The First Semester Grade Drop

Unfortunately, holiday cheer can be dampened when first semester grades arrive. If you are unpleasantly surprised by what you see on your student’s first grade report from college, you’re not alone. Many students see a drop of a letter grade or more between the grades they saw in high school and what they earned in their first semester of college. There are a few common reasons for this:

A 4.0, or “perfect”, GPA in high school is fairly common these days.  When our generation attended high school there may have been one or two students who were able to maintain a perfect GPA and each high school probably only had one valedictorian.  This is no longer the case, and many students from a variety of high schools have never made anything below an A in any class.  This is simply a result of grade inflation* in high school and unfortunately it can do a lot of harm to a student’s psyche when they arrive at college and realize they are one of many “perfect” students vying for top grades.

There’s more to the first semester of college than a GPA. In addition to attending 15-18 credit hours worth of class each week, your child has also had to learn how to navigate an entirely new world.  Everything from how and where they live, shower, eat, and socialize is completely new and learning the ins and outs of college life is emotionally and intellectually draining. Even students who earned a 2.0 GPA have actually learned a great deal from college in their first semester.

College is harder than high school. When I relay this fact to students most of them give me the “Duh, no kidding” look, but some are surprised. They think that they can employ the same strategies they used in high school and earn the same grades, but that usually doesn’t work. Students are in college classrooms less than half of the time they were in high school classrooms and they have to do much of their reading, writing, and learning on their own or in student groups. In addition, college classes require that students think through problems critically and develop their own solutions based on research, their own or someone else’s. In other words, in addition to simply answering questions, they have to explain why they answered in that way and how they came to their conclusions. This is the mental equivalent of heavy lifting and it takes time for students to get used to flexing their intellectual muscles.

If your child is disappointed by his grades in the first semester, don’t worry. Most students’ grades rebound during the next semester after they adjust their study and time management habits. If your child needs help with these issues, a visit to a study skills center, academic counselor, or attending a workshop on these topics can give him the information, skills, and motivation he needs to improve his grades in future semesters.

* http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/issues.pdf

http://research.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/publications/2012/7/researchreport-2011-2-investigating-grade-inflation-non-equivalence.pdf

 

Where to Work While Attending College

Students who work while attending college become experts at managing time and money and take their college education more seriously. They also gain valuable work skills. The kind of job depends on your student and his schedule and financial needs, but the hours shouldn’t stretch beyond about 16 hours per week. College students already have a full-time job as a college student, so adding more than 16 hours of additional work during the week is usually detrimental to academic success.

On Campus Jobs

I really prefer to see students in on-campus jobs for a number of reasons. First of all, the commute is extremely easy. If your child can find a job in his residence hall as a front desk clerk or food service worker, his commute may not even take him out of the building. Secondly, on campus jobs usually offer very flexible hours that fit easily into students’ schedules. Faculty and staff recognize and appreciate that students will place their academics first and their job second, and are usually willing to work around class schedules.

Finally, on-campus jobs are usually easy enough to find if your child isn’t too picky. The two departments on campus that always seem to be hiring are food services and custodial or housekeeping. While I know these jobs aren’t for everyone, they usually offer the most flexible schedules and it is common for food service jobs to offer students free or discounted meals, a definite bonus when you’re watching a budget.

Off Campus Jobs

Most college towns have a lot of service jobs readily available for students and while they may offer higher pay than on-campus jobs, it will be incumbent on the student to continually remind his off-campus supervisor that he is a student first and an employee second. Some off campus jobs will offer students unique opportunities in their field of study.

If your child can find such a job it is ideal, but even if he can’t, any job experience is a plus for a future job search. Upon graduation, employers will want to see a prospective employee who has a proven record of experience in the work world regardless of where that experience was gained.

Become an Entrepreneur

Some students don’t want to worry about a set schedule or punching in and out on a regular basis. If your child is looking for an extremely flexible way to earn money, he may consider working for a temp agency or becoming an entrepreneur. Students can earn extra money by starting their own businesses such as offering pick-up and drop off laundry services for other students, pet or house sitting, dog walking, web site development, photography, foreign language practice partner or other tutoring, care package assembly and delivery, you name it!

Work Study

Work Study is a program administered through the Department of Education that provides a win-win scenario for students and employers. Students who are eligible for work -study (this will be included in the student’s financial aid award letter) can work at approved work-study jobs on and off campus and keep the money they earn for their educational expenses. In exchange for hiring work-study eligible students, employers receive a subsidy to defray the cost of employing the eligible student.³¹

Many campus offices will try to hire work-study eligible employees before they open jobs for others to apply. So, if your child is eligible for work study make sure that he applies for these jobs early, even before arriving on campus. 

Academic Troubles - That Aren't Necessarily Academic

If your child was admitted to the college or university in which he is enrolled, he is very likely to succeed academically, but oddly enough, challenging academics are not usually the reason that students fail classes or drop out.  Having worked in academic counseling, I know that the main reasons students fail out of school or simply drop out are:

Not attending class - This seems so obvious, but making class attendance a priority is the number one way that students can succeed in college. The student who just shows up will be more successful than the one who skips and the one who shows up well prepared, and engages in the lecture or class activity will learn more in class and have to study less outside of class to retain the material. When talking about class attendance with your child, make sure he knows it is important to you not only for his academic success, but also for the very basic fact that college isn’t cheap and each time he skips a class he’s throwing money away.

Poor time management skills - Most students have a steep learning curve when it comes to time management and it’s no wonder why. If they’ve been living at home with their parents acting as their alarm clock and their conscience they haven’t had to decide to get out of bed in the morning or finish their papers on time. They did those things because if they didn’t they would be grounded or badgered until they did. But now, with only themselves as their principal motivator, they have to develop and employ time management skills for possibly the first time in their lives.

