College Parent Central Podcast
You don’t stop parenting the day you drop your student off to college on Move-in Day. Your role simply changes. (Actually, it’s not simple at all, but it changes.) You’re a parent for life. Join Lynn Abrahams and Vicki Nelson, higher education professionals and former college parents, as they explore the topics that can help you be a more effective and supportive parent to your college bound student. Whether you already have a child in college, college is still a year or more away, or your student is about to step out, start now to gather the information that empowers you to be an effective college success coach to your student.
College Parent Central Podcast
#162 - Catching Up: Does Your Student Need Remedial Classes?
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Your student gets accepted, pays the deposit, and then a placement email lands like a surprise bill: developmental math, remedial writing, foundational reading. What does that actually mean, and is it going to slow graduation down? We unpack the real purpose of developmental education and why colleges use it as a bridge to college-level work, not a punishment. We also talk through the most common misunderstandings families have about credit, transcripts, tuition, and financial aid when a course may or may not count toward the degree.
We walk through how colleges decide placement, from high school GPA and specific course grades to SAT/ACT scores, placement exams like Accuplacer, and even surveys about study habits and motivation. If your student is taking assessments in the chaos of senior year, we explain why effort and timing matter, how to ask for a retest, and why talking with an advisor early can prevent a bad fit that ripples into prerequisites and major requirements.
You’ll also hear what’s changing across higher education: co-requisite support models that pair the regular credit-bearing class with a smaller lab for extra feedback, plus smarter math pathways aligned to majors like social sciences or STEM. We end with a practical checklist of questions to ask on college tours and during onboarding, including success rates after developmental courses, summer bridge options, and the hidden financial aid risks of taking catch-up classes elsewhere if it changes first-year status to transfer.
If this helped you think more clearly about college readiness, placement tests, and academic support, subscribe, share the episode with another parent, and leave a quick review. What’s one question you want your student to ask before classes start?
Thank you for listening!
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Welcome And Show Purpose
SPEAKER_00Welcome to the College Parent Central Podcast. Whether your child is just beginning the college admission process or is already in college, this podcast is for you. You'll find food for thought and information about college and about navigating that delicate balance of guidance, involvement, and knowing when to get out of the way. Join your hosts as they share support and a celebration of the amazing experience of having a child in college.
SPEAKER_01Welcome to the College Parent Central podcast. This is the podcast where we talk about all sorts of things that have to do with parenting a college student or a pre-college student, still in high school, but on the on the path. And sometimes we even talk about after college and grad school and careers and all of that. So if it has to do with parenting a student anywhere in that age range, uh and with those things going on in their lives, we try to talk about it. My name is Vicky Nelson. I am one of the co-hosts of this podcast, and I am a professor of communication at a small liberal arts college. And more importantly, sometimes I am the parent of three daughters who have all gone to college, and uh we all survived the experience. And so I come to this topic both as a parent who has lived it and also as a professor who works with college students every day. And I learn a lot from them as we go along. But I'm not here by myself. I am here with another one of my co-hosts, and I'm going to let her introduce herself. Sure.
SPEAKER_02Thank you so much, Vicki. Hi, my name is Sarah Shane. I'm the director of um uh advising and academic success at a small liberal arts college, and I also come to this um fabulous podcast with a couple different hats. I um have worked in the field of advising for over 25 years, and I have two sons who um are well, one is um still an undergrad and the other is now in grad school. So things are going well, although I can't say they've listened to me as easily as uh, you know, I've wanted to give helpful info, but it's gone well overall, certainly.
SPEAKER_01I think sometimes it's hard on our kids when we're working in higher ed, and so we, you know, we think we know best and we and we we do in some ways. Um but but sometimes you have to take one hat off and put the other hat on. So Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02I do think it's funny that their friends always ask me for advice though. Yes, that doesn't so that's that's good.
