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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. Thank you for all the support. Just want to give a shout out that this is actually the kindest I’ve ever seen DCUM. 
Couple things. I don’t think the school was too hard for her, as someone suggested. This is a large public university that caters to good students and inner city kids. It’s a true mix, and I think it was a good fit for her. Her scores were in the 75th percentile. It was a target school, borderline safety school. She was accepted to “better” schools. The point about the school accepting her knowing this would happen (losing merit aid) is interesting, I never thought of that.
She did have a lot of money in her bank account. She worked for two years scooping ice cream, and got pandemic pay for one of those years. She also had bat mitzvah money and a gift from grandparents. It’s a savings account that she pretty much has never touched. 
The hardest part of this, as a parent, is watching her be so hard on herself. She too went to an MCPS school with inflated grades, and where there were no final exams. This week was horrendous for her studying. Something she was not accustomed to it all.
I think we just need to talk to her and see what the real problem was. It wasn’t partying, I think it was a bit of a screen addiction, and the freedom of not having me nag and look at Canvas. She wants to do well.[/quote]

My college sophomore is also an MCPS grad.  She is at an Ivy.   I don't actually know her freshman year GPA but I will say that she struggled.  And two things seem clear.  First, the kids at top prep schools and the like were much better prepared.  I asked her if she thought they were more advanced or just worked harder and she said that they were in the habit of studying hard, many hours, and she was not.  (I think that in addition to this, they knew more material, so part of what she was learning from scratch was review for them.).

Second, the  Covid online learning year really hit her hard.  She took BC calc online in HS.  She knew she didn't learn much so signed up for the equivalent of AB in freshman year.   For whatever reason, that course was also online and she really struggled.  The next year, she took the follow on class (equivalent to second semester of BC). It was in person and smaller and she went to see the TA and discovered that there were whole swaths of material that she didn't know that she didn't know.  It was just missing from her knowledge base and she didn't know it existed.  Once she learned it, she really turned a corner and is now majoring in applied math.

So your kid is not alone-- freshman and sophomores are struggling nationwide.  (I work at a university and the hallway conversations are usually about how badly kids are doing this year and last).  Consider lightening her schedule somehow (adding an easy/less homework class to give her more time).  See if you're allowed to transfer in summer community college courses, which might shore up her knowledge a bit.  And of course, figure out how to make her take advantage of the services available. [/quote]

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