Going to college next year
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Going to college next year
| Fri, 09-09-2011 - 12:39pm |
I was wondering if anyone has a child who had poor study habits in HS, but did well in college? My DD is currently applying to colleges. She has been LAZY throughout HS. No one seems to notice this (or care) except me. She NEVER studies or prepares for anything and is a terrible procrastinator. She is not a bad student (she's a fairly good student, actually), but she would rather spend 4 hours at her boyfriend's and make a B on an exam, than spend 1 hour studying and get an A. I just don't see how this translates to college in any way. She took the ACT one time and got a 30. That is a good score, but not good enough to get top scholarship $. (The college she wanted required at least a
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Good point! She actually does have a job (sort of). She works at a fast food place, but generally only gets about about 6-8 hours/wk. There are lots of kids in town and fast food restaurants are about the only places that will hire kids. So, there are several kids for each job and they don't get many hours. We have a friend who owns his own business and has said that she is welcome to work in his shipping dept part-time and could probably get about twice that many hours, but she doesn't want to work with a bunch of "old people"...boohoo. (plus it's about a 20 min drive, which is a better excuse...but not by much)
"I cannot understand why anyone would CONTINUE to give their child an all-expense-paid vacation away from Mom & Dad after they blow the first semester, but hey, that's me."
ME TOO!!!! Why throw good money after bad? Her dad gives her
I'm the one with the drive; he's nothing like me when it comes to grades. That also took some getting used to.
Does she have drive to major in something particular? Maybe part of it is being unsure of what she wants to do? If this rings true at all, it might make sense to go to a U she's interested in and have her talk to the counselors there for a couple of reasons - one to say that it's perfectly normal for many kids to have no clue what they want to do with themselves at this stage, and another to show that they are great at helping sort that out.
Sue
I think you might be kind of unrealistic about scholarships and/or financial aid basically covering 75% of college tuition/room & board (if that is what I am reading here).
The school with the best reputation for sciences in the state is private and has a tuition of $35,000, so yeah, THAT'S out! We are looking exclusively at in-state public universities. The largest state school is about $24,000/yr total
You are talking scholarships but are you also considering loans?
I was a lazy student in HS. I remember saying several times, "why should I work for the A when I can get a B by doing nothing?" I did well on the SATs and what were then called achievement tests, and got into some good schools. But my first semester in college, I did really badly and was horrified. For the first time, I realized I'd have to work at it. I have to say that most of my peers had much better study habits than I did. It was a steep learning curve.
I don't know if this happens to every lazy student, but shame was a huge factor for me. I had always prided myself on being the smart kid who didn't apply herself, when all of a sudden, I no longer had the evidence of this, because my first semester grades were so poor. I felt like the mediocre student who didn't belong. So bad grades were a huge motivating factor for me to get my act together.
For some kids, it's guilt that their parents are borrowing money to send them to school, likely depriving themselves and possibly siblings.
But if you don't think either of these scenarios are likely to apply to your DD, then I would just encourage her to go to a state school or community college until she shows some discipline.
"I don't know if this happens to every lazy student, but shame was a huge factor for me."
YOu might be surprised--it depends on what she studies, but at the beginning of college everybody is taking the easiest courses, plus some electives, so maybe she'll breeze through still--but when the classes start to get more advanced, then she'll be in for a shock.
I seem to remember her spending all evening at her bf's house, getting home @9 pm (after I called and told her to come home)
Last year, she got a 68 on an exam after deciding to go out with friends the night before instead of studying
She works at a fast food place, but generally only gets about about 6-8 hours/wk.
she is welcome to work in his shipping dept part-time and could probably get about twice that many hours, but she doesn't want to work with a bunch of "old people"...boohoo. (plus it's about a 20 min drive)
Frankly, I see a trend here that goes far beyond "lazy student".
I know. That's kinda why I started the thread, to see if anybody else's kid was doing this sort of thing...or if it was just me.
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