How to Withdraw From a Course in College

When you are in college, there is a good chance that you will want to withdraw from a course at point or another. It doesn’t matter if you are attending Norwich University or the University of Hawaii, there will be a course that is either too difficult, too easy or you may not like the professor. Moreover, you may not actually need the course. Some students take a course because they think they need the credit, but it winds up being extraneous.

If any of these reasons to drop a course apply to you, you want to take a number of critical steps before you actually withdraw. The last thing you want is to mess up your grade point average. Here is how to withdraw from a course in college.

Confirm You Haven’t Missed the Withdrawal Deadline

Before you cut the class, you want to find out if you can. If you are too far into the semester, you may be stuck with the class. If you are only a couple of weeks in, you may be able to drop it without it affecting your grade. It is important to realize that cutting a class means potentially losing a credit and if you drop too far into the semester, you may get a failing grade, which will hurt your GPA.

Discuss the Decision with Your Professor

It is also important to speak with your professor about dropping the course. This is especially true if you are having learning difficulties or if the reason for your dropping is because of academic trouble. Your professor may actually have an answer or some advice to help you succeed in class if you stick with it. If you could actually boost your grade or do better in the course, you may actually enjoy it more and you may not want to drop the class.

Visit with an Advisor

If you are dead set on dropping the course, you may want to speak with an advisor to find out if you need the credit. In some cases, you may need to brave an incredibly boring class in order to earn a required credit. This is especially the case during your first and second semester in school since this is usually the time when you have to take prerequisite courses.

Sleep on it

Right before you actually make the cut, you want to take some time to evaluate whether it is the right move personally. Sure, you may not like the course, but what if you are actually learning something? What if the professor has connections and taking the course could help you with a job one day? In that case, you may not want to cut the course.

Don’t Make the Same Mistake

On top of everything, you don’t want to make the same mistake next semester. Before you sign up for a course, you want to do your research. It is critical that you pick the best classes to take because you don’t want to find yourself wanting to drop another course again next semester. In the end, this could put you right back where you started.