Consequences of W on transcript

<p>do any of the more experienced students know how others view a w on your transcript? I’m an engineering major in the Gemstone program and frankly one of the classes, GEMS104, is becoming unbearable. Even if it weren’t for the class, I would probably drop Gemstone because of all the restrictions they put on the projects. </p>

<p>So my question is should I quit gemstone right now and get the W’s or should I endure the painful wrath for the rest of this semester and quit next year. I have 17 credits right now and will be left with 13 if I drop.</p>

<p>One W is not going to hurt you, particularly this early in college. However, it will be something you always want to have an explanation ready for. If you go on an interview and think there’s a chance they’ll be seeing or asking for your transcript, go ahead and explain-- something like, “Since you’ll be seeing my transcript, I wanted to let you know about a class I withdrew from freshman year. It was a part of a very narrowly focused research-based honors program and I decided it wasn’t right for me. It was taking my concentration away from my academic classes.”</p>

<p>I would NOT mention in this type of explanation that you left a team behind, because what a W can imply is “he’s a quitter”, and that would just fuel those assumptions.</p>

<p>On the other hand, you have less than two months of your GEMS class left. It would probably be pretty demoralizing to your team if you dropped out now. So while a W is not that big of a deal in the long run, if you can make it through the end of the semester, that’s probably the best thing for everyone involved.</p>

<p>(Can you tell I’m supposed to be studying right now?? :slight_smile: haha)</p>

<p>They don’t even have their teams picked out in 104.</p>

<p>In that case, I’d drop it :)</p>