My DD20 is looking to withdrawal from her dual enrollment, Calc 3 course at our state’s flagship university. She took Calc BC last year as a sophomore. The logistics of getting from her high school to the university 25 minutes away and back in the middle of the day is proving to be a nightmare. She is a full IB diploma candidate and is also currently enrolled in:
IB Biology HL (first year of 2)
IB Chemistry HL (first year of 2)
IB English HL (first year of 2)
IB Economics SL
French 3 Honors
AP Stats
She will still have a math class this year, and she’s required to take IB Math HL next year for the full diploma and will therefore have 4 full years of math on her transcript. She may retake Calc 3 in the summer if she decides to withdrawal. Her university transcript will show a W. Her high school lists all dual enrollment courses and as there is no W option they will list as NC - no credit.
What if any impact will the NC have on admissions? Would this be something she would need to explain when applying to colleges next year? Any other thoughts we’re missing?
She could be called upon to explain, but you’ve given a perfectly reasonable explanation here… that kind of round trip in the middle of the school day would certainly cut into her other subjects. I would end the explanation with a pleasant note that she was truly enjoying the class other than the commute, and she is hoping to take it in college. It won’t count against her, and she will still have four years of math.
DD’s school actually differentiates between WP (withdrawn while passing the class) and WF (withdrawn while failing). I like that system. It acknowledges that things do come up, and sometimes there are good reasons to drop a class. Kids should be able to explore without fear of being labelled a failure.
Thanks for the feedback. I wish our flagship had that policy! My daughter spoke to the professor and he said he would be happy to provide her a letter that she was doing well in the class - figured it can’t hurt if someone every questioned if she dropped because she couldn’t handle the coursework. It was definitely a lesson learned that sometimes something sounds good on paper. When the schedule came out and the dual enrollment wasn’t first or last period of the day, she probably should have known then that it would be even more difficult to make work.
I agree. I’d suggest that this be something you ask the guidance counselor to address in his/her letter of recommendation (and you can provide the letter from the professor to the guidance counselor if he/she asks for it).