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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sounds like professor either gave bad advice or can see the writing on the wall that she will not succeed in the major or adjacent one.

As for the future in those two majors - she could always retake the course a second time with a grade to make it count, right? And hopefully get a decent grade by taking it again. (I realize it could slow her progress and may require her to make up another class to get total credits needed in the end....so maybe summer is an option??)

[/quote]

The general field is media and communications and there are several majors that address different specialties: PR, film, digital media, corporate communications, etc. They are not all housed in the same department or even the same college (within the overall university). She still very much sees herself in this general field, and this is definitely where her talents lie (writing, storytelling, branding, media literacy, etc).

The class in question is one where I actually think she'd get an A (and I would not say that about every class at all!). She finds it a bit tedious and a bit triggering for her social anxiety. She is trying to compensate for her ADHD by going full Type A perfectionist on all her work so far in all classes, so of course she feels overwhelmed - she's spending many hours taking excellent notes, etc.

When I'm looking at the other major options, all the ones I've seen so far (and I've searched based on which ones I think might interest her), [b]she would either need this class or public speaking (which would be way worse for the social anxiety).[/b]

Yes, she could retake the class for a grade, but she would not receive 3 credits a second time. I know her, and she would be really pissed about taking this class twice. If she had run the option by me (pass/fail) I would have talked with her about it, but she didn't.

The professor is great, but she is not responsible for knowing the graduation requirements for the other majors. While it would have been nice if they looked them up, that's really not her job. Her advisor did not have any openings today, so that wasn't an option.

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Fears of public speaking can be overcome.  I was unbelievably shy as a child and into my teen years.  Like hand shaking, voice cracking, face flushed, near tears doing any oral presentations.   But I kept having to do it and it got better.  And by the time I was in my thirties I was doing stand-up technical training, and even managed to give a presentation to a couple of hundred people at a conference.  Don’t dismiss the idea of a public speaking class.  It may be just what she needs.  [/quote]

+100 Avoiding this class because of this anxiety would be a bad idea. I've told my kids they need to take a public speaking elective even if it's not part of their major. DS already did and tells all his friends they need to take it. If she needs additional therapeutic support to work through the challenges, then help her get that but avoiding it is not the answer.

I am sympathetic. I, like PP, found it tremendously difficult. But I was required to take a public speaking class at my college and by the last couple years of college ALL my major classes required course-end presentations. And I got better. Now presenting is a regular part of my job (multiple times a week) and I regularly present to hundreds of people at conferences. 17 year old me would not believe I could do that.

She is unlikely to find a career in "writing, storytelling, branding, media literacy, etc" where she doesn't need to develop public speaking skills.

As a 1st semester freshman, I think trying out the class pass/fail as information toward whether or not this is the right major is fine. If she needs to take it again for a grade - and gets more practice with the things that are causing so much anxiety - then that's fine too. Let her know you believe she can handle this and she's doing the right thing in talking with her advisor. [/quote]

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