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I not doing as well in a major required class (econometrics). I'm not failing but I cannot afford to get anything lower than a A. If I withdraw, I would have to retake it in the summer which I heard is much easier. My school is saying that if I withdraw this class, it's not going to appear on my transcript as a "W" or any sort but it will just say that I took this course and dropped it. However, concerning the fact that this is a major required course, would it look really bad if I drop it?

Yup.

MartianManhunter wrote:Yup.

No. a withdraw will look better than a C or D.

W > A-

So should I withdraw it even though it's a core major course and retake it hoping that I'll get an A next time?

elcamino wrote:So should I withdraw it even though it's a core major course and retake it hoping that I'll get an A next time?

If one grade will actually change your GPA, yeah

elcamino wrote:So should I withdraw it even though it's a core major course and retake it hoping that I'll get an A next time?

Without knowing what your specific GPA I don't really know how much a grade lower than A will affect you. However, if you're looking at a possible C or D I would withdraw because those can hurt your GPA at any level. Retaking in the summer is usually easier not just because the classes tend to be easier (which is usually but not necessarily true) but also because you only have to concentrate on doing well in one class instead of 4 or 5. That is assuming you're not taking other summer classes.

But how would I know whether law school admissions won't count this as a F?

Go to this link, search for your UG, and look under "Excluded From Both LSAC and School Calculation". You should see something like "Omitted: W" which means LSAC doesn't count it.

elcamino wrote:But how would I know whether law school admissions won't count this as a F?

You have to find out if the W you get is punitive or not ( a withdraw-fail gets counted as an F a normal W does not).

If the W is non-punitive, is it always better to get a W than a letter grade that won't raise your GPA?

elcamino wrote:If the W is non-punitive, is it always better to get a W than a letter grade that won't raise your GPA?

No. But it's always better to take a W than a letter grade that drops your GPA.

This class can bring my GPA down as little as .02 to as much as .04
And I could make a LSDAS GPA of 3.50 depending on my grade in this class.

Is it still worth dropping it?

Meaning you could raise it to 3.5? From what? You should, y'know, fully disclose.

Currently, I have a 3.42. Assuming my grades in other classes is correctly predicted, I can raise my GPA to 3.50 by the time I graduate. If I get a B+ in econometrics, my GPA will decrease by 0.02 to 3.48 and if I get a B-, it will decrease by 0.04 to 3.46. I am thinking I will get somewhere in the B range for econometrics. Only if I get an A, will my GPA rise to 3.50 and I think this is highly probable if I retake it in the summer.