<p>I’m kind of struggling in one of my General Ed courses (DES 40) right now. I don’t want to put myself in an early hole, especially since I’m a freshman! I currently am barely maintaining my full-time status with 12 units, and the P/NP deadline is November 5th. My concern is that, as much as my instinct tells me to do P/NP, only 2 classes will reflect my GPA if I do decide P/NP. I believe I have a good chance at an A in one of them (MAT 21B), but the other one not quite as much (a programming general ed class, I have basic programming skills and have been doing well on the HWs but don’t know how the midterm is going to be). However, DES 40 is based on 3 exams and a research paper. I didn’t do well on the first exam (got a C), and I’m terrible with research papers and writing in general. Should I go P/NP, or is that actually a bigger risk?
P.S. I’m going to do 17 units Winter Quarter, and am hoping to get my English requirement done with ENL 3. Can I take that P/NP? And will too many P/NP classes (like if they make up 1/4 of my units) present a negative impression of me?</p>
<p>Is DES 40 required for your major? If not, then you can change the grading option to P/NP. However, if it is required for your major, then you have to take it for a letter grade. </p>
<p>The other question is: Are you in the college of engineering? I’m guessing you’re a science/engineering major based on MAT 21B and the programming class…if you’re an engineer, you’ll need to petition to take a GE P/NP. If not, if it’s a GE then you can P/NP it. Depending on the major you might be able to P/NP it if it’s a major class, but it’s better to take it for a letter grade in that case.</p>
<p>Regarding GPA, keep in mind that you’re a freshman. Even if you get a C, that won’t tank your GPA horribly in the long run so long as you don’t consistently get Cs. It will make a big difference the first few quarters when you don’t have many units, but by the time you hit your third and fourth years one or two Cs (or Bs, for some people) won’t make much of a difference compared to the higher grades you (theoretically) have at that point.</p>
<p>Put another way: Whatever happens to your GPA now, you have plenty of time to recover if necessary. The key is learning from any mistakes you made and doing your best not to make them again in the future.</p>