<p>I think the UC's would crack down on the amount of W's people have. I saw that someone on here got admitted to UCLA with 21 W's. I don't think there is any excuse you can make to have 21 W's. W's should be limited to 3 max. all W's do is inflate one's GPA. People mainly drop classes in fear of getting a lower grade. I guarantee if they cracked down on this, they would have a lot more qualified transfers, who are able to handle the coursework at a real University. (sorry for the rant) It's frustrating seeing people be admitted to a school like UCLA with that many W's. While more qualified applicants are declined.</p>
<p>How many W's do you think should be allowed?</p>
<p>I only partly agree with this. People who have excessive Ws are just paying more money sand spending longer at a CC. I think that’s a fair enough “penalty” for excessive Ws and people who actually had to withdraw because of work, illness, life in general, etc. shouldn’t be penalized.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it is kind of ridiculous if a person has like 4 Ws for the same class and 21 Ws in general is actually pretty excessive. I do think that people with that much Ws should have some explainin’ to do.</p>
<p>This Problem with dropping classes mainly exists at the CC level. People at Universities rarely drop classes. They have a lot of reasons why they can’t drop. fin-aid, paying a lot of money for the class, repaying for the dropped class if on fin aid etc… There is also a drop fee at most schools that increases the later in the semester you drop. Anything over 3 W’s is excessive. Life happens no matter the situation. you made the decision to go to school, so you follow through with that commitment. Life goes on, people have hardships, it does not exist only in school. </p>
<p>If life was the case people at the University level would have excessive drops.</p>
<p>It was about 4 weeks into the semester and INS came and “arrested” my friend (I don’t know the word for it probably detained but arrested suits it better) anyways they came for him because about 8 months earlier he got a misdemeanor DUI and was sentenced to 10 days in county jail, he served that and was paying his fines, but because his mother moved here with him when he was 8 from South Africa he’s considered an Alien. So because his DUI they came and got him and held him to be deported after a few weeks it kicked into my head that I’m going to lose this person from my life a person like a brother to me, I’d do anything in my power to make sure this didn’t happen, so I started fundraising and doing everything I could to help him not get deported (he’s 19 at this time and eligible for deportation) so eventually I withdraw from the entire semester so I can support him 100% coming home and Help pay for a lawyer and with my help we got him a lawyer and helped find a Supreme Court case that helped and after 3 months in INS holding in Orange County and many immigration hearings we got the original case reduced to an infraction because his public Defender didn’t tell him he could be deported if he pled guilty and the DA was sympathetic and he finally came home after awhile away and I don’t think that would’ve been possible if I had not been there to support him and everything I did, I was taking 7 classes that semester and had to withdraw whether that was good or bad I think I did the necessary thing.</p>
<p>The other W was because I took Poli Sci 3 and 5 and just wanted to have Poli-Sci 1 on my transcript so I took it, but balancing 6 classes and Poli-Sci didn’t work out so well so I withdrew.</p>
<p>But I think there are always exceptions in my case at least hopefully</p>
<p>@Matt4200 would you have dropped if you were at a UC? knowing you would potentially have to pay back all monies paid on your behalf to the school? I understand your situation but your friend made a mistake and should have paid for his consequences.What if he killed someone driving that way?</p>
<p>I’m not saying there isn’t any excuses for dropping but when there is more on the line people usually won’t drop a class. If you dropped that many classes at a UC they would probably deem you ineligible stay at the school.</p>
<p>It just seems to me that when people are at a CC the world is against them but when they transfer problems disappear.</p>
<p>@WhiteTshirt
I 100% agree with you, I know of people who drop classes simply because they don’t want to get a B in the class so they just drop it when the semester is almost over and retake it with the same professor to get an A (they honestly didn’t deserve). They don’t realize that when they apply for grad school, all of those Ws and failing grades will be there regardless of “what extraordinary circumstances they had to go through.” I honestly do believe Ws are necessary but only when you are truly going through a life changing situation that’s affecting you, a decision that could potentially change you forever (sickness, unexpected circumstances, financial aid, etc).</p>
<p>@WhiteTShirt - The difference is that at the UC’s (UCSB/UCLA) specifically they have the quarter system and there I would have only had about 2 and a half weeks left in the quarter at the point that I withdrew so most likely with that little time left I would’ve stayed and finished it.</p>
<p>Yeah I agree that people who commit crimes, minor or major should have to serve their time and do whatever the court sees fit, but in this case he served his time and was paying his fines but to be told he must leave his country that he votes in and lives in and basically has only known as his home, that’s not right for what he did.</p>
<p>Well typically when you go to a UC you are given more money and more responsibility so your life is more zeroed in on school and plus you live right there most of the time so you tend to focus more on it and as they get older the world tends to fall into place for the most part, hopefully.</p>
<p>Maybe I chose the wrong thing and maybe I chose the right thing, but I chose what I could live with.</p>
<p>@UCastell thank you. I had to get that out there. Matt is a good friend but he has to remember he is going to school for him not his friend. Like you the majority of people I know with excess W’s drop to avoid getting a B. That really irritates me because those same people brag about their 3.7-4.0 GPA with all those drops. I think W’s are necessary in extreme cases but lets be real here people don’t have extreme cases often. I guarantee if you looked at the whole applicant pool, people who have excessive W’s with a really good reason and not the some BS is really small. That’s why I like privates like USC they penalize you for all those W’s. It’s hard to get admitted to SC with even 1 W. They want an explanation even for the 1 W that you have. I guarantee if the UC’s were stricter with the W’s, less people would drop classes and take the B. They only drop because they know they have the option to and it won’t hurt them.</p>
