Last chance to withdraw November 13

Kayla Hitt
News Writing Student

The last chance for students to withdraw from classes for the 16-week fall semester is Nov. 13.

Mary Turner, Learning Support specialist, said students should talk to their professors and find out how they are doing in their classes before they decide to drop a class.

“If students cannot pass, obviously they should drop the class,” Turner said. “If they can pass, but it would take more time and effort than they can reasonably give, they should drop.”

She said students may find out they are doing better than they thought in the class and not have to drop it after all.

Withdrawing from a class has pros and cons.

Withdrawing may affect a student’s eligibility to receive financial aid. Financial Aid Loan Adviser Linette McMurtrey said it's best for students to go by the Financial Aid office before dropping a course to see if it will affect them.

“Our policy is that students need to successfully complete 66 percent of the courses they attempt each semester,” McMurtrey said.

That means earning a grade of A, B, C, D, P, S or CIP.

Withdrawing from a course does not affect a student’s grade point average in a negative way like a D or an F would, Turner said

“As a general rule, a W is better than an F. An F in a non-remedial class will adversely affect one’s GPA while a W will not,” she said.

Students can withdraw on MineOnline or in person at Admissions and Records, said Gloria Cardenas Barton, registrar and dean of Admissions.

“Students who have a hold on their account for unpaid fees or missing documents may not be able to withdraw online,” Barton said.

Students drop classes for a number of reasons.

One student who dropped a class is business major Cody Self. He had a simple reason.

“I was going to fail so I had to drop the class,” Self said.

Too little time and too many personal issues can cause a student to drop classes.

“Our research has shown that, most of the time, life just gets in the way,” Barton said.