Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's really weird that OP would rather their kid dropped out of college, rather than graduating with low GPA.

I'm trying to wrap my mind around that logic.

My thoughts exactly. It's one thing if the kid is partying and not trying, it's another if he's trying and struggling. I would have a very hard time convincing myself that no college degree and trying to find a reasonable paying job without a degree is the better solution here. I would also want to feel like all efforts for support and understanding have been exhausted first before I would declare a GPA cut off for paying.

Yeah, if a kid totally flames out because they're smoking weed all day and not going to class, that's one thing.

But, well, plenty of people graduate college with a low GPA despite trying their best. I'd rather my kid graduate college with a low GPA, then try to make it in today's society without a college degree altogether.

Just remember that GPA is not as important as soft skills or connections.

Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the company, and the dropouts invented the product the company makes.

Somebody (perhaps the same person) posts this on every thread about GPA, and it's total nonsense. College dropouts on average make millions less over a lifetime than graduates. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates are the exceedingly rare exceptions, not the rule.

As for comparing A students to C students, sure, there are plenty of college grads with mediocre GPAs who go on to be wildly successful. They tend to have magnetic personalities and work in fields like sales and marketing, or they had existing family connections and got their degree as a formality and to have the "college experience." The second group is rampant in SEC fraternities, where Wilson Blakeley IV gets his finance degree with a 2.6 and goes back home, sorority trophy fiancee in tow, to work for his old man's advisory group. The idea that C students run circles around A students in STEM is laughable.

I am a pp and I wanted to add that as a 45 year old woman I still have a very strong memory of calling my parents and telling them my first semester college grades, I think it was 2 Bs and 1 A and 1 C. I remember felling kind of frustrated about the C, but after listing them out and before I could even add on my thoughts I could hear my parents cheering and congratulating me on the speaker land line phone. I remember the feeling of it kind of taking my breath away, how supportive they were in the moment, and it made me miss them a lot even though our relationship hasn’t always been easy at that point. So, OP, I am telling you this, that your child will really remember those moments you show support and encouragement. I can still remember and hear my dad’s voice saying “you got those grades in college! That’s wonderful!”
I think your relationship matters more than his gpa.