SPEAKER_01Well, we have some so the topic we wanted to talk about today, um, you know, and I guess I guess it I would characterize some of it as advice, um, is remedial classes. And uh and that they're called all kinds of different things. Sometimes they're called remedial classes, sometimes developmental classes, basic skills courses, foundational courses, and different schools call them different things, and different schools use them differently and structure them differently and have different policies. So while we talk about this, the I starting out with a reminder that it may be a little bit different at your student school. And if your student is in high school and thinking about college, um, as you do the admissions visits and tours, you will want to be asking about how it works. So we're gonna sort of
What Developmental Classes Actually Are
SPEAKER_01look at the topic broadly and and then you want to think about it. Um so what these kinds of classes are are uh classes to help students catch up a little bit if they're weak in some areas, particularly math and English or writing. And your student, it's possible some students may not quite be ready for college-level work in those areas. And so these are classes that help give them those to strengthen those basic skills in reading, in writing, and math, so that they are ready to do college-level work successfully and and not have difficulty or not be as challenged. These developmental classes, and I'm just gonna kind of use that term, um, may be for credit or may not be credit bearing. So it depends again, it depends on the schools and it may depend on your students' GPA. We're going to talk a little bit about how how schools determine whether these are needed. Um they may count toward graduation or not, again, depending on the school and the the policy. Um often, and again, it depends on the school, these classes may not appear on a transcript, but most likely they will.
SPEAKER_02Um Yeah, just to sorry, I think that's such a good point, Vicki. I think that um certainly it does, as you say, everything depends on the school. I think more often than not they do appear on the transcript. It's just a matter of where they factor into the degree because some places will not count them at all, others will count them, but as general electives, even if it's a math, they won't call count it as one of your math um courses for that department, but they'll count it maybe as a general elective, but it does very much depend on the school.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. You you always want to ask. Um, you do usually pay tuition for them. Um, and you can use financial aid. So even though it may not be counting toward your degree, um, you still can can use um financial aid. Um anyone could be asked to or required to do these developmental classes, but disproportionately uh students of color, adults returning to college, first generation students, low-income students, um, students who have had an inadequate secondary education, who have been away from col from school for a long time, adults coming back to college. Those are the kind of students that often um are asked to do these kinds of classes. Um, but anyone can. So that's just a a little bit of an overview. Um I I think it's worth thinking about why they matter. Why not just you know why why not allow the student to say, yeah, I don't think so. I I just want to jump into the regular classes. Um so they really are important for preparing you for college level work. Many students and their parents don't realize how different college level work is from high school. Um and so these can help prepare. Um I don't know, Sarah, do you want to you want to jump in and talk about there's some pros and cons.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And I think one thing you mentioned too, in terms of students often being asked to do these if they've, quote, been away from school for a while or a long time. I think that speaks to not only adult learners, but students who coming who are coming right out of high school, but they manage to um step away from a certain subject for a bit and not take courses they did. So they may not be, you know, non-traditional age, they might be traditional age students, but they opted not to take math their senior year or other things. And the thing is that unfortunately does typically catch up with students. And I think a lot of students hear about that in the realm of um college acceptance. Like most colleges want you to take four years of most subjects in high school. But if you're able not to, and students rationalize, well, I'm not gonna need that down the line. And so they don't take it. The problem is that can be a prerequisite to other courses. And certainly there's, you know, a lot of students think, well, you know, when they're 16, 17, I'm not gonna need math. You know, they don't necessarily hate math, right, understand their, you know, trajectory and the kind of ramifications of removing themselves from a course that, again, they don't necessarily see as their life goal, but it has other, you know, consequences. And so I've seen students who really actually do need preparation um in order to go into sciences. Certainly, that is a big kind of hand-in-hand type of situation. Um, so you know, really not necessarily trying to avoid things senior year in high school, um, taking whatever it is that your guide, your guidance counselor recommends, um, because you don't want to inadvertently make your life harder once you get to school. And so um, yeah, I think that's and the longer you're away from a subject, the more it slips. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's another reason we always recommend students take things like writing, math, if they need a language to take that their first year in college, because it's a big difference if you haven't taken a language from your when you're 17 or 18, your junior, senior in high school, and then your college requires it, and then you try to take it your junior or senior year in college, and you've been out of it for four years, yeah. That's a huge disconnect. So, really kind of not trying to avoid taking the things that, oh, I don't really need that, but your college says you do, your major says you do. So um really trying to make sure you're taking that sooner rather than later because it's easier easier to forget things that yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and uh thinking about um uh what these uh developmental classes can do, they they really can help help students bridge that. I mean, you know, I'm thinking of parents who may be listening to this and saying, it's too late. My students' senior year schedule is already set and they're not taking math. Oh my goodness, you know, are they doomed now? Um and and it just might be that they then need a a catch-up class. Um, you know, that I think, you know, the tit we titled the the this episode catching up. Um, and so it it might do that. That uh the downside of the developmental classes, I I you know, I really think the the one biggest downside is it possibly but not likely may delay graduation, especially if the student needs more than one. It's one thing if, okay, I need developmental math um because that's my weakness, and I didn't take it and say, you know, but everything else looks good. Or I need a little help with writing, so I need that developmental class, but everything else looks good. It's the student who may need multiple developmental classes. I need I need the writing class, I needed something developmental reading, maybe, and I need math. So that's when you know, half of your schedule in your first year might be these classes. It's possible that would delay. And then of course that adds cost. So we're gonna talk, I think, a little more a little later about how to avoid these things. Um, and and everything you just said is, you know, really important in terms of thinking about your high school schedule.
