Should I withdraw from all my classes? (see details)

Are you unable to just stay in the class you are certain you will get an A in?

You have to make the decision that feels right for you.

My personal input is that for me I do not like quitting something. There is really no way of knowing precisely how a new college would value those credits toward graduation. You could cut the time needed for your degree even if they do not directly relate to your major.

I also would not want to waste a semester’s worth of effort.

Numerous Ws on a transcript won’t look a hell of a lot better than a reduced GPA. My initial reaction was to say, ‘Yeah, go for it.’ But on second thought it would be better to withdraw only from the classes that pose the most serious threats against your GPA.

And I would hate to see all that work wasted, personally.

If you feel good about either of the finals, shoot for the B in that class. If a C is certain then you’re kind of on the fence and have to make a decision yourself. The F class, though, is the one from which I would surely withdraw.

I kinda wanted to bounce the idea off other people to see if it was just a ridiculous, stupid thing to do. I kind of feel like I should, though.. I’m going to have that much extra work to make up my GPA.

@Supacase – I missed the deadline to drop individual classes, so if I withdraw now, I have to withdraw from them all.

@Marina – I agree.. but I should mention I have loads of credits. The classes I’m taking are Soil Science, Group Organization and Leadership, and Natural Resources Policy and Governance. I’ve looked at the curricula for the two schools I’d most likely attend and I don’t think any of these classes will count toward anything.

@absalom – Yeah, I figure a semester of W’s doesn’t look great. I think D’s and F’s maybe look worse, though.

I haven’t done great on the tests in two of these classes (the ones I’m expecting a C or less in), so if I don’t get an A on the finals, I think I’ll be screwed. I also don’t think I will get an A on either of these finals.

1 withdraw doesn’t look bad outside your major, but having a full semester of W’s on your transcript is not going to look too good at all. I woud withdraw from 1 class. Will your gpa be high enough for scholarships if you drop tthem all?

I can’t just withdraw from one, if I withdraw at this point, it has to be all of them. My GPA will most likely be worse than it is now, if I don’t drop.

Do you plan on going to grad school?

Possibly. I had a very good GPA at all my other schools. I just floundered here, part of it is that I hate both the school and where I live.

Your GPA doesn’t transfer with you when you change schools so your first semester at the new school will be a clean slate and you can try for merit-based financial aid at that point. I don’t want to be a downer, but I am not sure a 2.76 is going to be enough to earn much merit-based aid.

There is a possibility that your current classes may be accepted as elective credits even if they don’t directly transfer toward an equivalent course. I believe you typically need at least a C or above for classes to transfer, though.

@Supacase – I know, but they will look at my grades at each institution and my low GPA here doesn’t bode well. The plan is to go to community college first, so I can get good grades and show that my poor performance is situational. I always had at least a 3.2 at all the other schools I’ve attended, so I figure if I can get good grades in Cali, I can show that I’m not really a terrible student.

Basically, I’m weighing whether a semester of W’s looks better than a semester with an F, 2 C’s (or possibly D’s), and an A (and whether it’s better to leave my final GPA as 2.76 rather than go even lower).

I think either way you’re going to have to explain. I dropped out of my first college and for me going to community college and getting really good grades made it easier for me to transfer to my school now, but I’m scared for grad school where I will have to go through the process of explaining it all over again.

First I am puzzled about the concern about how it is going to look. To whom? Shouldn’t you be concerned about what you’ve learned. In California you don’t need good grades to get into community college, you don’t even need a HS diploma.

Secondly if your grades dropped, have you thought about changing your planned major? There is nothing more deadly than studying in areas that are uninteresting to you. Even with gen ed classes, there is such variety you should find something you can deal with successfully.

Third, if it is not the classes are you really ready for college? Something caused your attendance problems. Ii’s important to be ready for education, getting a good education requires more focus and discipline than almost anything in life.

Finally you need to know that the climate here in California is very different than it has been in yhe last 60 years. Tuition and fees have tripled. The number of sections have been cut. Enrollment has been reduced while demand has increased for the state system. Budgets for community colleges have also been reduced and to complete it is now taking 5–7 semesters. And you will most likely pay out of state fees.

So when you are thinking about laying the foundation for the rest of your life, it requires many more important decisions than whether or not you are going to take a W or a C or an F. The grade should not even be a consideration.

@galileogirl

Yet just as it is important to avoid looking too closely at the details of a situation (i.e. solely at grades) it is equally important to avoid looking only at the big picture. Certain schools have certain cut-off points for GPAs; we have to acknowledge our grades.

If I spent all my time in school worrying about the massive amounts of money I will have to pay off in the future then I wouldn’t be doing very well and I wouldn’t be too capable of learning anything.

The drop in my GPA is caused by a combination of things. Some were classes I found ridiculously difficult for one reason or another. Others required attending seminars and outside events that I didn’t do (for example, I had a hunting class and all but one non-hunting event was canceled. I really didn’t want to go hunting, for religious and personal reasons). I’m a pretty smart person and looking back at all the schools I’ve been to and the varying degrees of challenging courses I’ve taken, I don’t think the problem is going to school. I think the problem is going to this school and studying this major.

