<p>Hello, my daughter is a current freshman. She is having difficultly with one of her classes so her teacher recommended that she withdraw out of that class. She’s also told me about several students with the same situation. I wonder how common is this for freshman or should it be of concern. She is doing well in her other courses but this one she has a problem with. </p>
<p>Your opinion is well appreciated.
Thanks</p>
<p>Hi helicoptermom24
My daughter is a freshman also. The only question I would have is if you does withdraw, will she still have enough credit requirements for scholarships and any financial aid she may be receiving?</p>
<p>Assuming she is taking a normal freshman course load, dropping one class will likely not affect her status as a full-time student, but you should consider how she will make up any credit deficiency that results from the withdrawal; for example, will she have to take a class in the summer or carry an overload in a future semester? </p>
<p>If she is doing well in her other classes, this is probably not cause for alarm. But you should definitely talk to her about why she thinks she is having trouble with this particular class and what she can do to avoid the same problem in the future. Is this a class that she will have to retake, or can she take another class to fulfill the same requirement?</p>
<p>Yes, she is doing well in her other classes but this class is one in which she needs to retake cause it’s part of her major requirements.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Struggling in course required for a major is cause for concern, IMO, even if its just a prereq. Perhaps that major is not a great fit?</p>
<p>Dear helicoptermom24 : Welcome back to the forum albeit under duress. Can you please share the specific course in question here and the size of the problem? Are we talking about a B- or barely passing (which does not often happen at BC provided that the work is getting done).</p>
<p>Cells and Molecules is the course</p>
<p>Dear helicoptermom24 : Since you do not specify otherwise, we will assume that your daughter is passing this course. Is the professor recommending a withdrawal since the grade might hurt a future medical school application? There is absolutely no reason to withdraw from a course (and having to subsequently overload or attend an extra summer session) provided that a passing grade is being earned - particularly in the freshman year course sequence.</p>
<p>^^I’ll disagree with Scottj on this one. One key to professional school apps is is avoiding bad grades, and a ‘C’ qualifies as a bad grade for med school apps. Moreover, a C shows inadequate mastery of the material which will not help on the MCAT nor upper division bio courses. Since unhooked candidates need a ~3.6-3.7 to be competitive (depending on the state), starting off in a deep hole is not a good strategy. </p>
<p>IMO, it’s much better to take a W-Passing, then a C (which significantly hurts the gpa). Retake the W with one A and the science gpa is still a 4.0. In contrast, it would take 6 additional science A’s to increase that one C to a 3.7+ average.</p>
<p>Depending on finances, the underload can be caught up with 3-week study abroad in early summer (several offered courses fulfill Core requirements).</p>