SPEAKER_02But um those are I think, I think, yes, and like you said, we're probably talking about the avoidance thing later, but I think that also speaks to the importance of why students need to really take these courses their first year in college and not wait till their senior year, because you know, you have plenty of time to make things up over summer courses or take an extra course in a semester once you're a first-year student and you have your you know plenty of time to make adjustments. But if you wait till your senior year and then you realize, oh, actually, I and many colleges I think would require these courses in, you know, it's not an option.
SPEAKER_01You need to take these as a prereqs.
SPEAKER_02If they're if they're in their gen ed program and they're not required as prereqs for your major, a lot of schools give more flexibility.
Benefits And Real Tradeoffs
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02And and then students kind of choose the ones they want to take more so than the ones they don't, and they end up putting off the ones that they were dreading, and they end up doing them senior year, and then that's when they can have delays because they if they don't pass it or they need a second course or something. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And the other thing, these courses often help set students up for success. So doing it in the first year makes sense because you're going to be more successful in everything else. If you're, you know, there are little pieces of math and writing and all of that in all of your classes. And if you're if you're if you have some weakness there, it's going to affect all of your classes. So doing these um right at the beginning really um, you know, it it sets you up for success in everything else. And the other thing about these developmental classes is if you're willing to take them, if it's an option, if you're willing to take them, it allows some students to get into college who might not otherwise qualify. You know, yes, we will admit you, but with the caveat that you will start out by taking these developmental classes. So really, you know, and which which kind of leads us to think, yeah, I think one of the things we wanted to talk about is um how is it determined? You know, it's not necessarily up to the student to say, I think I need a developmental class in math, or I think I need help with my writing. Um, the college will probably say, you must do this. So how do they figure that out?
SPEAKER_02Well, that's an excellent question because every college does it in their own way. Yeah. Schools do it very differently. Some do it based on high school GPA. Um, you know, and many researchers consider that to be the strongest kind of single predictor of college course performance. The only exception to that is if you've taken any other college courses, any previous college credit or grades in college courses, they that that's a but even if you haven't, you know, the fact that they look at your GPA means start. Paying attention, start early in high school.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, to to just just to do the work and get a strong GPA so that so that no one's going to look at that. And they and the the schools will also look at what courses you've taken and what grades you've gotten individually. So, you know, your English classes, did you get a C or better in your English classes? Or, you know, do you have a decent GPA, but all of your English classes are D's? Then they're apt to say, you know, you need a developmental class in your mouth.