I’m changing major anyway, so that’s not so much an issue. Also, I know that being in a place where I feel happy will make a huge difference toward my motivation and studiousness.

Unfortunately, GPA is important. I’ve talked to a couple of people who work in colleges in CA and it looks like my GPA might be a speedbump on the road to go where I want (a very good private school). That’s why it’s a concern. 2.76 is crappy and doesn’t reflect my intelligence or my abilities. I’m afraid a bigger dive will look even worse, especially if I have any hope in turning things around to get merit-based aid, which I probably will need to attend the school of my choice. As you mentioned, tuitions went up considerably elsewhere, as well, so I may need it regardless of where I end up going.

I would absolutely drop, no question.

GPA is, unfortunately, way too important. If/when you apply to grad school some schools will have unofficial cut-offs and they will not even look at your application if your GPA is below some standard. That destroys any chance you have of trying to explain it.

If I were sitting on an admissions committee and I saw Fs, Ds, and Cs, I would think the student simply was not capable of doing that work. If I saw an entire semester of Ws, I would think, hmm, it looks like something happened here. And then I would read the application and discover that the student had up and moved away. This seems like a perfectly plausible explanation for a full semester of Ws.

I believe I had two Ws on my transcripts when I applied to grad school and they were never even brought up in interviews. If they had been Fs, they absolutely would have been.

It sounds to me like your only reason for not withdrawing is pride, because you’d feel like you quit. Don’t. You have to make smart decisions for your career and if you insist on finishing out the quarter then I think you are letting your pride get in the way.

Good luck—I am sure this is a tough decision. And I think you made the right one with your plan to move to CA. :)

I would not drop them at this point ONLY because, like you said, you’ve put a lot of work into them already, and to me it would seem like all that work was a giant waste of time. Which it would be if you dropped them. You might as well stick it out, who knows, if you decide to change your major again in the future some of the classes you’re in now might go towards that…

Wouldn’t they be WFs this late in the semester? Can you prove hardship to get them to be just Ws?

@avvooooooo – I have no idea, actually. I’ve never had to do this before. I should call and ask how it’s displayed on my transcript… good idea.

@MissAnthrope Honestly, I think what you should go do is talk to the Dean. You’re withdrawing because you’ll be moving, correct? Tell him/her your circumstance and maybe they can work with you somehow on this. I’m not sure how precisely, but the Dean’s here (judging them based on the experiences I’ve had with them) try their hardest to work with students to fix problems. I’m guessing yours aren’t much different.

@MissAnthrope I think grades are almost insignificant as you are starting almost at the beginning. You have not indicated a lot of planning. How can you know which classes are even transferrable if you don’t even know what com coll or 4 yr school you will be attending. And what about the classes leading up to your major when “whatever college I attend there will not have my major”

It’s important to set a goal and to map out a path and to prepare for detours. It is important to have a good pair of walking shoes but you don’t have to closely examine every mile marker along the way.

I have done as much planning as is possible at this point. The community college is unimportant, as I can take my chemistry and other basic courses there to get good grades. I have looked at the state schools in northern and central California, in addition to the one private school I’d really like to attend, and none have a Wildlife and Fisheries program. They all have B.S. and B.A. programs for Biology. That’s why I say I will have to change majors. I’ve already looked at the various curricula in order to weigh what I can and want to do (withdrawing aside), and the best fit at this point in terms of what will transfer is a B.A. in biology with the intent to become a teacher.

Well, maybe not as much as you think. Here are 3 programs you might want to look at in Wildelife and related majors
Cal State East Bay
http://www20.csueastbay.edu/sa/cdc/majors/wildlifefisheries-link.html

Cal State Humboldt
http://www.humboldt.edu/humboldt/programs/type

UC Davis
http://wfcb.ucdavis.edu/

Thanks for looking into it. I actually looked at Cal State East Bay, but most majors are severely impacted and they’re only accepting applications from majors like math, engineering, etc.

The others are possible, I did look at those, but they’re well outside my home base range. So, not possible in the immediate future, anyway.

But that’s what I was saying about the educational environment in the state. Everything is impacted and resources will continue to be cut for at least the next few years. California is not the land of opportunity for all any more.

@galileogirl =D Go Aggies!

@MissAnthrope If you’re going to get WFs, which are just like Fs, you might as well just keep on. :P

Just as an update, I did finally decide to withdraw today (I typoed in my original question, was supposed to say 12/10). It wasn’t a decision I took lightly and I find it a little depressing, but after talking to some professors and people who interview for upper-division programs, I was advised to do it.

I asked how it appears on my transcript, and there’s no FW. It’ll either be W or SW (Student Withdrew) and maybe the date I withdrew.

Thank you all for your input, I used everything you said to weigh my final decision. :)