<p>I hate my elective; it's a summer course. I'm only one week into the course (started last Monday) but the drop deadline without a "W" was last Friday. I think I can pass this course but it's just that it's Linear Algebra and I have no idea what the professor is talking about. </p>
<p>Just how bad is a W? Do people automatically assume that people with a W are those who dropped the course after failing the first midterm?</p>
<p>If you can get at least a C, stick with it. If not, take the W. Pretty much yes to your last question; it also shows that you’re a quitter.</p>
<p>Is this Linear Algebra class pertinent to your major?</p>
<p>^ </p>
<p>It might be useful for finance. But after thinking about it, the benefit simply doesn’t overweight the extra effort. But I’ll stick with it. I think I can reasonably get a B.</p>
<p>not useful for finance unless you plan and progressing with more math.</p>
<p>linear algebra just started 1 week ago and your lost? i doubt it…you can likely catch up tonight.</p>
<p>i took linear algebra in the spring this year, at the 2nd week we were just learning row echelon form and multiplying matrices</p>
<p>gets 6 times harder, work at it …this class is much harder than diff eq. and calc 3</p>
<p>i hated the class as well, so did every single person in the class.
( i am assuming you took calc 123 diffq already…if you did and passed stick with this, its possible…if you didn’t then i have nothing to base you on and maybe you should drop.)</p>
<p>i don’t why people say W’s matter so much. i talked to my dean and she said she completely disregards W’s. She said there’s a lot of reasons why students withdraw from classes and you can’t hold that against them.</p>
<p>Has anyone actually talked to an admissions officer about W’s?</p>
<p>colboy, I have! Several, in fact - and they all told me not to worry about them whatsoever. Almost everyone graduates from college with at least one withdrawal, and they’re not considered “bad” or something that shows you’re a “quitter.”</p>
<p>If it makes you feel better…I was a transfer student with ten - yes, ten - withdrawals on my transcript. I still won incredibly competitive national awards, got into highly-ranked schools, and am now a nominee for two prestigious graduate fellowships. People have legitimate reasons for withdrawing from courses (though I’m clearly an extreme case), and if the rest of your transcript shows you to be an excellent student, you should be fine. To worry about one withdrawal is silly, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Additionally, you can make a withdrawal mean even less if you simply retake the course in the future with a different professor and get a better outcome. I did that with most of my withdrawals, and am sure that’s part of the reason why they were overlooked. If it’s a course you need for some reason, retake it with someone else or at a time when you’re able to focus more; if you don’t need it, don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>exactly… i don’t get why there’s so much negativity towards W’s here when there shouldn’t be</p>
<p>^^^^^^</p>
<p>This is a summer course: 6 weeks. Therefore, after the first week we’re already at linear transformations. I got an A in calculus. The reason why I don’t like this is because there are too many engineering students in my class. They all did vectors and stuff in physics. I don’t want to be below the curve since it’s bumped by all those engineering students. :(</p>
<p>^
What about a W or a B? What other reasons are there for withdrawing classes? I wish I can just somehow indicate that I withdrawed because I made a mistake in course selection rather than because I failed the first midterm (we just had one quiz!)</p>
<p>You didn’t do vectors in Calc 3?</p>
<p>And not sure about your school, but I talked to a UCSD transfer counselor the other day, and he says they don’t consider Ws at all. Then again, UCSD doesn’t look at essays or test scores for transfers either, so they might be an exception.</p>
<p>@rsala: you don’t need diff eq for linear algebra.</p>
<p>edit 2: curves suck, they really do.</p>
<p>Just mention your reason for withdrawing in your interview or “extra comments” essay field if you’re so worried about it…really, I think you’re panicking over nothing. :)</p>
<p>i don’t think we even have W’s at my school…why are they so bad?</p>
<p>@logicwarrior, i just mentioned diff eq to say that if he hasn’t taken that yet he should take that instead…and if he has and did well he can maybe survive this class.</p>
<p>of course there is no relation to diff eq. in linear algebra, but yes many schools opt to cover sections on solving systems of linear differential equations (an application of linear algebra methods).</p>
<p>and i might be wrong but aren’t the vectors used in calc 3 not even remotely like the vectors used in linear algebra? i dont remember the names but one of them uses euclidean vectors and the other doesnt. i might be wrong, but i dont think so</p>
<p>anyhow the calc3 vectors will not prepare you at all for linear algebra</p>
<p>A W isn’t the end of the world. Unless you are going to be doing something else with your time, stick with Linear Algebra and get a B. A B is a good grade and looks better than a W. You’ve also already spent the money and might not be able to get it back. Good luck.</p>