<p>StevJ17,</p>
<p>That’s great news that you were told “that if the P / NP class is a lost cause, I should only focus on my 2 other classes and forget about that other one completely because the P / NP class will not effect my GPA. She said that since it’s only 2 classes however, they will highly be weighted.” </p>
<p>This simply means that your transcript show a NP for the course and that it will not be used to calculate your fall term GPA. Congrats on sitting in the B/B+ range for your 5 unit class. That means that your GPA for fall term will remain above a 2.0 average.</p>
<p>Here’s what you need to figure out. You mentioned that you have taken UCLA extension courses and that you have received A’s and B’s in those courses. Look at your transcript online or better yet go over to or call the Registrar’s office to see if those courses count toward the number of credits that your need to meet the minimum standards. For example, a first year student taking 15 credits with an additional 30+ academic credits from AP classes actually would have the academic standing of a sophomore at the end of their first term. I would assume that such a student would have made satisfactory academic progress despite receiving 9 credits for fall term. You may be in the same “boat” with your extension courses.</p>
<p>If you are thinking about graduate school, you want to focus on maximizing your GPA. Taking four classes, even if they are “easy”, may make it difficult to do so since you would be significantly increasing the workload One option would be to register, see how it goes, then drop one before the add/drop date passes. BUT usually those first three weeks of the term don’t reveal what the pace will really be like when you start having a pile-up of assignments, papers and exams which may overwhelm you. I’d still suggest that you get your time management skills solidly in place before you make the leap to four courses this first year UNLESS you need to do so from the academic progress standpoint. If you have extra time on your hands with 3 classes, find a place to volunteer or work which will provide some experience for getting a future summer internship, job or permanent position in your field of interest.</p>
<p>Will you be subject to dismissal based on the number of units…that’s an important enough question that you need to sort it out with the administrators from the registrar. You might want to double check sometime that the situation will not impact your financial aid - if you receive financial aid. Again, the Registrar and the Financial Aid offices would have the most current and accurate answer.</p>