Dropping a class shouldn't drop students' confidence

Dropping a class can sometimes be the right choice.
Illustration: Rigby Guerroro · The Sentry

withdrawing can be a sign of growth

As the days draw closer to the Fall Semester, many new students have begun to plan out schedules and pathways that consist of many classes and credits while looking forward to their first semester. While support through this daunting task of selecting classes is readily available, there is a lack of support on when and how to withdraw from a course, usually followed by guilt and a drop in self-esteem. This shouldn’t be the case seeing how students already struggle in classes.
Whether class content is difficult or life gets in the way of being able to properly study, inevitably some students will feel like they have taken too many classes or this wasn’t the right time to take a certain class. Does that mean it’s time to curl in a ball and find a good place to cry? Not just yet and hopefully not anytime soon if the right actions are taken, and students know how withdraws can affect them.
While withdrawing from a class can be seen in a bad light, really it can be a savior in a tough spot.
Starting to realize the class wasn’t all it seemed to be enrolling for it? Withdraw and take note of what was wrong with the class and why it didn’t work out. Failing halfway through the semester and don’t think the grade is recoverable? Find out what the last date is to withdraw (which can be found on the Academic Calendar for Fall 2020) and take the W (withdraw) instead of the F (failed) proudly.
Though keep in mind the effects that a withdraw has on a student’s Financial Aid package, if the credits beginning taken were to drop below the amount needed to be a full-time student (12 credits) then their Financial Aid package changes. Setting an appointment with the Finical Aid office to see how the W affects thing finically is highly recommended. Reason being is that while a W does show up on a student’s transcript, this W has no effect on the GPA and ultimately acts as if the student hadn’t taken the class in the first place.
Depending on how far the semester has gone, their will however be different consequences on a withdraw, from the inconvenience of finding the button on the UCD Access portal, paying a 100$ fine to the Financial Aid office, to having to get both a counselor and professor to sign off on the withdraw, afterwards still pending on whether the class will be withdrawn or not.
The time of withdrawal from a class also has a factor in deciding if a student receives their tuition back or if they must continue paying for the class. Better to decide earlier than later but withdrawing shouldn’t be hurting other classes or causing massive stress.
Feeling bad about having to drop a class is normal but shouldn’t feel like the end of the world. What students do after the withdraw is what really matters, and it can really make or break the remaining semester. Taking that feeling of withdrawing from a class and putting it towards passing the rest the classes with flying colors is a great way to not only reflect on what went wrong but working on doing better the next time around.
College is about learning, and it quickly comes to realization that failure is a professor that follows every student on their journey, but just like any other professor, you should learn from it and take the lessons to heart and keep moving forward. Dropping a class should boost students confidence in knowing when things aren’t working out, stopping to get a different view on the situation and further push their drive in coming back and doing better the next time around or whatever challenges that may arise down the road.
Confidence comes from experience and dropping a classis one of the many experience’s students should have and be relieved that they did.