If you are reading this book during your child’s senior year of high school or the summer after high school graduation, now is a great time to have him take responsibility for his own time management. Give him a task with clear expectations and a deadline and see how he does.  If it becomes evident that he needs to hone his time management skills don’t worry, almost every college has workshops about time management and somehow, hearing advice about time management from someone besides your parent makes it stick.

Disinterest in academics or college in general – This one is hard for parents to handle because we’ve spent so much time, effort, and money just helping our children through high school and the college admissions process, it’s hard to believe they aren’t really interested in college. This has a lot to do with your child’s expectations of what college will be like, and as is the case with many things, college can certainly fall short of expectations.

Maybe your child isn’t interested in any of his freshman general education courses, or maybe they’re much harder than he expected them to be. Maybe he’s taking his first major class and realizing that he doesn’t like it and doesn’t have a second choice for a major.  Whatever the reason, your student has lost the motivation he once had.

For most students this malaise only lasts for a couple of months or a semester, but if he reaches the end of his freshman year with poor grades and no plan or focus to continue, he may be in need of a gap year in which he works full time and either moves back home or lives on his own and supports himself. Sometimes, just the reality of a year of full time work and the responsibilities that come with it is enough to motivate a student who’s lost his drive.

Dissatisfaction with college choice - If your child did not get into his dream school or maybe the first choice school’s bill totaled $30,000.00 per year instead of $15,000.00, let him know that there are a number things he can and should do instead of succumbing to disappointment.

1.       Most importantly, make the most of the college experience wherever it may be. As I mention elsewhere in this book, the college return on investment isn’t just a financial number at the bottom of a balance sheet. Much of the “investment” must come from the student in terms of focus, determination, and plain old hard work.

2.       Plan to take a reciprocal exchange semester at the dream school. This program allows students to pay the regular tuition and fees to their own institution and take the classes elsewhere. More information is available at the National Student Exchange program website: http://www.nse.org

3.       Take a summer class at the dream school and work a summer job while there.

4.       Or better still; plan to attend graduate school at the dream school.  There will be opportunities for graduate assistantships that can pay for a portion or all of the graduate degree. This is how I, and tens of thousands of other people financed our graduate degrees. Keep in mind, that the dream school will expect great grades and numerous activities and leadership experiences from the current college.

Poor fit within the institution - Your child either didn’t want to attend college or didn’t want to attend the college in which he’s enrolled. This could be due to a number of factors. He didn’t get into his top choice and resents going to his second choice school, his best friend or girlfriend is attending another school, or “everyone” he graduated with is going out of state and he’s at the local college. The reasons for a poor fit are endless, but there is something you and your child can do to rectify the situation.

If he really wants to go to his first choice school, the best way to do that is to excel at his second choice school. Then, after a year, he can re-evaluate his choice and transfer if he still wants to. Many times, after a year, students find their niche and don’t want to leave anyway.

Lack of new friends or social connections - One thing that college is really great for is making new friends and forgetting about old romances. Being away from home and familiar surroundings is a sure fire way to learn that the world is a lot bigger than your high school or your old neighborhood. By the end of this first semester, your child will know if he really can’t live without his old friends or hometown love interest and will let you know one way or the other. Either way, emphasize the importance of making good grades and being involved on campus no matter where he is because he’ll need a strong academic record and leadership skills if he decides to transfer elsewhere.

Financial problems - In this economy, financial problems can affect just about anyone and if the family breadwinner, or even just one parent, loses a job a student’s college career can easily be sidelined. Even if the family can still scrimp enough to pay for school or find loans to help them until hard times pass, the student may refuse to allow the rest of the family to sacrifice for his benefit.

If you find yourself on the receiving end of a pink slip you need to re-evaluate your financial situation immediately and tell your child about your struggles as soon as possible too. Even if a wonderful new job is already on the horizon, you owe it to your child to be honest about what the whole family is experiencing.  It’s also important to speak to someone in the school’s financial aid or scholarship office as soon as you know what your new income will be. 

Financial aid counselors know a number of ways to help families through rough financial times. It may be that with a lower estimated family contribution (EFC), your child now qualifies for grants, need-based scholarships or work-study programs.  Don’t allow family pride to get in the way of financial assistance that could potentially keep your child in school.

Before your child talks to a financial aid counselor, gather documents and crunch some numbers so he will have your financial figures close at hand. Collect the FAFSA, prior year taxes, your current gross and net income after the job loss, and information about severance pay or any unemployment benefits you now receive. This is also the time to make some plans with your child and answer some questions. Will he be able to stay through the semester? Will he be able to adjust his schedule to take fewer classes while taking on more hours at work?

Health concerns - Whether they be yours or your child’s, health problems can cause a great deal of stress on college students. It is extremely hard to concentrate on academics when you or a loved one has a serious illness, especially if you are far from home. Other health problems such as substance abuse, an unplanned pregnancy, or mental health issues bring obvious challenges as well.

Whatever health challenges you and your student face, the single most important thing you can do as a parent is to communicate your needs and expectations and work closely with your child to make a plan for his future success. Remind yourself and your child that the goal of completing a college degree can be achieved, even if it is completed in a non-traditional way.

Of course, it would be ideal for every student to attend college for four straight years and never have to worry about poor grades, social isolation, financial, or health issues, but that simply doesn’t happen. A lot can happen to a family in 4-6 years and when life places hurdles in your child’s way he’ll need your experience and guidance to overcome them. You’ll also be teaching him through example that overcoming challenges may require a change of strategy, but one’s goals can remain the same.