Need some advice, my child wants to drop a class in the second semester. The course is Philosophy. This is only a single semester class and isn’t an AP. We think it may look bad to drop this, but my kid is adamant about not taking the class. Also do we need to let the colleges that we applied to know?
Yes, the student needs to notify each school with a schedule change. I would not drop any class until you get the colleges’ approval. It should not be an issue but better safe than sorry. Is he replacing the class with another class or reducing the # of classes for his last semester? It will also depend upon which colleges he applied.
He is dropping the class. Has already applied to the UC schools, BU, Northestern, and a few others.
Will dropping the class be viewed negatively?
Dropping a Philosphy class would not be looked up as negatively as dropping a major core Honors/AP course. I like to always error on the side of caution when it comes to college admissions.
If the dropped class results in a decrease in rigor, it will be viewed negatively…is your kid replacing philosophy with another class?
As gumbymom wrote in post #1, your student does have to notify their admissions officers at each school whether it’s a core course or AP or elective…it’s a change in the senior year curriculum that was reported on the application.
The more selective the school, the more likely making a change can be problematic. Communicating the change is imperative, and some AOs may initiate some type of approval process (at any schools he may have already been admitted to).
Good luck.
My kid knew before she applied that she would be dropping a core AP for a free period, so we asked her ED school how to handle that. Their answer was to disclose on her list of senior year classes, explain in the additional information section, AND discuss it during her interview. They also said that because she had four other very rigorous AP classes, and the one to be dropped was a “lighter” one (a semester class at many schools, but a full year at her school and because she’d already met the recommended number of credits in that subject area, it was unlikely to be a problem. And it wasn’t - she was accepted ED1. But I got the impression that it easily could have been a problem, particularly if she came across as trying to conceal the change.
Thanks. The philosophy class is Honors but not AP. There are 5 other AP classes. Philosophy will be dropped for free period. I’m worried that the selective schools will see this as a negative.
Yes, some of the selective schools may see it as a negative…that’s why your kid should reach out to the AOs. The AOs being surprised by the change, when they receive the final transcript with philosophy missing, will be a bigger negative…at some (not all) schools that could be grounds for rescinding an acceptance.
Taking 5 APs and wanting a free period seems reasonable.
Your kid might say something to the effect that 5 APs is challenging and they want to focus on those important core courses, and dropping their non-core, one semester philosophy class will allow them to maximize their time and effort on the AP courses.
Not “as negatively”, but still a negative. Since your posts went from “wants to drop a class” to “he is dropping the class”, advice here seems to be moot. Inform the school to which he’s applied/been accepted and post the impact here for future students thinking about doing the same.
My experience is with UCs.
It maybe too late to update his application. He would need to contact the target schools and ask.
If he can’t update his application. any acceptance includes the philosophy class as “planned”
After acceptances, he will receive notification that his acceptance is under review.
It can take a very long time to here definitively what the UC plans to do.
He may have to select (SIR) a college on May 1 without knowing the “review”
outcome.
Some UCs will want to see his final transcript before making a decision. This could take him into summer before getting a definitive answer.
Some UCs wait until July or early Aug or rescind. A few years back UCI rescinded 500 students in early August. They eventually readmitted most.
If he is otherwise a strong student and does well in his other senior classes. I don’t think a UC would rescind.
My son ended up taking a class he wanted to drop just avoid the waiting game.
For UCs, any change to planned or in-progress courses requires notification: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-freshman/after-you-apply/
For colleges in general, if it is already too late to notify (e.g. after admission decisions), the admitted student needs to contact the college to find out if it that change will result in rescission of admission. Waiting until summer to surprise the college with the change as indicated by the final high school transcript will risk rescission.
@svlab112 thanks for noting your experience. Technically he hasn’t dropped it yet. From what you say, he should just keep it as the risk may not be worth it.
Just to clarify, if he does drop, I was not suggesting he wait until summer or his final transcript to let the UC know.
I was saying that even if he notifies now. This does not guarantee he’ll have an update by the time he needs to SIR. The the UC may wait until the final transcript to give him an answer.
When I’ve known this to happen, it often turns out okay after an appeal. Also depends on the UC.
@svlab112 Yes, certainly we were thinking of notifying them now. Right now I think it may be too big of a risk and may ask him to just bear through it.