College Kids

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I teach at a community college in CA. If she has failed this many classes she may not be eligible for financial aid if she has received any financial aid in the past. I have not heard about wiping the slate clean when changing colleges. If a student fails a class and wants to transfer to a university, then that course can be re-taken. The new grade is on the transcript, but with an asterisk to indicate that it was retaken. I suppose that she could just go to a new jr. college, but if she wants to transfer to a university, she will need to include transcripts for all colleges.

Sounds like she either has no idea why she is in college or she does not know how to handle college-level work, which are both very common experiences. Is there a pattern to her failed classes? Could she have some kind of learning disability? Is she struggling with a personal problem that is interfering? My advice is that you need to get to the bottom of this and find out why she is failing first. Then you can begin to worry about who should be financing college.

How did she do in High School? Was she a strong student? Is this something out of the ordinary for her to make failing or low grades in her basic classes? Does she really know how to study or is it that she has been distracted by living away from home?

I think you all need to figure out what the problems are first. Then figure out a plan to correct this. Her plan.

She cannot just start over, the grades will carry over and she can retake them. If she is really having problems with the work, I suggest she cut back to part time college and learn how to study. They must have tutors or special help on campus for students that had trouble transitioning into college.

Maybe move home and only take 1 or 2 classes and YOU help her study..
Are you sure she even wants to be in college? Maybe she would do better in a different type of school. She may need to reevaluate what she is capable of.

The only way this happens is if she doesn't try to transfer any credits from the old school, which means she will have to retake them at the new college. That can get expensive. Still, I would call the school yourself and inquire. I find that information very suspect.

I'm not sure "starting the slate clean" will solve her problem. Nor will a new school. She should ask her counselor for help figuring out WHY she's failed so many classes. This will likely take a lot of painful self-reflection. You probably know exactly why, but she needs to figure it for herself.)

Perhaps it's time for her to take a break from college and try the "real world" on for size. Some of the most motivated college students are the ones who realize how valuable that college education can be after struggling in dead-end jobs. Then, when she does return to college, she should pay for it out of her own pocket. WHEN she passes with grades acceptable to you, you can reimburse her for the costs, if you so choose.

Good luck.

Something a friend of ours did was to make the kid pay for the semester up front. If the kid passed then they reimbursed her for it. The kid then used that money to pay for the next semester. Same scenario if the kid passed they paid it again. But no pass no pay. My daughter started college 3 different times that we paid for a semester of classes and books. once at 18, once at 21 and again at about 23. We said no more. She had a baby young and got married young we were trying to help her but she was doing it because we wanted her to not because she wanted to. She went back to school when she was 25 and her youngest child was in kindergarten. She took a couple classes a semester and paid for all of it herself. She is almost done now and will have a degree in nursing this summer. We are really proud of her. But it has to be the kids choice to be there or it won't work.

When you transfer, anything less than a C goes away. You are just out the money for the failed classes. (I would require her pay for those, lest she think she can keep transferring until she lucks into a degree.)

She's obviously not ready for college yet and that's okay. Don't make it sound like a punishment or she may resist. Assure her that this is normal for some people and be very understanding. (There's nothing you can do about it now anyway.) The goal is to get her to get out and look for a job. Have her work full-time and save the money before she goes to school. Working full-time will give her an incentive and open her eyes to why she should get a degree and have a better chance at a better job. Worked for my niece.

You may want to think about Community College. It's wonderful for getting the basics done in a VERY inexpensive way. AND you/she won't have the expense of living away from home and you can keep an eye on why she's failing. Removing temptation is sometimes productive. Not sure why she failed so many, but I do know that my son is going to Lone Star here in The Woodlands because with the University Center ALL his credits will transfer and instead of it costing us $10,000 a semester (just for courses) it's less than $1,000 and that includes the books too!!!!

I did the same thing. I ended up declaring academic renewal which does wipe the slate clean. I had to interview with the deans of my department and it was ultimately their decision. You have to prove that things have changed and you will do better. I took 2 yrs off of school before I did this. My reasons for not excelling in school were also very reasonable, I was 19 and just found out I was pregnant, so school was the last thing on my mind. It is possible depending on the school and their requirements to be considered for academic renewal.

yep, she can start from scratch somewhere else, with high school transcripts.

I'm not sure if she can do that or not. The new college is probably going to want to know what she's been doing these past 2 years. Are you and she sure she needs to be in college right now? College isn't for everyone, even though our government (and not only the current administration -but years of them) seems to think it is. There are other training programs and jobs that don't require college that can provide someone with good job prospects. She could also just work somewhere until she has perhaps matured a bit more and knows what she wants from college.

The only way t do that that I know of is to be out of school for 10 years. Then you have the option of a "clean slate". Not sure about just switching schools. She may want to be out in the real world for a while and get her partying out of her system before she tries again.
College is nice, but it is NOT for everyone.

Hmm...I'm not sure. If she isn't trying to transfer the credits then she may be right that they F's don't carry over (they disappear). Of course, I wonder if she'll be able to get into a different college with those grades? Call the registrar's office at her college--they will know for certain (sometimes academic advisors don't give the correct information).

Hi Mellisa. I have to wonder why she is failing her courses. Maybe she isn't applying herself or she just is not ready to continue. It is too costly to continue on this track. Good luck.

L.