Category — College Academics

If your college student is struggling academically, she (and you) may be wondering how to improve her situation.  You are probably encouraging her to do everything that she can to do better.  Most students who are in difficulty – perhaps even on academic warning or academic probation – want to do better, but many do not know what to do. They say they’ll work harder, but they don’t necessarily know how to work smarter.  Other students simply make the wrong decisions in an attempt to improve their situation.

Talk to your student about her difficulty.  Help her try to honestly analyze what has caused the problem. (This may not be an easy process.)  As she begins to think about how to address her situation, encourage her to avoid many common mistakes by considering some of the following ten wise decisions to improve her GPA.

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If your college student has failed a course, or has done poorly in a course, he may have a question about whether or not he should retake the course.  This is an individual decision and will depend on your student’s circumstances as well as his institution’s policies. Some schools may not allow a student to retake a course, some may only allow a student to retake a course in which he has received an F, and some schools may allow a student to retake any course to improve the grade. The best thing would be for your student to discuss the option with his academic advisor.

However, there are some general things that your student might think about before he meets with his advisor.  There are some compelling reasons to retake a course, and there are a few reasons why it may not be the best decision for your student.

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As a college parent, you probably have very little influence over the amount of time your college student spends studying.  That is appropriate, as you begin to allow your student to gain independence and control over his choices and decisions.  However, you might help your student understand the importance of investing enough time in his work in order to do well.  As a parent, you may be able to help your student think through the realities of how he spends his time.  Then, of course, it will be your job to step back and let him find his way.

The college experience is about more than just coursework.  College is a time to meet new people, experience new things, and work at gaining independence.  But college is also about classes, exams, studying, working with professors, and, hopefully, gaining a wealth of useful knowledge and new ways of thinking.  In order for students to succeed, they need to put in the time.  Unfortunately, many students either do not understand the amount of time necessary to do well in college, or they do not prioritize the amount of time they need to spend studying.

What is expected?

The general rule of thumb regarding college studying is, and has been for a long time, that for each class, students should spend approximately 2-3 of study time for each hour that they spend in class.  Many students carry a course load of 15 credits, or approximately 15 hours of class time each week.  Doing some simple math indicates that your student should be spending roughly 30 hours of study time and 15 hours in class.  This 45 hours is the equivalent of a full time job – the reason that your student is called a full time student.  For many students, this number is a surprise.

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Many students have grown up studying the arts.  Children take dance lessons, music lessons, and participate in drama or choral performances.  Hopefully, these children and young adults participate in these activities because they love them. Unfortunately, the arts are often seen as add-ons to a student’s education.   However, students reap many benefits from these activities which will serve them well when they get to college, and as they continue throughout their lives.

I am pleased to have a guest post this week on DanceAdvantage.net about some of the benefits of a dance education for college students.  Although the post was specifically written about dance, the principles apply to any study of performing arts.  If your student participates in the arts in any way, or has participated in the past, please visit DanceAdvantage and read Ten Credits Dancers Take With Them to College. In the article we discuss some of the qualities which dancers (or any student of the arts) have which will give them an advantage when they get to college.

If you have a student who dances, you’ll want to spend some time looking around DanceAdvantage.net.  Writer and dancer Nichelle Strzepek has put together a wonderful site that is chock full of information for dancers, parents and teachers.

Ten Credits Dancers Take With Them to College on DanceAdvantage.net

When your college student began college you both had high hopes and expectations.  You knew that there would be challenges ahead, but you both did everything that you could to prepare.  Now your student seems to be struggling and having difficulty at college.  You may be feeling helpless and concerned for her.  Perhaps she hasn’t applied herself to studying, or perhaps she doesn’t understand what is required to succeed in college, or perhaps she has worked hard but is still unable to accomplish what she needs to do.

Whatever the reasons may be, your college student is now struggling and you want to know what you can do to help.  Obviously, every situation is different and every family dynamic is different, but here are some posts that may help you as you try to decide how you can help support your student as he works to improve his situation.

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Is your college student taking full advantage of his opportunities in college?  As with so many things during the college years, students struggle to find balance in many areas of their lives.  They face many challenges, opportunities, and growing responsibilities.  College experiences come in many forms, and your student needs to determine how to negotiate these experiences.  In several areas, students may need help in discovering how to find the “extra value”.

Academics

The Norm:

Students come to college expecting a new level of schoolwork.  Most rise to the challenge of different types of classes and increased homework.  They know that they are required to spend more time outside of class doing schoolwork.  They know that their thinking may be challenged on a new level.  Many students do the work required and gain tremendous knowledge from their classes.

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Many college parents wait expectantly, hopefully, and sometimes fearfully for those first semester college grades as a measure of how their student is doing in college.  Although many students may have a better inkling of what to expect when the grades arrive, they, too, wait anxiously to hear the final verdict.  For many students, and their parents, those first semester grades may not be what they expected.

It is important that both college parents and their college students keep first semester grades in perspective.  For many students, they may be all that they hoped for.  However, if your student’s grades are lower than anticipated, there are several factors to consider.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that you student is incapable of college work, or that he has been slacking off all semester.  Grades are certainly important, but the first semester of college involves both tremendous transition and, for some students, a “reality check” about college in general.

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No college student heads off to college with the plan to be placed on academic probation and face potential dismissal.  Few parents, when they drop their student off for college in September, expect that their student will struggle to the point of being placed on probation.  But the reality is that, for many students, their academic work warrants the college officially notifying them that they are in danger of being dismissed.  Parents can be a tremendous asset, or can potentially make matters worse, when this happens.  Here are some suggestions about how you, and your college student, can cope with academic probation.

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For some college students, the more the work piles up, the more they put it off.  Sometimes the toughest part of the battle seems to be finding where to begin and actually digging in.  As students get overwhelmed, especially near the end of the semester, they freeze and wait until it is almost too late (or really too late) to get their work done well.  As parents, we may need to remind ourselves that students don’t necessarily want to put things off until the last minute, they may just have difficulty knowing where to begin, or they may not understand exactly how much time or work is required to complete the task.

While college parents must remember that students need to learn their own lessons about time management, parents may be able to help students beat the Procrastination Monster by offering some suggestions – and then stepping back. Of course, helping students learn to deal with procrastination early in the semester would be best – before things begin to pile up.  But facing the monster at any stage is helpful.

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For many college students, the final push of the semester is an extremely stressful time.  This is the time when many students realize that their time-management skills may not be the best.  This is the time when students realize how much reading is left, how many papers are still unfinished (or not yet begun), how much material will actually be covered on a final exam.  Students are overwhelmed, tired, sometimes sick, and often nervous or downright frightened.

During this stressful time of the semester, parents need to be supportive, but give a student some “space” to deal with his issues.  Students will react to pressure differently.  Some will rise to the occasion – and even thrive on the adrenaline of the final push.  Others will fall apart, have a meltdown, – and then pull themselves together and tackle what they need to do.  Some may forge ahead as they have all semester, almost oblivious to the added pressure at this point.  Others may crumple under the stress.  Parents need to be prepared for anything.

As college parents seek to find the right balance for the end-of-semester time, we’ve gathered a few earlier posts that may be especially helpful.  Remember that your role is supportive and that you need to let your college student cope in the best way that she can.  It is often difficult to stand back and watch as your college student struggles, but this is part of the independence that your student needs.  She may make some choices that are helpful and some choices that are not particularly wise.  She will learn from her choices either way.

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