Withdrawals in Undergrad: Will they hurt you or help you?

Long story short, I’m a junior and struggling in a required course for my major. To be fair, it’s a really difficult course, but I’m starting to question whether I’m fully prepared to take it on. I am considering withdrawing from it this summer and tackling it at a later date, but I am a little torn. I am considering some really competitive graduate programs now, and wouldn’t you know it, some of the really competitive programs are the ones I want to get into the most! If I withdraw, will that hurt my chances, even if I take the same class again later, or is it better to stick it out even if my grade might really really suck?

one or two W’s will barely be noticed, as long as it is not a WF (as in withdrawn while failing). A bunch of W’s would definitely raise a red flag.

Has the course even started yet?

@suzy100 If it hadn’t started yet, I would not be asking this question, would I? lol

It started very early, like right away. I had no break between spring ending and summer beginning.