Your student headed off to college with a bit of trepidation, but with high hopes. You were excited and had visions of Commencement down the road. Neither of you anticipated your student struggling and ultimately being dismissed. But it happens. It happens more often than most parents imagine. Our most popular post is our earlier What to Do If Your Student Is Academically Dismissed from College. This post has also received more comments than any other post on College Parent Central. That means academic dismissal is on the minds and hearts of a lot of parents and students.
This is the first of two additional posts about academic dismissal. We recommend our earlier post as well. In this post we’ll address some of the causes and concerns that students and parents have around dismissal. In our next post, we suggest some things to consider as you and your student move forward.
Feeling Lost
There is a common theme to comments on our earlier dismissal post. Students and their parents feel lost, helpless, and overwhelmed. One student said, ”This whole thing has been giving me nightmares.” Still another desperately said, ”Would someone please help me?” Students and parents may or may not have seen this coming, but the final word feels like a virtual punch in the stomach.