SPEAKER_02And their whole basis, as you mentioned, Vicky, was that this is because this is um such a predictor of academic success that they want students starting off well instead of struggling. So um, you know, it it might feel a little frustrating to students sometimes, but if you can take your time and hone your skills, then you can enter the next course with much more confidence and really remember. Oh, okay, now I remember how to do this, as opposed to kind of half figuring it out and you know, realizing maybe halfway through that class, oh yeah, I don't necessarily remember all this. And um, you know, and and kind of speaking with the courses you were mentioning before, of course, in terms of math and taking the developmental math course they're recommending could really help you if you have to take chemistry, depending on your major. And with the writing, there's so many courses you'll need to write for. So Right, right, right, right, right. I mean, and not in the subject of English, but in all kinds of subjects you're gonna have to write. And so if you take that developmental um English or writing class, you will hone your skills much faster and much better and do well and do better in the courses that count towards your degree, as well as, you know, not to mention the developmental courses spend a lot of time reviewing the resources and really explaining the resources on campus, which students know students familiar with what's available to them at that campus until they look into it. And that's the um one of the big highlights of at least in you know, in the very beginning of the course. So making sure you're familiar with that because you'll go back to that time and again, you know, the writing center and all the different ways you can get help with writing a paper or researching and understanding the databases in the library, you know, it's like a that's like a foreign language until you're exposed to it and you're like, what the heck is all this? And then you're like, how did I ever do this without it? Because it makes your life so much easier when you get help researching from, you know, you know, and and students think, oh, well, I, you know, Google, well, that's a certainly a place to start. But, you know, um academic databases will make your paper and your life so much easier. Learning how to use them early on in your college career makes a world of difference.
SPEAKER_01So keeping in mind that that when a college says, We think you need a developmental class, it's for your own good. I mean, the college is interested in having students succeed. Absolutely. Students succeed, don't fail out. Students succeed, continue, and make it to graduation. And that's good for the college as well as for the students. Right.
SPEAKER_02No, they want you to succeed and they want you to do well from the start. Because there's also literature that shows that students who don't do well in their introductory major course, for example, that's not gonna bode well for them as they continue. So and and speaking to that, you know, there'll be different um, you know, they might use the ACT or the SAT if students take that. But they also have many schools have their own either own diagnostic tests or something like it's called the acuplacer that many students use. And I only mention that because it's very important to do your best with that and not stay, you know, and and partly because you're doing these often well before you start your first class. You're doing this over the summer or after you've deposited in the spring, and they're trying to get you to do your acuplacer or whatever your place, whatever kind of placement test. Yes.
SPEAKER_01So they know students really need to take those placement tests seriously.
SPEAKER_02And don't be out till four in the morning and don't be, oh, this doesn't matter. And then you get put in a class and you know, you're in that class for two minutes, and once you start college and you're like, what am I in there for? I already know this. Well, you bombed the the you know, the test because you weren't taking it seriously. So those do actually matter. So kind of making sure you're you're doing that um to the best of your ability. And also there might be other things like surveys, they ask you different questions that aren't necessarily, you know, strategic standardized assessment type things,
How Colleges Decide Placement
SPEAKER_02but surveys or short evaluations or you know, trying to understand your habits and your kind of motivations and your study skills and that type of thing.
SPEAKER_01So so for a lot of a lot of schools, I think it's a it's really a holistic thing. Yes. They're they're looking, they're looking at all these things, they're looking at GPA, they're looking at at courses that you've taken. Have you challenged yourself or are you are you avoiding certain certain kinds of things? They're looking at standardized test scores, they're taking these surveys and finding out, you know, do you have weaknesses in study habits or are you unmotivated, then, you know, then the developmental class might help you get, you know, get in the hedge space of of college. Um, and how long has it been since you were graduated? That's sometimes a factor too. Certainly, especially depending on all of these things. Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Sorry, especially depending on your major, because if you're planning to be in the sciences um and you've been out of high school or you maybe took some developmental classes initially, but you haven't been, you know, that's been a number of years, that's they may want you to do those again. Um, especially again, that's m that's prevalent definitely in the sciences.
SPEAKER_01field so to bring you up bring you up back up to up to speed as a refresher. So so then let's in a lot of places and and for a lot of years the way these developmental classes worked is you might be be told okay you have you you know we're we require statistics and but you're not ready for statistics. So you have to take this developmental math first and then you'll take statistics. Or you know you're weak in your reading writing skills and we require a basic college level writing class but you have to take this separate developmental reading writing class first and then if you pass that with a decent grade you'll be a allowed into the college level writing. But there have been some changes recently through a lot of studies and a lot of experience of things that may work differently and one of them I know is is this idea of concurrent classes at the classes at the same time um and you and I are both at the same school and and this is what they do with writing classes. So you're in the advising office Sarah sure sure tell us about how this works.
