little man shockey's first semester grades

The busier you are, the better your grades will be. Pull at 15 hours, and work at least 20 hours a week.

Also, go to every class and pay attention.

I flunked out after my first year of college, and now I have three degrees from three different schools. Sometimes a light just goes off. My first year of college, though, I did not work and had too much time on my hands.

 

Shotty, Shockey .. reading comprehension was never a strongpoint. That's why I write instead.

 

appreciate everyone's input. to clear something up, little shockey's three classes were 12 credits worth, not 9. but excellent points by all. much thanks.

nrs. shockey and i are taking a deep breath. we will sit down with little man and have a more civil discussion with him in the next day or two. we will surely lean on advice from our many friends who have college-aged kids for other insights.

that's all i've got for now. it's been a very sad night in the shockey household. at least he's home for four more weeks for us to prop him up.

 

I went to a college where your tuition was based on taking 16 to 18 credits, although I think there were a few semester where I took 21 credits due to internships. You didn't "pay to play". Room, board, tuition was all one lump sum. And back in those days, you finished in 4 years. I would say I was a B/C student, which mirrored what I was in high school, although I ended up on the Dean's List a few times in my junior and senior year. I was fortunate that my parents paid for my education, and I did not work while in school...yes, I was very lucky.

I would ask if he feels he need some tutoring help. Also, his partying needs to be happening on the weekends only. And he needs to go to class. I'll never forget calling home to tell my dad I got a 2-credit F in computers.....worst call ever.

My guess is he knows he needs to do better so wigging out on him will not be very productive. I would only give him a pretty short leash to get his act together. And definitely if he can't graduate in 4 years, then it's on his dime.

 

Shockey,

If you don't mind my asking, what classes did he take and what is he majoring in?

And I would emphasize the civil in civil discussion. While the reason might be obvious to him (one too many house parties, skipping classes, etc.) there is also a decent chance he is as legitimately baffled as you are.

 

Having only been removed from college for about six months now, I can attest to both yours and little Shockey's situation.

While I don't want to pry too deep with the personal reasonings regarding the poor grades, it could be attributed to the fact that it is indeed college and classes are more difficult than your typical high school schedule. Make sure he's really doing a major he wants to do and if he understands it.

I began my college career as a meteorology major, but I got medicore grades in my calculus and meteorology classes and I felt that as much as I loved the major I was in, hours upon hours of tutoring and extra help wasn't worth the frustration that I'd later deal with when I got to my junior and senior year.

Encourage him to join some clubs, sports teams or other activities on campus. I remember reading something awhile back that students who were enrolled in activities on campus got significantly better grades than students who basically went to class and did nothing with their spare time.

Be firm with him, but don't necessarily make it out to be that he didn't try, that is, unless he didn't and goofed off.

 

I dropped a class b/c I just wasn't feeling it too.

Dad wasn't thrilled.

 

I've done the same. I've dropped classes before mostly because of scheduling conflicts and I'd rather have class at 11 a.m. rather than 8 a.m., but I've only withdrew from two classes because my grades were so poor that it was only going to hurt my GPA rather than just re-taking the class at a later date.

 

It was called "How To Please A Woman 101"

 

Shit, I'd have gotten straight A's if I had someone paying for my ass to go to college. I was taking a full load, working 35 hours a week at Little Caesars and working at the school paper.

12 credits and no job? Something's got to change.

 

You say that now. You would have taken it for granted like the rest of us if someone was paying for it.

 

Hmm. You're both right.