Question for you college kids.

AllAboutTheBenjamin

I've been out of college for a little more than 4 years now, so I need a refresher.

One of my younger sisters is a sophomore in college and this morning she's been texting me, freaking out over a class she dropped.  She thought the drop date was today, but turns out it was yesterday - and now there's a W (for withdraw) on her transcript.

She's a really, really good student and is worried that it will look bad for her in the future.  I am trying to tell her that a W isn't as bad as a D or an F and doesn't really count against your GPA.  I think I had a W on my transcript.  But I don't remember. 

At any rate I'm trying to get her to look at the bigger life picture.

How bad is a W?

PetraStonegirl

It's not too bad. However, it looks a lot better if she retakes the course later. At any rate, one W won't raise much of a stink later on. When she applies to graduate school, she'll have the opportunity to discuss the reason behind the W during the application process (with prospective professors).

However, most Universities will give a one-time-only, benefit of the doubt, dispensation to change the W to a drop, provided she has a convincing argument and permission of the course professor. It's worth following up with the specific department.

future-mrs

Eh, I have more than one because of changing majors and whatnot.  I've never thought anything about it, it doesn't effect GPA or anything so I'd tell her to stop freaking.

AllAboutTheBenjamin

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_question-college-kids?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:0a4148e9-72a9-4d3e-8d1e-bd5fa4de0df6Post:6b78ce43-5b74-46c9-9d00-117b99c33db6">Re: Question for you college kids.</a>:
[QUOTE]It's not too bad. However, it looks a lot better if she retakes the course later. At any rate, one W won't raise much of a stink later on. When she applies to graduate school, she'll have the opportunity to discuss the reason behind the W during the application process (with prospective professors). <strong>However, most Universities will give a one-time-only, benefit of the doubt, dispensation to change the W to a drop, provided she has a convincing argument and permission of the course professor. It's worth following up with the specific department.</strong>
Posted by PetraStonegirl[/QUOTE]

I will tell her that.

She's mostly upset because her advisor was wrong on the drop date - and I think the registrar's office would be understanding of that.

ETA - okay, nevermind.  She says she already tried that and got "no sympathy."  Damn!

I'll just try and keep reassuring her that a W isn't the end of the world.

loop0406

Depends, there is a 6-Drop limit at some colleges now. Those are for newer students, I think it started in 2007 for some colleges.

So 1 drop isn't that bad, long as it doesn't become a habit

future-mrs

Interesting, I guess back then I dropped in time because I never had any repercussions that I can remember.  (I should've mentioned I haven't dropped in a long time.)

opalsky007

I have a W on my transcript. I had extenuating circumstances and couldn't possibly keep up with the class.

I think it's much more important to be able to explain why it's there than to dwell on the fact that it's there. If she's applying to grad school, there will usually be a box on the application to explain things like that. If she's worried about applying for jobs, this stuff will probably never even come up, and if it does, she can just explain that she's a hard worker, and initially overscheduled herself, and preferred to do a really great job in a few classes than to cram in a ton of classes and not learn much.

redheadfsu

Many schools differentiate between a withdraw b/c of dropadds situations and b/c you are failing. If she is worried her department may be able to ease her fears.

AllAboutTheBenjamin

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_question-college-kids?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:0a4148e9-72a9-4d3e-8d1e-bd5fa4de0df6Post:5d94da25-69df-4c0d-841b-499e53d4bdbe">Re: Question for you college kids.</a>:
[QUOTE]I have a W on my transcript. I had extenuating circumstances and couldn't possibly keep up with the class. I think it's much more important to be able to explain why it's there than to dwell on the fact that it's there. If she's applying to grad school, there will usually be a box on the application to explain things like that. If she's worried about applying for jobs, this stuff will probably never even come up, and if it does, she can just explain that she's a hard worker, and initially overscheduled herself, and preferred to do a really great job in a few classes than to cram in a ton of classes and not learn much.
Posted by opalsky007[/QUOTE]

Yeah - I'm telling her that too.

She's just really, really worried because she's basically a 4.0 student - and because of that I told her that the W wouldn't really even be an issue.  Obviously if people are looking at her grades they're going to see that she's a hard worker and one late dropped class won't impede on her credibility that much.

baystateapple

It's fine.  I never had any of my professors side-eye a W, and it happened to me a couple of times.  Mainly when it was three weeks into the semester and I was really concerned about my schedule or performance in the class.  It's way better to bail early and get a W than to get a D or an F.  She'll be fine, tell her not to worry about it.

katiewhompus

I'm sad for her that she has to stress over this because her advisor fvcked up a drop date though. They are there to help the students for goodness sake. Yes mistakes happen but sheesh, fix it for them.

I once had an English prof of evil. We were allowed 3 absences before he would drop us a letter grade. Well, one girl joined the class the 2nd week into the semester. He told her, in front of the class, that the highest grade she could possibly get was a B-, since she had already missed 3 days, even though she wasn't enrolled when she wasn't there, because she didn't have that class.
Later in the year my bf was assulted and I had to stay in the hospital with him, then stay at home to monitor him the next day. He gave me a 0 on a quiz we had that day and dropped by grade to a B for "bullshit excuses" (even though I gave him the ER note saying I needed to monitor him and should be excused from school and work).
He had a stroke at the end of the year. We all got A's.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

I had one W and it was a similar reason as your sister. I actually moved from one section of a class to a harder section of the class and... well, I thought it was taken care of but it wasn't. If you look at my transcript, though, you'll see that I took a slightly harder version of that class int he same semester, so it was obviously a misunderstanding. Also? It was a piano class for 1 credit, so it's never, ever come up.

ehathewa

I had a W because I got mono and it wasn't a big deal.  Most employers do not ask for college transcripts.  She might need to explain for grad school applications. 

526SadieSadie

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[QUOTE]Eh, I have more than one because of changing majors and whatnot.  I've never thought anything about it, it doesn't effect GPA or anything so I'd tell her to stop freaking.
Posted by future-mrs[/QUOTE]

Same here, I have a few on my transcript from just overloading myself.  Tell her not to freak out, it's not the end of the world.  A D or F looks much worse

gottahavashorti

She's not withdrawing from classes left and right so it's probably not a big deal.  And it's much better than getting a really bad grade.  I had one W in grad school because I did not have the background knowledge in math necessary for the class and could not have gotten a half decent grade in it.  I don't think it mattered.

JennaV26

A W won't affect her GPA and I've never once had a job ask me for my transcript... or GPA for that matter.