SPEAKER_02Yeah of course so um in our school so this has been a change I've seen um at a number of schools in the last you know half a decade um but that students are kind of given the choice they decide where they feel most comfortable and we give them parameters to say you know asking all these questions about how they felt about their writing in in school and giving them certain um ways to kind of place themselves in terms of yes this is um this wasn't challenging for me in XYZ you know just to give them a a place to start and then for students who well no this was a challenge for me and again with specific examples you know we offer a way for students to take the you know the regular three credit course they need and then add a one credit lab to it. So that way they it helps them they don't have to take two separate three credit writing courses. They can just add the one credit lab onto their three credit course which is the same with the same faculty member. So it's just more kind of added time in a separate setting from the three credit course but with the same faculty to work on things a little bit more in depth and to get a little bit more feedback and to process things a little bit more diligently. And it seems to have worked well for for many students. So they take the four credit and you know it's it's just gives them such a better um framework for things that might have tripped them up if they didn't have that extra right and they have that extra help.
SPEAKER_01And and the other thing I think that you know it's not segregating them into a separate class with all the other people who also have challenges in that area while their friends are taking the regular class. They're in they're all in the same class they're all in the regular class and these students just have a little additional support work on the assignments that they're working on in the regular class.
SPEAKER_02Anyway, right so it just it's almost like a cheat sheet in some ways because they get to work on the same things it just they had a little bit more support. So they're not racking their brain on their own at home and or you know in their dorm room or something but to get more guided support um and to get credit for that since you are spending more time with the faculty to help you with that.
SPEAKER_01And so as more and more schools are doing this and this is again when you're touring schools and you're making decisions about schools one thing to to do is to ask, you know, how do you deal with you know students who may need help with with extra skills but some of the research has found that um in terms of math, you know, the regular like maybe being in the regular statistics class but with a support class at the same time students are seven 77% more likely to pass the regular math than they would have been if they took a separate class and then went into the regular math. And in English it's uh something like 42% more likely to pass than if they had been in a separate remedial class and then gone into a those are big numbers. That's a big difference. So that's that's a new trend that more and more schools are doing and it's really helping. And then there are some other things that schools do some um some will have a a kind of a short-term self-paced um course that might be online that students do um if you know if they have a specific weakness they can just work on this thing um and and sort of brush up on on those um some schools have it depends on on the major but um yeah like a tailored sequence of of classes classes is called math uh especially in math math pathways so um instead of taking a generic math class and then having to go into specific things for their major there's a set of two or three um math courses that everybody takes in sequence and that that seems to help um with a with a lot of of students with that and in in examples of that in math um are if you're in certain majors you might have algebra to calculus pathway or um a statistical reasoning pathway where you you know you would take maybe statistics and then calculus or or something um different pathways for different majors for different students because they have different needs rather than putting everybody in a sort of generic um you know generic math class so so ask about that you know for this major what math courses would I need to take and how would I get there so there's constant work to make these developmental needs more holistic and more apparent and more um more comfortable sequences in in order to to do it.
SPEAKER_02Right because I think too that so many students, you know, when it used to be many many years ago nope you had to do this developmental course and then this development no matter what your major is and no matter what your goals are that was a challenge and that had a much higher kind of failure rate or withdrawal rate than um many colleges are doing it so much more strategically now and really b basing it on um your major and the the information that is best for you know what your interest even if you're not exactly sure your major and you're an undeclared major but you know there's versus arts and humanities and education majors versus you know as you mentioned you know STEM majors or um you know social science majors with the statistics so there's different pathways. So really checking in with your advisor of the college to make sure that you're in the best fit one for you because oftentimes especially your first semester your courses are kind of created for you and the advisor is expecting you to ask if you have questions and if you don't they assume you're good good to go this is great and as opposed to you just not understanding exactly why you're in what you're win.
SPEAKER_01The more you understand the more it makes sense and and these pathways allow you to get started in your major I I think in you know in the past if you had two or three developmental classes that you needed to take the they were a gateway to the major and you weren't allowed to get going in the major until you passed these developmental classes. So part of the reason why some students you know withdrew uh or stepped out of college was because it felt more like high school and they they they couldn't get into the major so so these things help. I think we wanted to talk a little bit about um and and you've touched on it already um are there things that students can do to avoid these classes as good as they are and as helpful as they are if you can if you don't need them that's even better. Right, right because you kind of move ahead um so we were going to talk a little bit about some of those things.
