My guidance counselor refuses to let me withdraw from a class

I’m currently in 10th grade. I got a D in genetics first semester which just ended today. The class is super hard.

I talked to my 10th grade GC and she said that she is not allowed to withdraw students from Science, Math, History, or English courses. She said it is the rule. I asked her why some people were able to drop those classes, and she said that they either had a class they needed to take instead to graduate or they didn’t have a perquisite. However some students I know didn’t have those things and still were able to drop it.

I thought she was lying so I talked to the 11th grade GC. He said the same thing.

Is there any way for them to let me drop it besides having my no-english parent come in?
I mean a withdraw will be better than keeping that D.

It looks like your only option would be to change that class for another science class. Find out if you can do that.

And you are probably stuck with the D for the semester, so do your best to get over that and move on. Meet with your teacher, and find out whether or not it looks like you can pull your grade up during second semester.

Good luck!

@happymomof1‌

The problem is that other students were able to drop out of genetics. You don’t need a prerequisite to take genetics and I doubt they needed to take a class in order gratuate. i have even asked those who dropped myself and they said that the GC didn’t even ask why they are dropping it, however they asked to drop it 2 months ago. There is no deadline for dropping though.

I’m not sure if the GC’s are being lazy since a bunch of people are dropping courses right now since first semester just finished.

Should I email the 12th grade GC (who is the leading GC) about this?

talk to the district office and if need be threaten to sue them.

That’s a little extreme since I go to a large public school system but if it will work I will give it shot. So what do I say? Are students always entitled to a withdraw? The GC said it is a rule that I can’t drop core classes so I’m not sure if it will work…

Most schools have a handbook, @Dylan235. Why don’t you find yours (check your school website) and see what it says about dropping classes? The problem might be getting credit for another course (unless you switch to study hall). You may not be able to complete enough hours in a second course by enrolling so late in the year.

I don’t see how you can expect to get to the end of the semester and THEN drop because you don’t like your grade. Are you trying to withdraw for next semester (is it a full year class)? Usually they will let you do that. But if you end the semester with a D, it is really too late to “drop” and just not get the bad grade.

First, you probably miss the time frame for dropping a class or chane to another science. Some schools may have a requirement of 4 cores in each grade. If one has 2 science classes, one may drop one. As you just finished one semester, you may not be able to switch to another year long class in the second semester.

Dylan,

If your school annualizes courses which means you only accumulate credit at the end of the school year, you will most likely have to stay in the class). If your school grants credits by the semester, you may be able to switch classes but the challenge with this option is that students will be moving on to the second half of their current science course. This puts you at a disadvantage because you were were not in class when the first half of the material was covered.

Dropping and adding courses do not happen in a vacuum. If you drop one course, you will have to add something else. What happens if the other sections that period are full?

You have gone to 2 counselors who have given you the same information (you now need to stop mommy shopping to try to get someone to let you have your way). Your semester grade of a D is a culmination of 12-15 weeks of work. What have you been doing all semester? Did you speak to the teacher when you were first struggling with the material? Did you attend tutoring or meet with your teacher about what you needed to do to improve your grade?

What you need to do if you have to stay with the class for this current semester is shift your paradigm and work toward doing better in class. This may mean changing your seat (if friends are a distraction), look at the way that you are taking notes and ask for help.

Your district office is not going to entertain this request because it is a local school issue.

is Genetics your only science this year? that might be why you can’t drop it. If someone was taking Genetics and Bio, they could drop Genetics as it is an elective.

Even if you are able to drop or withdraw for the second semester, that D is yours.

My GC wouldn’t let me drop art this year even though I find it harder than AP Physics C and it’s bringing my GPA down. It sucks, if I were you I’d just try to suck it up and bring up your grade.