What a delicate matter. Some students have delusions of granduer when signing up to school. However, they find that the process is more rigorous than they thought. It is then, when you as an instructor need to step in and give reassurance that they are perfectly able to complete the curicullum, just as many before have. Let them know that many before them had the same trepidations and that they were able to work through them. Keep them at the forefront of your daily routine and make it a point to reassure them that they are not alone in this and that they will "get it". Then pay close attention to those students until such time as either all is OK, or all is lost. Some students are unreachable.
