How to know when to drop a class

As a freshman in college, I prided myself on not dropping any classes.  I was an idiot and there were a few classes I should have definitely dropped.

In high school, students don’t have the ability to walk away from classes to try them again later.  Many freshmen and sophomores don’t understand how to use dropping classes to their advantage– or even that they can leverage the ability to safeguard their GPA.

Let’s take a moment to explore when you should drop a class and when should you tough it out.

When not to drop a class

Coming from high school, the average student’s first instinct is to stick with each class they sign up for.  But do you have to?

The only classes you absolutely have to tough out in each semester are the ones that would add time to your degree program if you didn’t take them right now.  Everything else is a little flexible.

To figure out what those courses are, get out a sheet of paper and your required course sheet. On the blank sheet of paper, create a space for each semester.  Leave space for optional summer semesters and make sure each full semester has space for at least 5 courses.

Check all the prerequisites of your required courses and write down which course has to go in which semester to have all your course requirements satisfied.  If a course has no prerequisites and is not a prerequisite to anything else, then write it off on the side.  

As you do this, make sure to account for any courses that are not offered each semester.  It is common for some courses to only be offered in the fall semester and not in spring (the opposite is also true).  Missing one of these classes might push your study plan more than a year.

Once you have that all written out, it will be easy to see which courses have some wiggle room and which need to be taken in a specific order at a specific time.  These are the courses you should tough out.  Everything else can potentially take place in a different semester.

When to drop

There are three main reasons to drop a course: 

1. The workload of the course is too much and it threatens the grades of one of your required, immovable courses.
2. You do not think you will get a good grade in the course and it is not required for your major.
3. You don’t like the content or teacher of the course and it is not required for your major.

Let’s explore each of these reasons so you can be confident in your decision to drop a course.

Too much work

I was a junior before I learned how to properly balance a semester schedule so I wouldn’t burn out or bite off more than I could chew.

In the fall semester of my Junior year, I registered for an art class.  I had always wanted to learn to draw and paint and I figured it would help me do back-of-the-envelope designs and calculations.  Plus it would be fun.

I got to the class, and it was nothing like I imagined.  The professor handed us all the syllabus with a supplies sheet attached.  The supplies we were expected to bring to the course came to almost $900.  We were required to use supplies of a specific brand and they all had to be new, according to the professor.  

The professor started talking and explained that a non-trivial part of our grade would include how much lab time we logged outside of class working on our art.  A student could expect to earn no higher than a C if they spent 10 hours or less in the lab each week.  The average A student would spend on average 25 hours per week in the lab working on art.  The final would be a project given during finals week and would need a minimum of 100 hours to complete to an A level.

At the time I worked two jobs and had a capstone project for my engineering courses that required at minimum the same time commitment this art class was asking for.  Plus I didn’t budget for $1000 in extra supplies.  I walked out and dropped that class that afternoon.

It is impossible to tell what the real workload of a class is until you are in it.  Use that first week to help balance your semester so you don’t wind up with too much work later.

If you didn’t drop labor-intensive courses during the drop/ add period, you can still drop them later.  It is worth dropping a class if it means getting a better grade in a required course.  This brings us to the second reason, or

Drop classes to save your GPA

In the second semester of my sophomore year, I was in a 300-level German course.  German courses were often my dessert courses.  I already knew the language and was just working on refining my translation and writing abilities.  This was my first true German literature course and I was excited to begin bringing my German reading and comprehension abilities in line with my English abilities.

The course was fun, and I worked hard on the language aspect of the course.  Then the first test came.  Instead of an exam in line with what we were working on in class, the exam was about the historical context of the passages we were reading.  The answers to the test weren’t even in our book.  

I got a 23%.  It was the lowest grade I have ever gotten.  There was nothing in the syllabus about being tested on history.  A lot of the class was confused.  I spoke with the professor and she made it clear this was how the class was going to be graded and there was nothing I could do.  Dropped the class that afternoon.  Yes, I lost money, but I saved my GPA and that was more important.

I wish I had known to do this earlier.  In my freshman year, my mom was diagnosed with cancer.  I failed an entire semester of classes.  It was a fight to bring my GPA back up to 2.9.  If I had dropped the semester, I would have had a 3.4 and been able to apply for a lot more jobs when I graduated.  

If you need to save your GPA, even if it means going for an extra semester, it is probably worth doing.

Drop classes that feel wrong

Unless it is one of your immovable, major requirements courses, you have some wiggle room here.  I’ve seen people switch sections in a class because they didn’t like the professor teaching the section they were in. It is common for students to drop elective classes because they turned out to be taught by a bad professor or the material was actually not what they thought it was.

Try to figure these things out as early in the class as possible.  Look for red flags in the professor or content that will cause you problems later.  Then drop classes that are problematic in the drop/ add period.  

Some red flags to look for:

• A teacher repeatedly stressing they have a paper copy only policy for work turn in.  This will not be stated as a preference.  They will say something like “I don’t care if you are sick, if your paper is not on my desk the day it is due, it will not be accepted.” These professors are too strict and will fail you if you get sick or struggle for reasons beyond your control.
• If the professor says anything that makes it clear they believe their course is more important than anything else on your plate
• The professor intentionally gives too much work
• The professor has a poor passing rate, especially if they brag about it
• The professor makes it clear there is a “right answer” in a course about a subjective subject (art, literature analysis, writing, etc.)
• They discount an entire branch of the subject as being “low brow” or not of the subject (eg- “I will not accept any fantasy or sci-fi works in this class!  This is creative writing, not trash writing!”)
• The syllabus is vague and doesn’t give you an idea of how to pass the class
• The course materials do not cover what you thought they would and the new topic is not interesting
• The syllabus/ due dates conflict badly with your immovable classes (ie- multiple classes having major projects start and due at the same time)
• You cannot understand the professor or read their handwriting
• Literally, anything you dislike viscerally.

If you have a bad feeling about a class during the drop/ add period and it isn’t a requirement, look into dropping it or replacing it with something else.  No one is going to ask your reasoning and I promise the Professors won’t think bad of you for dropping a class or two.  It is really common.

Use the ability to drop classes to focus on what is really important.

You are in college to graduate with a good GPA and your sanity.  Any class that threatens those goals should be dropped with impunity.  You can always retake classes or choose other courses.  If something is too much, just drop it.  No one will judge you for it.