Drop a Class

Here’s How to Drop a Class the Right Way

“I need to drop my class” is not something that any parent wants to hear and honestly not something any student wants to say. The fear of having to redo a class, ultimately being behind, or not being enrolled in enough hours can be scary for students; but if they think they need to drop a class, let them.

To distinguish, students have the option during drop/add week to change their schedule by dropping or adding a class. During this period, dropping a class does not affect your student’s transcript except removing the class. The drop/add period at UGA is different every semester, and for the Fall of 2020, it is from August 20, the first day of class, to August 26. During the drop/add period, you get a feel for the class, the professor, and the grading system and then are able to decide if you want to drop the class completely, stay in it, or switch to a different time or professor.

To drop a class, you simply log into your Athena, click student, click registration, go to the Add or Drop Classes tab, select your term, and proceed to drop the class from there. Adding is just as simple, you do the exact same thing except after you reach the Add or Drop Classes tab, you search the class you’d like to add and then click “Add”. Dropping a class gets you a full refund of your tuition for that class. Courses dropped do not appear on a student’s transcript and are not considered as hours attempted for financial aid purposes. No grade is assigned for dropped courses.

Withdrawing from a class, however, is totally different from dropping a class during drop/add week. When you withdraw from a class, you do not receive a refund of any kind. The withdrawal period usually lasts until the halfway point in the semester and for Fall 2020 it is October 27th. Withdrawing is purposed for students who have taken the class, and realized that it is either too hard for them, come to the conclusion that they will not pass, found out for some reason the class they are in is not beneficial to them, decided they have too hard of a workload, or perhaps they need a specific grade that they will not achieve; there are many reasons. Withdrawing for personal hardship reasons (medical, family emergency) after the deadline will need to be initiated through the Office of Student Care and Outreach (SCO).

As a parent, their student’s mental health should be more important, and worth a cost much higher than letting go of a class. I’ve found that when discussing schedules and other similarly big decisions, reminding my student of that value and a healthy overall perspective is an important part of my job as the parent of a young adult.

When you withdraw from a class, since you have spent half of the semester in it, it shows up on your transcript as a “W” and is counted as “attempted hours” for HOPE, Zell, FAFSA, and UGA Scholarships. Having a “W” on your transcript will not negatively or positively affect your GPA, but too many “W” causes concern for advisors, graduate programs, master’s programs, etc.

Most advisors will recommend steering clear from withdrawing unless absolutely necessary such as extreme situations. For example, last semester, I had a friend who needed a Physical Science credit, so he chose to take Natural Resources Conservation, but at UGA there are 2 different Natural Resources Conservation, one for everyone and one that Forestry and Natural Resources majors must take to get into Warnell. Halfway through the semester, after the Drop/Add period was over, he had not done well on the tests and felt as if the class was much harder than what he had heard, he came to the realization that he had signed up for the wrong one. After discussing it with his advisor, they decided that it would be best for him to withdraw because he did not want to have a failing grade on his transcript from his first semester of college.

UGA’s Office of Financial Aid has even more information regarding Drop/Add and withdrawals on their website. The recommendation I would make is to always speak with your advisor before withdrawing from a class to make sure you understand all the repercussions; while it is needed sometimes, it should not become every semester or every year thing.

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