His problem was getting stuck with an asian professor whose competency in English was limited. Even though the prof had accessible office hours, my brother stopped going for help because he couldn't understand him. He snuck through freshman year with a C (probably only because the prof knew he tried) and then struggled in the next year because his foundation in Calc was weak.
He ended up with a master's in ME and worked his whole life at McDonell Douglas making sure planes flew right. But I know I could always get a rise out of him by just mentioning that prof's name.