. He will do well in the end!![/quote]

OP here.  Thank you for your kind words.

DS has two cousins, same age, who were not accepted by CMU and are currently attending UVA Computer Engineering major.  They are very happy at UVA, and have plenty of time for socializing there.  That's one of the destinations that DS is looking into.  The other is VT.

I told him his well being is the most important thing and that I support him wherever he decides to end up.
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OP, just want to throw in another word of encouragement!  It's great your son is making the right choices for his own mental health and looking for a school that will suit his needs.  He can get an excellent education in CS at a less stressful school for sure.

I'm an alum from a school similar to CMU and while I have no regrets about my time there I do think the intensity can constrain what non-genius students achieve.  For example, a friend and I both[b] opted out of theoretical classes (math for me, physics for her)[/b] because our school was SO intense, especially for the "non-marketable" classes that we felt too stupid to participate.  If we'd been at different schools we might have gotten a better grounding in those fields, even if we had stuck with our respective engineering majors.  Hope he's able to transfer and enjoy the rest of his college experience![/quote]

I did this at Stanford a few decades ago. The Multivar. textbook was by Apostol and literally all proofs without a single number in it. I didn't understand any of it. Still majored in engineering but the theoretical stuff was off limits. I might have majored in physics or math at another school.

Fast forward 30 years and DC got into the combined CS/Arts major at CMU and I talked them out of going. DC is now thriving and happy at W&M, although one of their CS classes looked like it used a CMU curriculum (there was a logo on the lecture slides) and it was hard...[/quote]

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