<p>I am a 2nd year computer engineering major student. I currently have a 3.92GPA. This semester I am taking Data Structure and Algorithm (which is a pretty important class for my major). But now I am struggling in this class and the best grade I can get would be a B (C or D in the worst case).
Now I'm trying to decide whether I should drop this class and take it next semester or just stay and get a bad grade. The thing is, if I stay and even though I managed to get a B, my GPA would drop to 3.84.
So would dropping it be a better choice? Or does it look really bad to job recruiters and grad school if I withdraw from my Data Structure class?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Getting a B here and there isn’t the worst thing in the world. It’s not even bad. It happens. Learn and move on bud.</p>
<p>I’ve learned from experience that obsessing over your GPA and grades is a needless path to more stress than you need (and it won’t actually do too much for your grades). </p>
<p>Don’t drop a B.</p>
<p>A 3.84 GPA is still going to blow a lot of other applicants out of the water…</p>
<p>But as an engineering student, most employers are interested in your work (co-op, internship, etc) and extracurricular (student engineering organizations, etc) activities.</p>
<p>Well if your student schedule is anything like mine, data structures is a major prerequisite to get to the next tier of classes. As long as you can pass the class with a grade higher than a D then don’t withdrawl.</p>
<p>I’ve heard data structures is a hard class. What’s wrong with a B? 3.84 is not a bad GPA.</p>
<p>If I had this discussion with a college applicant, I’d be more concerned about their grade obsession than the difference between a 3.92 and a 3.84 GPA. Once you are in the upper 3’s, you’ve demonstrated a grasp of the engineering principles and I am now looking at how well you will function both independently and within a group. </p>
<p>An obsession about grades at this level would make me wonder and question if there is an underlying competiveness that would be hard to work with. In my professional career, I did meet some engineers that had that problem. They were not what I considered to be good engineers and they usually didn’t last very long with the company.</p>
<p>Another problem with a person with a grade obsession is that in industry you are not given individual grades per se on every aspect of your work (i.e., no homework grades, no quizzes, no tests). Your work must be correct (to an appropriate level of accuracy) and you are free (and encouraged) to seek advice on problems that are new to you. You are evaluated on your whole body of work with a formal review occurring only about once or twice a year. The ones I’ve met with a grade obsession have had a hard time dealing with that. They need their egos stroked more often than that.</p>
<p>Work hard in school, try to understand the material as well as you can. Let the grades fall where they do as long as they are not showing a lack of understanding of the material.</p>