Spring semester is officially in full swing, and as such students are suddenly trying to adapt to new schedules, new material, new homework and often new teachers as well. With that much going on all at once, it is guaranteed that some students will consider dropping, withdrawing, or perhaps even failing courses. With that in mind, there are several dates that students would do well to be aware of, as well as advice from the Advising Center with regards to those topics.
The last day to add or drop early 8-week and full semester courses is Jan. 18. However, if a student misses that date it is still possible to withdraw from early 8-week classes until Feb. 15, and students have until March 22 to withdraw from full semester courses.
Students have until March 15 to add/drop late 8-week courses, although they have until April 12 to withdraw from them.
The staff of the Academic Advising Center caution that even if the drop date has passed, it is better to withdraw from a course than fail it. “If you withdraw from class, it’s better than getting an F in the class,” said Shanon Oler, Peer-Advisor. “However, classes that have been withdrawn from still count toward your completion rate.”
Despite the ease with which it can be accomplished – like dropping a course, withdrawing can be done on BengalWeb – withdrawing from a course should not be done lightly. Idaho State University’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) states that the number of classes a student completes must be at least 67 percent of the classes attempted. Failing the class or withdrawing from the class counts as attempting the class, not completing it. Therefore, by withdrawing from too many classes a student is at risk for several negative results.
For example, students who are below the completion rate will have to appeal to receive financial aid.
On the other hand, withdrawing often is the best choice. Students with 25 credits or less must maintain a 1.75 GPA, or they will receive Academic Warning.
Students with 26 credits or more must maintain at least a 2.00 GPA in order to stay free of Academic Warning.
“If you don’t get your grades up after that, [you] will face Academic Probation 1 and be limited to 9 credit hours,” said Oler. Perhaps the primary benefit of withdrawing from a course rather than failing it is that it in no way affects a student’s GPA.
More information can be found at http://www.isu.edu/areg/acadclnd.shtml on the academic calendar.
Stephanie Harrington, staff writer, contributed to this story.
