<p>I'm currently taking a course that would could be really relevant to my potential grad school research area (I've already been admitted), but this has been the worst course I have taken in terms of actually learning anything. It's like 8 weeks into the semester and most of the class really have no idea what is going on (the notes generally do not make sense, there is no course textbook). I feel the fault here lies mostly with the professor (he seems to think otherwise), who generally receives terrible reviews for teaching. This is a graduate course and the material is taken from many different sources, which is why we don't have a textbook. I tried googling some of the subjects covered, but no luck.
This is the first class I've taken where I feel I might actually fail (I'm also close to a 4.0). So I feel like I'm just wasting my time going to lecture since I'm not learning anything and have the potential of receiving a low grade. I've never withdrawn or dropped a class before. I don't need this class to graduate. I took it out of interest in hopes of actually getting something out of it.
However, the subject is interesting and may be relevant to my future research, but I simply cannot learn from this prof and feel like I've done my part (looking at other sources about the subject) to learn the subject (which doesn't seem to help me in the course).</p>
<p>Since I am already admitted with funding to grad school, would a withdraw from a course cause them to revoke the admittance? I suppose it wouldn't look good if I withdrew since it'll show up on my transcript?
I still plan on applying to external fellowships in grad school (assuming I don't receive one this year), so I still need my transcript, which will include the "withdraw" note if I end up withdrawing. Withdrawing will probably look better than a C, maybe a B. The other side to my reason for wanting to withdraw is that it'll lower my GPA, unless I get an A.</p>
<p>I’m not doubting the authenticity of your claims wrt to your professor being the cause of your disenchantment, but you really have to get out of the habit of blaming professors about your courses. To be frank quite a few graduate professors are not the best at teaching things, but you’re still expected to learn the material - and a lot of graduate school is self-taught. The classes exist basically as a sounding board to develop your thoughts with the guidance of an instructor. Most graduate courses I took didn’t have a textbook, and in the one case I remember having one, it was mostly for reference.</p>
<p>I doubt that this will result in your acceptance getting rescinded, though. You may not even have to submit your final transcript (I didn’t - just a copy of my diploma) to the graduate department, and even if you do you can just explain that the class was taking time from focusing on your thesis or some other plausible excuse.</p>
<p>Since you are about to graduate your GPA ceases to matter. Even for external fellowships, the amount that this one class would lower your GPA, if you are close to a 4.0, probably won’t matter - I had a 3.42 in undergrad (including two Ws, two Cs and one F in my major) and have been continuously externally funded throughout my grad program, including an NSF GRF.</p>
<p>I’m an undergrad still. I’ve taken 5-6 grad courses thus far, and most of my teachers were good. Even for the average profs, I can still manage to go in a textbook to find what I did if notes didn’t make sense. But, this one is the worst teacher I’ve ever had. Nice guy tho. I’m a self-learner, but you can’t self-learn if the notes are garbage and there’s no other source to obtain that information from. </p>
<p>I just checked. I have submit final transcripts upon graduation at all the schools I was accepted. It won’t lower my GPA by that much, but a C doesn’t look good for fellowships that have a higher emphasis on numbers (DoD NDSEG). </p>
<p>A “W” won’t matter at all. A “C” might not make any difference either.</p>