<p>S called tonight and said he is considering withdrawing from one of his classes. How bad does it look to have a "W" on your transcript? It is not illness-related. I told him he should ask his advisor, or someone in the academic dean's office. Any parent input?
Thanks</p>
<p>I withdrew from a class before I transferred. I’m at my current school nearly free, which is ranked higher than my previous school. I was accepted to many others with aid also.</p>
<p>My old chem professor withdrew from a math course once and still went on to get her Ph.D. from an ivy league university.</p>
<p>If hes going to get a bad grade in the course (below C) it would probably be wise to withdraw. Just don’t make a habit of it.</p>
<p>Thanks, S0ad-- good to know.
He’s heading into finals with a ton of papers to write and feeling swamped. He’s in good shape with all his other courses. Normally he wouldn’t be overly concerned with a super GPA, but he’s in the army (ROTC) and grades are very important to his evaluation and branch assignment next year. He definitely does plan on grad school in the future, but it wouldn’t be until after active duty.</p>
<p>At my school if you withdraw after the deadline you receive an F. The deadline was weeks ago, as my finals are in the very near future too.</p>
<p>Is he sure its even an option? Some schools may be different - I know some have a withdraw passing/failing option.</p>
<p>I would check that out, obviously an F is far worse than a D.</p>
<p>These are handled differently at different colleges. Some record a W-P (withdraw passing) if the student is passing the course and it’s not too late in the term. Some record a W-F (withdraw failing) under other circumstances. Your son should read the rules at his school. He may need a certification from the teacher of the class that he’s passing, just wants to withdraw late. A W-P doesn’t affect the GPA, but a W-F might hurt the GPA. He might be better off just getting through the course with a C or whatever.</p>
<p>I had a W-P and still got into graduate school and earned my PhD. Normally it’s not a big deal. There are lots of good reasons to withdraw from a course. But withdrawing late in the semester – in the absence of an illness or some other major accepted reason – can be viewed as a negative, and colleges generally discourage or penalize it.</p>
<p>Thanks, both–
He says he has until some day this week to withdraw. I agree that it sounds really late. Will also ask him to check into the withdraw/pass option.</p>
<p>He thinks he would do merely OK in the class, at a time when he really wants to get his GPA as high as possible. The other issue is just putting the time needed into the papers and exam preparation for this class when he’s so in the dark about outcome, and when he would prefer to concentrate on his others. He’s way ahead on credits in general, so it shouldn’t pose a problem in that respect – it’s more the prospect of a mediocre grade vs. a W. He says anything less than a B+ is going to hurt him. At first I was pretty upset at the idea of him withdrawing, but maybe it’s the better route… Think he definitely needs to speak to an advisor to double check, though.</p>