To take part in discussions on talkSFU, please apply for membership (SFU email id required).
Withdrawals - Has Anyone Done This?
Just wondering if anyone has withdrawn from a class this late in the semester and how it worked out.
It looks like if you want to withdraw under extenuating circumstances, it takes some time, but what if you just do a regular withdrawal?
I'm having a heck of a time with my online English course this term, and even though I've been trying really hard and I have a B+ right now, I know I will flunk the exam. The only reason I'm stressing about my grades is when I apply to PDP I have to be sure I have a good GPA or I won't be accepted (thus totally screwing up all of my plans).
So it makes a lot more sense for me to drop it and not have to finish this 3000 word essay due on Friday and spend a few weeks freaking out about the exam I will surely fail...
I'm going to go talk with an Academic adviser tomorrow, but if anyone has any tips or if you've withdrawn from a class before, let me know!
It looks like if you want to withdraw under extenuating circumstances, it takes some time, but what if you just do a regular withdrawal?
I'm having a heck of a time with my online English course this term, and even though I've been trying really hard and I have a B+ right now, I know I will flunk the exam. The only reason I'm stressing about my grades is when I apply to PDP I have to be sure I have a good GPA or I won't be accepted (thus totally screwing up all of my plans).
So it makes a lot more sense for me to drop it and not have to finish this 3000 word essay due on Friday and spend a few weeks freaking out about the exam I will surely fail...
I'm going to go talk with an Academic adviser tomorrow, but if anyone has any tips or if you've withdrawn from a class before, let me know!
Comments
and riding on malakaiii's thread.. what about auditing? how does that work and is it viable this late into the semester?
Anyways... there is a specific deadline (usually about a month into the semester) where you can withdraw from a class easily through go sfu. This late in the semester, you'd have to contact you're professor so he can authrize you to drop the class. For malakaii, if you're sitting at a B+ I doubt he will undestand why you want to drop the class. Either way, there is nothing you can do about the WD notation that will then be on your transcript. So in that sense, its kind of a trade off. If your gpa is more important, a WD won't be that big of a deal but it doesn't make your transcript look very pretty if you have a couple of those.
Another thing you can do is wait until the semester is over and apply for a "retroactive withdrawal." What you do is go down to the financial services counter in maggie benston and fill out a form. However, they only let you do this for "extenuating" circumstances. Saying that you took too many classes and now you have a bad mark isn't a good enough excuse to get a class dropped. Usually, it has to be some sort of family emergency, sickness, accident, injury etc. And in that case, they will want to know why you did well in your other classes but not the specific one that you want to drop.
And, like I said, either way you get a WD notation on your transcript.
One thing to keep in mind, if you do fail a class, you have 5 retries at SFU. That means that if you re-do that class next semester, only the better mark will be calculated into you're cumulative gpa. BUT if you plan on going anywhere after you finish school, you gotta be careful because most grad schools will NOT look at the better mark. For example, if I was to transfer to UBC, they would take all my attempts into account.
Ok I'll stop there lol...if you have any questions just leave a message. And don't worry, a lot of people go through this shit. I bet if you buckle down from now until final exams you will do fine anyways, theres plenty of time still :)
I think that I will just go for it and try to finish things off. If I can get a retroactive withdrawal, and I do really terrible, I do have some circumstances I can call on which would probably get my request put through.
Anyone good at tutoring for 3rd year English courses on British Lit before 1945? :wink:
It's comforting to know that I can just try my best and study my ass off and even if it still all goes to hell I can possibly get it removed from my transcript. Phew!
I have 1300 words of the 3000 I need to write and I'm still going strong... It's nice to know that some of you are having a hard time too so I'm not the only one fighting to keep my head above water.
Good luck everyone!
PS: I just made an appointment to talk with someone at the Student Learning Commons next week, to get some ideas about how to prepare for my exam and how to stop feeling like I want to weep when I think of it. I'll let you guys know how it goes. :smile:
@da_prodigy: you're right.. it isn't hard.. and i must admit that i did procasinate for the particular class.. =.=" i'm just worried that i'm going to bomb the final and do wonders to my gpa (again).. bleh* don't wanna go down that road again.. anyway.. so did you manage to do well in the final after doing all the assignments? =) my prof is warburton.. he isn't bad so to speak.. but the TA's are bbbaaaddd...
I didnt do anything except bare minimum all semester but did every single assignment before I went into the final and came out with a solid 75%... I forgot my prof's name I think it was Vaughn, or sumthing
The point is, its doable! Do the homework, nail the concepts (only 3 or 4 major ones), nail the glossary terms and ur gold
How is WD looked upon? I'm taking a KIN course right now and so far the online quizzes and assignments are fine, but I just don't get the readings (I'm terrible at any kind of science)...and exams are worth 60% of the course. I have one tomorrow.
I'd way rather focus on my 2 other CMNS courses I'm taking (my major) and I know this will bring my GPA down. If I withdraw now, it sucks as far as $$$ goes, but I think it's better than having my GPA plummet, especially because I'm going through the co-op process.
Anyone want to provide some insight???
BTW, I don't think you can withdraw from a course two weeks before the final...
A WD is equivalent to a FAIL. Because if you decide to withdraw from a course two weeks before the final, it's assumed that you FAIL at said course and thus would FAIL the course and thus to avoid FAIL, you decide to withdrawal two weeks before the final.
And it's the first midterm...so I can still withdraw.
Is it really looked upon as a fail? If a WD doesn't affect my GPA I'm not sure how you can compare the two....
Irregardless, I'm out!