Pros/Cons for Pass/No Pass

<p>When scheduling classes and given the option to take a class for a letter grade or p/np, why choose p/np? Does that look bad if I choose that? Any feedback would be appreciated :)</p>

<p>Pros: it lets you take GEs without letting them affect your GPA. I personally hate art for example, so I took my fine arts P/NP. It was great. </p>

<p>Cons: It doesn’t look as good as letter grades so SELECTIVELY choose which classes you want pass/no pass. Just pick a few and stay way under the 25% limit. You can’t do classes for your major pass/no pass.</p>

<p>Oh, so because I absolutely hate history, I can take that as a pass/no pass? Awesome.</p>

<p>… can I do that for the writing courses too? Haha</p>

<p>^I know for ERC you cannot take the writing course pass/no pass and I assume it’s like that for all colleges. but check your college’s website to be sure. On that note, check the website to be sure on all classes you take P/NP cause some colleges have weird requirements where you can only take certain GE’s p/np.</p>

<p>Aw, okay. Thanks!</p>

<p>I agree w/ what ucsandiego915 said about the pros/cons. also, I’m a Sixth student and our writing class (CAT) canNOT be taken for pass/no pass. I’m guessing it’s all colleges. :)</p>

<p>Are the writing classes hard? I’m not going to lie, I hate English/writing, and honestly, I’m not too good at it. Haha, so I’m a little worried.</p>

<p>Hard to get an A, easy to get a B, hard to get a C.</p>

<p>@iLoveSD - Can you say the same for Muir’s writing course?</p>

<p>I agree with iLoveSD that’s pretty much how it is for every college’s writing program. I’ve heard Muir’s and Warren’s are particularly difficult, whereas ERC and Revelle’s are just LONG.</p>

<p>From what I’ve heard (and trust me, I’ve heard many many opinions on each writing program), that’s pretty much how it is.</p>

<p>And it really depends on your TA. Some TA’s like your writing style, others don’t, just like how it is for most writing/english classes. I’m currently a freshman in Sixth, and for CAT 1 my TA hated all my essays, yet I still managed to pull off a B in that class, and for CAT 2 my TA loved all my essays, even though I changed NOTHING in my writing style or the amount of effort I put in, and I got an A-.</p>

<p>And yes, even the supposedly “easier” writing programs, it is hard to get an A. The only difference between the difficulty of each college’s writing programs are the length of the program. Some are shorter, others are longer.</p>

<p>There is no bias at all for Pass/No Pass which is clearly why they let you do it in the first place ONLY for your GE’s and not your Major classes. Any grad school/professional school is going to look more at your Major classes and how well you can exceed at your field of choice. They won’t give you anything at all for taking some random history class P/NP. </p>

<p>Pretty much, just start with the letter grade option, and if you feel like that class is hindering your abilities in your important classes/That you probably can’t get an A in the class, then change it to P/NP by week 5</p>

<p>Just a quick note for Sixth college students. We can take CAT 3 for Letter OR P/NP. I’m still debating on which to do. We have until the end of week four to decide.</p>

<p>oh, my mistake. thanks Schw1ng. I was under the impression that you couldn’t take them for P/NP at all… on the GE page it says “Students must complete CAT 1-2-3 in order for letter grade.” whoops</p>

<p>yeah i noticed that you could take it for p/np.</p>

<p>i’m going to wait for my grade on my first essay before deciding what to do.</p>