So, I am currently a freshman in college and overall my grades are pretty good, two A’s two B’s. But I currently have a D in chemistry and an F in Chem lab. I am really considering dropping chemistry (the lab is automatically dropped) and retaking it next year so hopefully i can do better. Is this a wise decision?
The main things (in my opinion) you should consider when you are dropping a class are:
Will this affect your financial aid? Sometimes, dropping a class can make you go from a full-time student to a part-time student, which may affect the aid you are getting or any scholarships. It doesn’t sound like this is the case, but it is something worth considering.
Will this affect your graduation date? Do you have room in your schedule to take the class later? If you have to take a lot of classes in sequence, dropping a class now may delay a lot of other classes that you have to take for your major. Also, depending on your school, major, and how many units you came in with, dropping a class now may mean having to take an extra class later. This may mean that one semester you have to take more than the typical number of classes to stay on track for graduation, and this can be especially difficult when you are taking more difficult, higher level classes for your major. Or it might mean you have to take a class over the summer to stay on track, which takes up valuable time and money.
If neither of these are an issue for you, then sure, drop the class. A W is better than a D and an F (if you will even get a W; it depends on deadlines for your school). But make sure that when you take it again, you put yourself in a good position to do well. Go to your professor’s office hours, ask for help from your TA, go to your school’s tutoring center, start a study group, and use the many, many free resources available online. And if you have to, hire a tutor to help you. Ask for help early and often, not when you are struggling and desperate. What you don’t want is to drop this class now, take it again, and find yourself in exactly the position you are in now because you didn’t change anything about how you approached the class.