SPEAKER_02Sure sure so I think and you like you said we did touch on it a little bit but you know taking the placement tests seriously even if you're asked to take them and many students are a little oh I gotta do this in you know May and June before they even start their college because they're they're still in high school mode a little bit and graduation and you know sports playoffs and prom and all that and they're like what am I after what do I have to take these for now? It's because college is such a process and we need all the information from you to best help make sure you're in the you know courses that will make the most sense for you. So if you either don't take the assessments seriously or you don't take them at all, then you might automatically get put in the lower section if you if you kind of blow it off and don't take it. So we never want, we never ever ever want students to take a class they don't need but we need students help to make sure that happens by making sure they do their best on whatever placement tests or even surveys because if they tell us yes I'm undeclared but I think I I am interested I think in you know criminal justice or psychology which are more the social science field so that statistical reasoning math pathway would have been different than if they didn't tell us that and then we stuck you in a calculus pathway because you know I don't know you know so we ask you these questions for a reason and it's not just to make students crazy. We want to do what's best for them but we need to know as much about them as they know at that moment so that
Co-Requisite Support And New Models
SPEAKER_02we can facilitate getting them into the best fit you know classes possible. So just kind of taking all that seriously even if you're not exactly sure why you're doing them which of course please don't ever hesitate to ask why you're taking them and we can explain all that to you. But you know take them take them seriously and obviously before that even as you know Vicky was saying like try not to avoid the classes that you know you should be taking like whatever level math you're in senior year doesn't have to be the highest level math if you're going to be a dance major but it should still you're probably still going to have that requirement so making sure you've taken it so your your placement test is up to par with where you really are right.
SPEAKER_01You know so you just want to keep those muscles you know whether it's math or writing or or whatever. I mean there we keep talking about math and avoiding math senior year, but there are some students who would avoid anything that has to do with writing if they you know some students have finished their requirements by junior year and senior year can be a little bit more free flowing of what courses they take and they say I don't like to write so I'm not going to write uh and then and then that's that can be a problem. And you know just generally thinking I need a strong GPA and so starting it you know in the beginning of high school um because we say the same thing in college you know an F in your freshman year is just as bad as an F in your senior year in terms of the numerical grade point average. Yeah and so some students wake up by sophomore or junior year but they're their the the their grades from first year count just as much.
SPEAKER_02So unfortunately in many cases so you know being aware of doing your work and and having a strong GPA um and I think too that some um placement tests are that are that are major specific and that you know are really deciding which level of the major you start in some of those you can hone your skills better with you know online practice tests maybe looking at Khan Academy or there's many different options but you know and that can again talk to someone at the school to make sure you're utilizing the best resources for that because some things even when you've kind of been out of school maybe you didn't take something spring of your senior year and then you're having to go do this practice test in August and it's you know been nine months since you've looked at something. So um you know always asking for feedback just and and because you know you yeah brush up that can really help um you know and get you to where you should be because you do though know the material you're just a little fuzzy. So making sure that you phone up you know can help.
