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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Another engineering parent here.  My DS was a straight A student in HS and is now a sophomore in college. GPA dropped to a 3.2 
The work ethic is there but these classes are crazy hard.  I keep telling my DC to keep going and before he knows it, graduation will be here. It really goes by so fast. [/quote]

Was the expectation set that your DS was going to get straight A's in college as well? It sounds like it.

It's a shame if parents are setting such high bars and the poor students are trying but will only disappoint their families. It's just too much pressure, as an individual in the higher education space it's been so hard seeing solid students with significant mental health issues because of unrealistic exceptions. [/quote]

Where did you get that? The comment was about sub 3. Not 3.8 and why not 4?
But I hope you got your 'sainthood mom moment' for the day.[/quote]

Not a sainthood mom here. However, a higher education professional who sees the side affects of these unrealistic grade expectations that result in suicides. The expectation starts at home. [/quote]
"There there dear. Mean old engineering firms care about grades. You can move back home." [/quote]

Are you suggesting that the expectations for a high GPA don't cause mental health issues? Or are you just a nasty DCUMer? [/quote]

So every kid is suicidal because they want good grades in college?  [b]Nobody is talking about 4.0s here[/b] lady.  Calm down with your perfection talk.  All these parents are stating that it’s not that uncommon to have a low gpa in engineering and that it’s a challenging major.  [/quote]

-"your kid will have a difficult time landing internships and jobs with a sub 3.0"
-"DS graduated with a sub 3.0. It took him while to find a job but is now employed with a decent salary at a large firm. Some jobs did say they required a 3.0 but he would apply if interested and occasionally would still get an interview."
-"Then there are cuts at 3.5/3.7 for some positions/companies. But without a 3.0+ most kids will have trouble making even the first simple cut to getting looked at today."
-it was divulged that their GPA was under 3.0, so they were not hired, even though they were far along in the process."

This conversion isn’t about perfection, it's about the pressure to succeed with success being viewed as a GPA 3.0+.  The underlying message is inherently there and commented upon throughout this discussion. Engineering is an extremely difficult degree. Putting additional parental pressure on your student to “succeed” can have a detrimental effect. And of course, employers want to know that the student they are hiring can succeed. And I’m sure I don’t want an engineer who barely passed their classes building our bridges.

Thankfully the original poster did say “[b]we stopped monitoring his grades because it just leads to stress and angst[/b].” Taking a closer look at the mental health and well-being of our student body is important alongside the GPA mentions and comments of success. It's good to see that some parents do understand this connection, while others are flaming me for pointing it out. The survey listed below shows that the pressure for academic success is a mental health stressor.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/health-wellness/2023/06/29/five-ways-help-college-students-cope-academic#:~:text=The%20natural%20pressure%20to%20do,as%20a%20way%20of%20compensating.%E2%80%9D

[/quote]

It is called LIFE.  LIFE is a mental health stressor.  We should not be trying to eliminate stressors from a young person's life, but rather, teaching them how to fight through them[/quote]

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