Withdrawing from an elective.

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I took Computer Science as an elective this semester. Although I did very well on first couple of homework assignments, I have received poor marks for the last few homework assignments. Unlike some people, I was unwilling to rip code off the Internet or look at other people's code. The textbook doesn't help much either (this professor loves giving out assignments that utilize Java's graphics libraries).</p>

<p>And a midterm is coming up too, so I am not feeling so good about that...</p>

<p>I do have a few options. At the rate I am going, I could scrape by with a C or C+, or, I could withdraw from the class so that I can focus more on my other classes (my other classes are required for my degree). </p>

<p>I have self-taught myself some programming (mostly in C#) over the years, and I hoped enrolling in a CS class would give me some much needed insight into the subject (which it did), but if I am going to get a poor grade in it, then I should just continue to self-teach myself instead, and withdraw from this class. </p>

<p>Or maybe, I'm just bad at intermediate programming. The beginner stuff was a breeze... but the difficulty went up a wall in recent weeks. </p>

<p>Additionally, how bad does one W look on a transcript? This is the first time I have seriously considered withdrawing from a class. </p>

<p>Any advice?</p>

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<p>First, in case you missed the obvious: can you still switch the course to P/F? That doesn’t look bad at all–especially for electives. You’re right on the brink of most college’s deadlines for that. </p>

<p>Sometimes the deadlines for switching your class to an audit extend beyond P/F, so that’s a second option. </p>

<p>Otherwise, it’s a tough trade-off. I’m sure you’d prefer learning CS rather than not, so unless your GPA is borderline I would stick it out. What defines a borderline GPA depends on what you’re planning on. If you’re getting a job after college, then you should worry about a C only if you’re hovering around 3.0–which is the cutoff for some job interviews. In that case, you might want to consider the W, because a sub-3.0 could keep you out of interviews while a W never will. Otherwise, neither a C nor a W affects you at all, and you should study what you want to learn without worry. </p>

<p>It’s a bit tougher decision for a pre-law/pre-med; you should talk to an adviser if you’re in that boat.</p>