<p>My D is thinking about withdrawing from a class but she's concerned it would look bad to have a W on her transcript. (Long term goal is grad school in psychology).</p>
<p>The professor in this class has a policy of only allowing one unexcused absence and each time you are absent after that, your grade drops one letter grade. Ouch! She's already missed twice because of being sick so her grade will already be lowered one grade. She needs to miss a class next week because she has to fly to Florida to be in my sister's wedding. She's flying out Thursday night as there are activities Friday during the day and rehearsal Friday afternoon. This does not qualify as an excused absence for this professor. So, if she misses again, her grade drops again. She's panicking and thinking of lying to the prof and telling him there's a death in the family. I don't think that's a great idea and advised her to talk to her advisor or student affairs to get some guidance on this and I also volunteered to contact the professor myself. I'm hoping this is one of those times where we're glad she's at a small school!</p>
<p>So she's thinking of dropping the class (which she is already struggling in) but thinks that will look worse.</p>
<p>Wow, that is one obnoxious rule- I would, for my own curiousity see if other professors do this and want to bet that many kids drop this prof</p>
<p>People withdraw from classes all the time for many reasons, long term I wouldn't think it would make much difference. its early in the year </p>
<p>At this point, it is almost as is, why bother trying for this prof..I mean D could work like a dog, ace everything, get a B is she doesn't get the flu. Its like she would be a nervous wreck and go to class sick to maintain a C while she is doing A level work</p>
<p>I don't think withdrawing from a class will have any effect unless it is a classe she needs for her major. The more important issue is whether she can add a class to make up for the one she is dropping and catching up on the materials she has missed so far.</p>
<p>The class is art history and she doesn't need it for any requirements. Plus, she has enough credits from AP classes and college courses she took in high school that she doesn't need to pick up another class for credit purposes.</p>
<p>She should be okay, then. She would be better off dropping the class instead of worrying for the rest of the semester whether she will flunk or get a low grade no matter how hard she tries and how well she actually does.</p>
<p>Is it past drop/add day? If not, get her outta there. If it is beyond the time she can add and she's withdrawing passing, I really can't see that it is that damaging, especially given the alternative. Have her check with the Dean and if everything is as it should be and it doesn't cripple her major or cost her a semester, adios.</p>
<p>It shouldn't hurt her to drop the class. Grad schools don't care about things like that.</p>
<p>As for the prof's policy, my guess is that if she had gone to the clinic and gotten proof that she was sick, her sickness-related absences would not have counted against her. I know it's hard to get to the clinic if one doesn't feel good, but one can get medical help there, and the proof of illness does let the professors know that one wasn't lying about being ill.</p>
<p>The profs who have those kind of rules tend to have made the rules them after being lied to by students who were skipping class or had illnesses like hangovers. Unfortunately, all college students aren't responsible like your D.</p>
<p>The whole Drop/Add situation is not a problem to most grad school applications -- just a part of college life. I dropped classes from time to time, and it never had any effect on my law school apps.</p>
<p>I teach at a college level and agree that dropping a class, especially early in the semester is no big deal. Many students do it because they find the class wasn't what they expected, they had over committed etc. I do think though that sending a student to an aunt's wedding might not be the best decision. Especially if a later flight might cause her to miss some of the activities but not miss a class. I have had several students miss class this semester for the same reason and have found it to be a problem. The classes I teach are studio based, there is no way to make up the work, there isn't a textbook that parallels the class activity and it really leaves the student behind. If your d is majoring in psych that may not be much of an issue, unless she has lab classes but I wish parents would realize that attnedance is not optional, (I'm not saying that you do but many seem to think it). I always grant excused absences for illness, but it is still very difficult for students to catch up on the missed work.</p>
<p>I agree very much that students should not miss class for frivolous reasons.</p>
<p>And I also agree that making up studio courses is extremely problematic. At RISD (which my daughter attended), they have a rule that any student who misses 3 (studio) classes for any reason can be automatically dropped from a course. And they do enforce this. Preparing for studios, participating in studios and crits is what these courses are all about. At RISD studios also meet all day once per week, and so missing a studio class is equivalent to missing one week of class. I think any class with lots of labwork can also be a problem for students who are absent a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input as it's giving me a sense of relief about the minimal consequences of dropping the class and I think that if she can't get it resolved with the prof, then that's what she'll do.</p>
<p>Another FYI, re: flying out the day before. This is not just a distant aunt; she's a close relative. This is my younger sister, getting married for the first time at age 44. I am her only attendant and so I am leaving on Wednesday to go early and help her. My HS junior son and my daughter are flying out on Thursday together and meeting their dad for the second leg of the flight from Charlotte to Florida. This is my soon to be ex-husband who lives and works on the east coast (we're in IN) so he's not in town to fly with them. If you follow, this means my S and D will be home by themselves Wednesday night and then flying by themselves on Thursday. Not a big deal,really, but it would be worse if the 16 yr son had to do it by himself - I'm just more comfortable with them doing this together. </p>
<p>Believe me, I don't minimize class attendance and I don't think my daughter does either. I think she generally gets to all her classes but it's tough when you get sick - and college kids do that alot it seems! Last year she had mono first semester and then an emergency appendectomy second semester. Even with mono, she didn't miss any classes and never even told her profs. With the surgery it was different because she literally couldn't walk to class and her profs were completely understanding.</p>
<p>But again, I'm getting a sense of relief that withdrawing is an okay thing and so I appreciate the input.</p>