<p>Our daughter is a soph at a private college. She is regretting a course she is enrolled in and is not doing as well as she usually does in classes. Rather than risk a drop in GPA she is thinking about withdrawing from the class. Also, she may apply for transfer to a state public univ. Does anyone know how withdrawals are viewed generally?</p>
<p>I can only tell you about my son's experience. He withdrew from one course in college, receiving that "W" notation on his transcript. He is now in graduate school, in a top 5 Ph.D program. I do not think that one "W" will make a difference. There must be a multitude of reasons why a student would withdraw from a course. For example, my son did not withdraw because he was doing poorly in the class. He was doing very well but thought that the work required in the course was so burdensome that it was taking away time that he would rather spend on other courses.</p>
<p>Kids withdraw from college classes all the time. No problem.</p>
<p>Thank you. One less thing to worry about.</p>
<p>cmbmom, my son is going through a similar situation and went to talk to his honors advisor today. They recommended he go pass/fail on the class. Is that an option for your D?</p>
<p>Should have said that the reason not to withdraw was that he needs a full load for merit scholarship in this case.</p>
<p>I think there are different of withdrawl notations: </p>
<p>W- (official withdrawlthat ususally happens at the begining of the term by deadline set by the school and is not punitive to the student),</p>
<p>WP - official withdrawl (student passing the course, not counted in the gpa) </p>
<p>WF official withdrawl (usually after the first 3 weeks of class and professor indicates the student was failing at the time of the withdrawl) and </p>
<p>WU/UW (an unofficial withdrawl, where the professor will drop the student for non-attendance).</p>
<p>Make sure that your child knows what the withdrawl policies are at theit school because at some schools and unofficial withdrawl or a WF is calculated in the gpa.</p>
<p>As a former financial aid counselor, my first thought was "Will this affect full-time status?' In many cases, it won't matter but it is hard to answer a question without knowing all of the facts.</p>
<p>DD withdrew from a class at the very last minute last fall. She has a W on her transcript (they don't denote WF or WP). She is taking the course THIS fall. In the end, her grade in this retake will be what matters, not the W. Everyone, including the professor and her advisor told her to drop the course last year and take it this year.</p>
<p>Our son took a W in the spring of his freshman year - was taking a full load in the school's engineering school and this was one of his electives. When I called the school to ask for advice when he was trying to decide what to do, they comforted us by saying that a "W" was for wise in that it was smart to pull out rather than jeopardize his other grades. They said that you shouldn't do it more than once though.</p>
<p>A "W" will not matter, a slew of "W's" will. It is not unusual for people to have a W over a college career, it is the chronic withdrawal that people wonder about and can affect graduate school selection.</p>
<p>This is what I generally hear from TAs/Professors:</p>
<p>One withdrawal? No one will even notice, much less care.</p>
<p>Two? It could come up in an interview. Depends on what class you withdrew from and when.</p>
<p>Three or more? Red flag.</p>