When Should You Drop a Course in College?

By Andreas Fanos on June 18, 2018

We’re humans, we make mistakes for the better or worse in our lives. College specifically can become stressful, and sometimes be too much, but when is it really okay to drop a course?

Sometimes we need to know when to step away or know when something is just inevitably going to happen. “Too little too late” is an excellent saying that describes the situation perfectly. When you’re thinking about dropping a course, you can’t really see it as quitting or giving up, but instead doing the best for your future and trusting your heart.

If you undoubtedly know that you have other priorities and that you aren’t going to get a good grade or even pass the course, then do not even bother showing up to the class or in a more respectful matter, drop the class. There is no point in continuing to go through with it when you will fail the class because it is going to ruin your GPA and waste your time. You could be doing work for other courses or trying to get better grades in classes that you know you are doing very well in.

The thing you have to remember is to not miss the deadlines as they matter. If you miss the add/drop period, you won’t be able to drop the course or add another one. And in turn, you would be wasting money with college being as expensive as it is.

Credit to Pexels.com

I totally sympathize with students who drop a course because sometimes other things get in the way or the professor does not really like you, however, that is not an excuse to drop the course, but I feel that critique. Sometimes in college, you can take classes outside of your own strengths or major and not be able to do well in that course and be close to failing.

Individuals should not be just dropping classes if they have a B or B+ or because the work is too tough or they do not want to do it. This is pointless because it will only put you behind. It also does not teach good ethics, a person should only drop a class if they are close to failing or absolutely failing or it is close to that.

One time in college in my freshman year, I failed a math course and I didn’t drop the course thinking and believing in myself that I could overcome the odds and pass, but in reality, I ended up failing and it ruined my GPA for the semester and I was put on academic probation. The first semester I did very well, but the second semester went downhill and I ended up going from good to bad. I didn’t let it faze me as I took the math course with a different professor and being on top of all my other work and I ended up getting a B in a subject where my strengths aren’t. What I am trying to say is don’t wait or try to overcome great odds to pass a class and end up failing, drop the course, which will show up as a W on your transcript and take the class again next semester or year with the same professor or with a different one.

After that one failed class freshman year, I learned my lesson and got mostly As and Bs for the rest of my college career, with some high Cs on the route. I dropped another course that I saw I would not pass, but never after that. I have only dropped one class throughout my college career. But I learned that I’m not a machine and that some setbacks are needed along the way. You have to think about your future as failing a course could harm your financial aid and it can be taken away if you are not on top of things after probation.

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