By hook or by crook, by accident or with a well thought out purpose, the academic department is putting these M/N and Plebes through rigor and challenges that will definitely provide opportunities to reduce the ranks this Trimester.
Our guy is on the bubble with two classes and MUST do well on every final to come out alive. Physics started out being the most challenging, then the focus became Terr Nav. Started Terr Nav overconfident and, bang, two labs graded during the first week or two of the Tri put him WAY behind the "eightball" I think he said he made a 20 and a 30. Really shook him up. Lesson learned; "Verify you know what you are doing before turning in work - especially in a brand new and unknown subject area." Funny thing is he really likes the Prof, likes the subject, and knows his grade average does not reflect what he knows and does not represent how he is able to perform. Now - keyword; Now- not during the first week. Typical story for some, I would imagine.
He has since performed solidly with 80's and 90's. However, the average ended up being 70 going in to the final. He told us last night, the CDR/Prof for the course has not yet graded the final exam taken Monday. Anxious time.