Dropping Unnecessary Classes - Opinion

College Life
1

What is your stance on dropping classes that will NOT count toward your degree plan?

Right now I’m at 15 hours, and I’m contemplating dropping one of my classes, but that would drop me down to 12 hours, leaving no room for error for if I need to drop one later (12 hours is the minimum full-time).

There’s currently NO academic penalty for dropping a class (Meaning no record I was ever in the class).

The class I want to drop was a class that I registered for just to make 12 hours initially because I struggled to get into a few other classes. I got into those classes eventually.

It’s Engineering Stats. It kinda sorta not exactly will count toward my degree plan because I want to take the statistics for math majors, but I can’t do so until next fall. At my university, you can’t take both and have them both apply to your degree plan, so it feels like it’d just be wasted money.

However, on the downside, again, it’d drop me down to 12 hours with no room for error, like let’s say I want to drop a class later in the semester where it WILL go down on my transcript as a W. In particular, there’s a class I’m slightly worried about because I had difficulty doing the first homework (the teacher has been out for several days and the book is very tangential to what we’re doing in class). The bright side (I hope) is that the instructor expanded the boundaries for grades, like a B is 70 - 84, an A is 85 - 100, etc. That might imply that he’s generous, or the class is really hard to begin with.

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Some additional rambling info is that I don’t think engineering statistics will be too hard. I’ve already taken general statistics before, but it didn’t transfer to my new university. The instructor is really nice and willing to help, and I’d feel bad dropping her class. But I told her that I might drop her class if I could get into another, and she said she was okay with that. I’ve let myself get emotionally sucked into not dropping classes before and it just wound up being a terrible decision. In those cases, I still made an A in those classes, but they just ended up being an incredibly burdensome class that I had to work extra extra extra hard in to make an A.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

2

Drop it immediately and take something more fun.

3

Can engineering stats could towards your major instead of the other statistics? If so, keep it.

If it won’t count for your major and you’ll still need to take statistics for math majors anyway–drop it and replace it with something more fun, maybe a gened?

4

First, it’s not “wasting money” if you take classes that don’t count towards your degree. You pay a fixed amount per year for tuition and can take 12 to (depending on the school) 21 credits for the same cost. If you think it’d help you learn the material for your major then it’s not a waste. If it’s a class that will neither help you nor will be fun then I think you can find a better use for your time.

Either take a fun class like @Vctory‌ and @Mynaaa‌ suggested or only take 12 hours this semester and use your extra time to study for your difficult class.

5

I don’t know what school OP goes to, but I just wanted to point out that this is not always the case. Some schools charge tuition per unit, so taking 15 hours would cost more than taking 12 hours.

@cameraphone‌ If you don’t want to take the class, just drop it. You can fill it with an easy class, if you are still able to add classes, that will give you more breathing room in case you need to drop another class (and could just be a fun addition to your schedule). If you can’t add a class, just stick with 12 units and focus on those classes so you do well.

6

I guess we should have determined whether or not the OP is going to a CC or university? Or are you referring to 4-years that charge per unit?

Either way, I’m sorry for potentially giving out wrong info.

7

No, I was referring to 4-year universities that charge per unit. I didn’t attend one that was like this, but a quick google search turned up these schools, among others.

http://www.unf.edu/tuition/
http://www.millersville.edu/bursar/tuition-fees/index.php
http://www.untdallas.edu/sfs/cost

It’s very possible (and probably likely) the OP was just referring to the “feeling” of wasting money because they could spend the time devoted to this course taking something else that would be more worthwhile or they could spend the time working or doing other activities that would benefit them more in the future. But it’s also possible that taking this course could literally cost more money than if they dropped it. It’s also possible that they might have to spend money on books or other fees for this course (I’ve had courses that charged extra for a lab fee or a computing fee, for example), in which case, it would also cost them more money.

8

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

To clarify, I’m attending a college that charges per unit, meaning taking 15 hours costs more than taking 12 hours.

Engineering Statistics DOES count to your degree plan IF you don’t take Mathematical Statistics. But it was my plan to take Mathematical Statistics since my minor was going to be actuarial science, and plus mathematical statistics 2 counts as one of the depth courses needed to graduate. I thought it would help knock out two things in one go.

We’re two weeks, almost three, into classes so while it’s still possible to add a class, I’m not sure if adding anything would be beneficial since I will have missed three weeks of work.

9

You cannot add mathematical statistics in place of engineering statistics this semester? (i.e. is there space in the class, and has the material covered been similar enough that the amount you need to “catch up” on is doable)

If not, perhaps you can ask the department if engineering statistics is sufficient as a prerequisite for mathematical statistics 2.

10

Engineering Statistics is offered every semester from what I can tell BUT mathematical statistics 1 is a once-a-year class that is only offered in the fall, and mathematical statistics 2 is only offered in the spring. It’s never offered during summer sessions.

I do remember a faculty member talking with me about my current class schedule, and they told me it’s hit or miss with instructors who teach math stats 2 who would let me in only having taken engineering stats. It’s a possible route with no guarantee and it seems logical to take math statistics 1 and 2 in a consecutive course sequence, rather than me take engineering stats now, and waiting until next spring to finish the sequence where I might find out the instructor won’t approve.

I honestly think it’s somewhat unlikely that I wouldn’t get approval–I’d just have to milk the professor’s feelings to get them to sign off on it because statistics is still statistics wherever you go. Now of course, I can always take the class for an easy A, so to speak, since this is my first semester and I currently have a GPA of zero (I’m a transfer student). But it seems like a waste of money to do so.

11

I think, given your situation with the cost per credit at your school, pus the fact that you can hit two birds with one stone with mathematical statistics, I’d drop engineering stats so you’re not wasting time (time you can be using studying for other classes).