Those first college grades and progress reports can raise many expectations (and anticipations!) for Georgia Tech parents and their students. At Tech, first-year and second-year students are provided mid-semester progress reports indicating a student’s progress in his/her classes during the semester. Progress report grades, which will be posted on September 26 for 1000- and 2000-level courses only, are used to advise and inform students of their current progress and are not included in calculating the GPA for students. To better understand how grades are calculated and reported, detailed information can be found online in the Georgia Tech Catalog.

Tech provides a challenging curriculum for students who strive towards academic excellence and mastery of knowledge. Each year, a number of students, especially freshmen, may experience their classes to be challenging and the workload to be significantly different and difficult than that of high school. In general, students who are successful in their classes are those who:

• Regularly attend all classes;
• Effectively manage their time and activities;
• Develop and exercise effective study and test-taking skills;
• Establish extracurricular activities; and
• Seek out and access appropriate support services when needed.

As parents, healthy communication is key to supporting your son or daughter in their academic pursuits and to explore some of these key success factors listed above in order to ascertain your child’s progress. If your son or daughter does receive a “U” on their progress report, you may want to inquire as to their regular class attendance and their time management. It can also be useful for students to be reminded of the various academic support resources that are available to them to provide tutoring, help them develop effective study skills, and other services.

There are times when even the best student may experience personal difficulties that interfere with their academic progress. An open and honest line of communication can be very helpful in helping to identify those difficulties and in talking with your son or daughter about seeking out personal counseling. This can be a good step in maintaining a sense of trust and confidence in your relationship with them.

The Georgia Tech Counseling Center is available to consult and provide students with the necessary and appropriate services for their presenting concerns. The Center is also available for appropriate consultation with parents to discuss ways to provide the necessary support and encouragement to their son or daughter. Together, we can help strudents succeed both academically and personally at Georgia Tech.

For more information on the Counseling Center and its services, please visit www.counseling.gatech.edu.