SPEAKER_01I watch I watch the um well I'm I'm okay thinking about students in college who are going on to grad school and students who are who need to take the LSAP the the law school um place tests and admissions tests or nurses uh I watch our senior nurses who uh have to take the nursing exam yeah the N CLEX the NCLEX yes and they're the you know they're studying like they're crazy like crazy and and students think about how they prepared for the SAT so but they prepared for the SAT usually in junior year or or fall of senior year. So then that wears off so yeah that and and even in high school just generally taking challenging courses you know not looking for the easiest path but taking some courses that are going to challenge you help keep those muscles strong and thinking about the differences between um what college expects and what high schools you know some some students assume high school prepares me for college. And it does but sometimes it takes more work on the part of the student than just sitting back and saying fixing it I got this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah or yeah and I think too that sometimes students who do well in school um in high school I should say feel uh surprisingly underprepared once they start because it's the whole which is a whole other topic but the whole time management piece. Sometimes when things came easily to you in high school it didn't really teach you how to study and it didn't really teach you how to go back and revisit things and really work at things because it came pretty easily to you. Whereas now in college there's so much information you have to learn you really do have to learn how to study and learn how to you know do the things that maybe you didn't need to spend a ton of time learning in high school. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah so um yeah so there are things so generally let's sum it up with with kind of a I think we have you know kind of think in terms of all this stuff we talked about what what what do you do um not just you know how to avoid but what should you be doing to prepare for college to hopefully try to avoid developmental classes or at least understand how they work at at the college um so I you know the first thing I would say is whatever schools you're looking at and this is through the admissions process ask about their policies what are their policies for students who may have challenges in certain areas do they have these concurrent classes um do they have separate developmental classes do they have online things do they offer a summer bridge program that might you know that if I'm weak in an area is there something I can do in the summer before college starts rather than have to do it once college starts. So ask questions you know is one of um one of the the but add it to your admissions visit kind of thing. Things like just you know to get people's brains functioning um what's the school policy on remedial classes? That's that that's you know the the broad question um what percent of students are placed in developmental classes so you know you begin to understand oh well a lot of people do okay so if I get placed in the developmental classes I'm you know I'm in good company um or you know what are their standards how do they determine who should be in placement classes um in um developmental classes is there a placement test or do they use the GPA or do they you know use the SAT? How do they determine it? Are there other supports available besides just developmental classes? You know, ask about what kind of academic supports there are. And then for students who take these developmental classes what's their success rate afterward? Colleges are keeping track of all kinds of things. And so the more you can understand okay you know I may not like this I I I may wish I didn't have to take this developmental class but the college is telling me that 95%
How To Avoid Unneeded Remediation
SPEAKER_01of students who take this do well the rest of the time okay I'll do it you know it makes sense. Yep and are there alternatives um you know are there the the a summer program or or something like that. So those are all questions to start to think about asking um parents the student should be asking the question at admissions visits but you may need to help you know help them think about asking those questions. Parents can ask them but it's even better if students are the ones asking those questions. So um what other things if you um if you need several and I know you want to talk about this Sarah because you know my thought was if you need several developmental classes maybe even think about going to to a community college for a semester or for a year or even just for a summer and taking the developmental classes at the community college before you go before you start college because they're cheaper and because they're local and you might be able to do it over the summer or you might be able to take a semester do community college and then defer and start a little later. But I know you want to talk about the impact that can have on transfers.
SPEAKER_02Yeah so that's a great definitely a great option I would just always always make sure folks check in with whichever school they're accepted to and they've deposited at that they want to attend make sure they check in with them at the admission office first about what their policy is of taking you know summer classes um especially elsewhere or a semester you know at a community college elsewhere because that could change your category from a first year student to a transfer student, which could impact your financial aid. So some schools that's a big deal some schools it's less of a big deal but make sure you know where you stand. And some schools might say well as long as it's just developmental and then in which case you need to make sure you get you check with them that school in advance the courses in writing you want in writing that yes they're fine with you taking those courses and they won't impact your your status or your merit aid or anything kind of making sure you have those conversations because some schools say well you really do need X, Y, or Z, but yes, as long as it's just in the summer and as long as it's just a developmental course that's fine. Others say yes like if you take too many or X number of college bearing credits then you know whether it's six credits or whatever then that you are considered a transfer student. So that could affect your aid. So just making sure you ask those questions ahead of time. Because if if if it is going to significantly impact your aid then it may not be worth it. And then you just take the developmental courses or you know if it's something like an Extra one credit lab added to your math or writing or something at the designated school that you're wanting to attend anyway, it might make more sense just to do that. So kind of asking up front so you don't get surprised after the fact.
SPEAKER_01So knowing how the college handles developmental and then depending on the answer to that, yes, deciding whether whether you want to do something somewhere else. And then if you want to do something somewhere else, make sure you ask specifically about that.
