Advice: Course load vs. GPA

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I want some opinions/advice on whether or not I should drop a course in order to improve my GPA. I am currently taking 17 credits worth of classes. If I continue with my current course load I'll probably end with a GPA around 3.5. If I drop one course for which I screwed up the first exam, my GPA will likely end around 3.8. </p>

<p>I can drop the course without it appearing on my transcript. </p>

<p>The school I want to transfer to most is University of Pennsylvania. </p>

<p>Do you think I should stick with my current course load? Or drop the one course and get a higher GPA?</p>

2

<p>How many units will you have if you drop the course?</p>

3

<p>I meant to mention this but it appears that I forgot to.</p>

<p>If I drop the course I will have 13 credits</p>

4

<p>Since you’re still considered a full time student, I think the lighter load with higher gpa is likely better. I say this because a 3.5 could put you out of the running for a school like Penn; they may notice the fewer credits, but I don’t think it will be as big an impact.</p>

<p>This is JMO, no clear cut better/worse.</p>

5

<p>Thank you for the advice</p>

6

<p>In my dealings with admissions, gpa >> course load. This is especially true with companies. Don’t think of it as less rigorous just because you aren’t juggling as many classes. The point is to show how well you learn the material and you still end up taking all the classes to graduate.</p>