<p>I hope in the near future they become stricter with the Withdrawal policy because like you said it will catch up to you when you apply for grad school.</p>
<p>@Matt4200 Why didn’t you write about helping your friend with INS as your personal statement? That could get you into Berkeley.</p>
<p>I got 3 Ws. 2 were necessary. 1st was a bad english teacher. 2nd I had time issues. 3rd I had a bad art teacher and I forgot to turn an assignment in on-time so I didn’t want to risk the B.</p>
<p>@Matt4200 I don’t think you can vote in a country if you are not a citizen. He also did commit a crime which was easily avoidable. The average age at a CC is 24 years old. I think that’s pretty grown to me. Like I said you would not have dropped because you realized school is your main priority. It should be your main priority if your a full time student no matter where your at. </p>
<p>All I’m saying is people have problems but when the stakes are greater they’re less likely to withdraw from classes in fear of severe penalties.</p>
<p>@Bomerr Those are not really good excuses. I have had horrible teachers and I have zero drops. There are bad teachers every where. You forgot to turn in an assignment is your fault. Also the timing issue was your fault when you registered for those classes. if the UC’s were much more strict you would of never dropped those classes because your admission would be on the line.</p>
<p>Like I said you dropped to avoid getting B’s or lower. instead of the grade you would of earned. really no good excuse why you dropped.</p>
<p>Well, if it makes you feel better, I have 4 Ws on my transcript so far.</p>
<p>One was in a nontransferable math class, so it doesn’t really matter.</p>
<p>Another was in a very, very, very easy political science class(Like 60% of the class got As) that I didn’t want to be in anymore because of its stupid class assignments.</p>
<p>Another was in a philosophy class that was also very easy, but had assignments that were rather irritating too. I also found that it was unnecessary and taking up too much of my time that I needed to devote to my other classes which were far more important. You could say I bit off more than I could chew or something.</p>
<p>The only transferable class that I’ve dropped because I was in danger of getting a D or an F was statistics.</p>
<p>Is 3 Ws in transferable classes too much for you?</p>
<p>@Cayton You had no reason to drop those classes, if they were easy you would of gotten A’s in them. Do the blow off assignments that you hated and get it over with. You committed yourself to the course and you should follow thru. Also you dropped stats in fear of getting a D or a F. Had the UC’s been more strict you would not of dropped those easy blow off classes and you would of worked your butt off to pass stats.</p>
<p>All I’m saying is when people drop there is really no excuse to drop.</p>
<p>GPA would of probably been higher with those 3 A’s if you got A’s in the courses.</p>
<p>@Bomerr - Really? Never thought of it, I just wrote on what I felt changed my life the most, do law schools require a PS? If so I’ll give that a shot for LS unless something else seems like it overbearingly needs to be my PS.</p>
<p>@WhiteTshirt - Yeah he can vote in state and local but not federal elections we went and did all the paperwork CA allows it, I think only a few states do.</p>
<p>Also I think if I was at UCM or even UCB (the semester system) and there was 11-12 weeks left I definitely would have done an emergency withdrawal for the semester, he’s a priority family over everything it’s hard to understand from the outside but it’s just a bond that can’t be broken and that’s my priority is my family then myself. People make mistakes but Mercy is given to those who show Mercy, at least I believe so. </p>
<p>But 100% if someone is dropping a class because they’re going to get a B or C so that they can retake it and get an A that’s not really a good reason for a W and It’s not good that they attempt to manipulate the UC’s like that.</p>
<p>@Matt4200 I guess I understand your logic. You made a tough decision and you did what you thought was right, but most people are not like you they drop in fear of a lower grade. I respect you as a person not much people have genuine friends like you.</p>
<p>@ Matt. That story would have made a great UC Prompt 2. You could talk about how your friend was guilty and did make a mistake but at the same time the system was being too harsh. Then talk about through your help he was able stay in the country. It would have been a great topic. 9/10+ story. </p>
<p>@OP. I summed it up in short.</p>
<p>Like I said the 1st English teacher was bad. He was stuck in his head, he copied quotes off wikipedia, made us watch his favorite crap movies and told us the final paper would be about a CA landmark - not because the landmark was important but because he wanted something to talk with his wife about.</p>
<p>2nd was crew team class. I dropped because we had practice every day at 6 am and I was coming home close to midnight. I physically could not handle it. As for why I was coming home at midnight. Well I took another class at a different CC that was 2 hrs away.</p>
<p>3rd Art class ya w/e, If I got that B my GPA would be capped in the 3.7x range. Right now I can bring it up to a 3.8 if I can get two more As in January.</p>
<p>You don’t commit yourself to any course unless it’s impossible to drop or something. That’s what it’s there for. I’m sorry if that offends you.</p>
<p>The crux of your argument is that cracking down on these people with W’s will make the applicant pool more qualified or something. I think that’s moot. But those who get in, even, I’d say, the people with 21 W’s, still do well at the UCs they transfer to and do just as well or approximately as well as those admitted as freshman. That’s really all that matters.</p>
<p>If you can show with empirical data that the kinds of applicants you talk about don’t do well at the universities they transfer to, I’ll happily shut the **** up and admit that I’m wrong. </p>
<p>But something tells me you won’t be able to do that. And if you can’t do that, why, then, are you making an argument you can’t support?</p>
<p>You also have to remember that admissions officers see these Ws and determine in their best judgment if these applicants can handle the coursework at their universities. If they believe they can, they’ll admit the student. I’m inclined to trust their judgment over yours.</p>
<p>@Bomer the only excusable one is the Crew team. That’s not even really a W. The other two are inexcusable.</p>
<p>@cayton did I hurt your feelings young man? If the universities provided that data as well as the data of people with excessive W’s success rate I would be happy to provide it to you.</p>