SPEAKER_02Yes, exactly. And also this may sound simple, but make sure you know if you didn't feel if you if you're being told you tested into developmental class because you did your um you know assessments or whatever, and maybe you didn't spend as much time on it as you should have. Ask if you can retest. Yeah. Because that's a big thing. And a lot of schools will let you retest. You just have to ask. It won't necessarily queue up that way because you've already submitted it. So you have to reach out and ask. And many schools will let you retest because, again, their goal is to make sure you're in the class, the best class for you at the level that you should be. So they're nine times out of ten not trying to make it harder for you. They want you to be where you should be. So make sure you ask that question. Um, and you know, as we said before, don't put off the stuff that just because you don't like it, like you make sure you're taking it as close to high school as possible. Because if you didn't love math or writing in high school, it's not going to get easier if you don't, if you wait till you're 22. And so, you know, don't think that's an easy way out. And again, just make sure you're asking your advisor for all of this information and have the conversation. And I think a lot of students are overwhelmed because they're not actually there yet. So they think, oh, well, I'm not a college, I'm quote, not a college student yet. And I I'm just not going to deal with it till I get there. But every single school wants you to be all set prior to showing up the first day of classes. So it just gives you more time to change your schedule if needed and to have the conversations about you know what all this entails and what is best for you. And it's a lot easier to do that prior to the first day when everybody's kind of running around and crazy.
SPEAKER_01And the flip of that, I would say, Sarah, is if if you haven't done that and been proactive and and all, because you're right, we really do want you to have your schedule set when you start. But if you start and within the first week, for instance, you say, uh I don't belong in this class. Yes. I can tell you know, we're the basic stuff we're doing. Please speak, you know, gap if that's go and talk to your advisor because you the most schools have a uh kind of a drop ad period at the very beginning of the semester where you're very short. Yes.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and I'm so glad you mentioned that because it's a very short period of time.
SPEAKER_01But you don't just do it though, because if if this class is required for you, if you test it into it and it's required for you, and then you sit there and you say, I don't think I need this, and then go online and drop it. Oh my gosh. Talk to your advisor, talk to the advising office, talk to somebody about it, and you know, uh make an agreement that it's okay for you to drop it. But yes, try to get it all done before school starts. But if you start school and it just feels wrong, right.
SPEAKER_02Because you're right, often you don't know. Maybe you did everything right over the summer and you think you are in the right things, but then in the first, you know, most classes meet Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Tuesday, Thursday. So you've had one or two meetings of the class
Smart Questions And Policy Pitfalls
SPEAKER_02and you're like, oh, I I definitely don't feel like I I really need this. Is there something? Right, is there another option? Ask that question that first week because most places have a very, very limited ad drop period, which is a week or two weeks or 10 days, and you have to make the changes during that time, but you absolutely don't want to do that without talking to someone because if you inadvertently drop something that is required, and then you can't add it after the ad drop period nine times out of 10. And then so then the next semester, you can't take the follow-up courses because you didn't take the intro course. So things have repercussions that you wouldn't necessarily know about. So so I guess do not be shy. Do not I remember both my boys, um, you know, their first year had questions. Oh, I don't know if I love this, but I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna stick with it for a good month and see how I oh no, no, no. You can't do anything in a month. In a month, it's a withdrawal and you can't add anything its place. So, you know, these are things you learn as you become a better kind of well-equipped college student. But knowing these questions to ask that very first week will make a world of difference to your success. So please ask them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And you know, I think because we do need to wrap up, I think the bottom line is we didn't we don't want to scare you with all of these talking about classes. Um, uh most students don't need them, but if you do, there's no shame in it. No, not at all. It's just it's absolutely there to help you succeed. Um, but know know what it's about, know why you're in it. Talk, you know, as you're looking at schools, it really starts in the admissions process of understanding how does the school handle this sort of thing. I don't know whether I'll test into it or not, you know, maybe I'm assuming I'll be fine, but start to find out, understand how things work. Um, you're always going to be more successful if you understand how the policies and how things work. And then then you'll you catch up and then you just fly from there. Um, and parents, same thing, same advice for parents, you know, don't panic. Um, oh, my student needs this developmental class. That's okay. It's going, it's there for a reason, it's there for a safety net, it's there to give you a boost, and it's going to go from there. But talk to your student about it, talk to your high school student about what to be doing in high school so they won't be in that position as they go along. Lots to think about. Lots so much to think about. Um, but it all works out. So thank you for sticking with us to the end. What if you did, uh, and hopefully it this is helpful and um will help you, you know, think think about conversations that you need to have with your student as as they get ready for college. So thanks so much, and we'll see you next time. Thank you.