“To Drop or Not to Drop…. That is the Question”

In this blog, guest writer William Leparulo, Advising First advisor for Engineering majors, answers the age old question:

“To be or not to be…that is the question”

or

“To drop or not…..that is the question”

So maybe you’ve done everything right, going to class, office hours, ACE tutoring, study groups, but something just isn’t clicking.

Or maybe it is the 7^th week and you have bombed every quiz and the test you got back shows that you are barely literate despite all of your best efforts!

So now you are thinking “maybe just maybe I need to pull the plug (drop this class) on this one, but what are the consequences of such action?”

Unfortunately the only advantage to dropping a class is that you don’t have to let the poor grade hurt your GPA and if you are on Academic Warning or Probation (below a 2.0 GPA) this is an option you should use, but unfortunately there are some disadvantages… so let’s talk about the bad news.

Dropping of classes have several consequences:

1. If you use Bright Futures then expect your future to include paying for the class you just dropped.  It would be a good idea to make sure you have the funds to do this, b/c FSU will put a hold on you as soon as you drop the class.

2. If you use Bright Futures they require you to uphold a certain credit hour standard! You may need to be especially careful about dropping under this credit hour standard b/c you may lose Bright Futures entirely. #contactbrightfutures for the specific information

3. Depending on how “hardcore” your major is, you may fall behind in the Map academically. Certain majors expect you to pass certain classes by certain semesters. You can find FSU’s academic maps in our Academic Program Guide. If you drop a class you are failing you may be indirectly also be out of a major. #contactanadvisor before doing such an action

4. Penalties related with Excess credit. So there is this nasty rule that says you can’t drop or fail or take the wrong kind of class or be charged “excess credit”. You have a buffer, but just remember if the buffer is already out than you may be paying a surcharge. #contactanadvisor before doing such an action.

So to summarize:

Drops are good for saving your GPA, but they could be bad if you don’t get all of the information…so do your homework, and talk with your advisor!