5 Reasons You Can Drop a Class and 5 Reasons You Probably Shouldn’t

by · February 25, 2016

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We’ve all been there. We register for a semester full of classes with the best of intentions. Depending on how early in your degree it is, you might have a few required classes (ENGL 135 anyone?) and a few electives.

Maybe every class you’re in is furthering your degree, or maybe you have no idea what you’re doing and every class you’re in is because it seemed cool on registration day. The fact of the matter is, the courses we start the semester in aren’t always the same courses we finish the semester in. Here are some reasonable excuses to drop a class, and some signs you shouldn’t.

5 Reasons You Can Drop a Course:

  1. You have too many courses in one semester and you can’t manage the workload.
  2. The timing and overall schedule is killing you (i.e. too many back to back classes, too spread out, too early, or too late).
  3. The course isn’t required for your degree, isn’t relevant to your degree, or isn’t an acceptable elective.
  4. You’re too far behind in the syllabus and you can’t fathom catching up.
  5. You bombed your first midterm and can’t reasonably recover your grade. (Abort mission. Try again next semester if it’s a required course. Don’t let your GPA suffer.)

5 Reasons Why You Probably Shouldn’t

  1. You need it for your degree, but want to put it off until next year (you need to do it, so suck it up and get it over with).
  2. You don’t know anyone in the class (it’s totally fine to switch to the same section as your friend, but don’t let the classes your friends are taking dictate the ones you take – besides, this way you can either make new friends or hunker down and focus).
  3. The date for a refund has passed (at this point, there’s no penalty of failure, but that’s about $500 you’ll never get back).
  4. The final date for dropping courses has passed altogether (unless there’s a serious problem going on, don’t accept the failure penalty).

When contemplating dropping a course, be realistic, reasonable, and responsible. Consider the big picture, and what the short and long term effects will be. But always remember, your mental and physical health should always come before academics, so prioritize yourself and your needs. Good luck!

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