Bucks students are starting
to notice many of their classes
are eerily empty now. The
April 8 withdrawal deadline
has passed, and course withdrawal
forms have apparently
inundated the Admissions
office.
Many students are apparently
deciding to take a ‘W’
on their transcripts instead of
an ‘F’
The withdrawal is considered
one of the most critical
times for many students as it
can make or break an academic
career. With numerous
students dependent on getting
good grades to keep their
financial aid and many more
riding on their marks in order
to transfer into a good school,
a withdrawal doesn’t look as
nearly as bad as a failure.
“When it comes down to it I
can always redo the course,”
said Eric Haugh, 21 of
Fairless Hills.
Many students seem to
agree. Since a drop has no
effect on your GPA it is far
more alluring for a student to
simply pull out of the class
when it is becoming too much
then to see it through to the
end, and risk taking a failing
grade.
It almost seems like Bucks,
along with many other college
campuses, are creating a
golden safety net for the student
body to fall back on.
If a course becomes too
hard and you’re not going to
pass, drop it and save yourself
the trouble. This system
of withdrawal however could
be breeding a generation of
underachievers, giving way
to this notion: Why work
when you can quit instead?
The withdrawal form gives
eight possible choices to pick
from when choosing your
reason for drop/withdrawal.
Ranging from academically
unprepared, personal illness,
dislike of the course or more
surprisingly, dislike of the
instructor, Bucks students
have a variety of grounds to
choose from.
“I have to work to pay for
school,” said Maria
Duminski, 18, of Morrisville.
“An ‘F’ drops my GPA and a
‘W’ does nothing.”
There are, however, many
students who are wondering,
what is the difference
between the full refund withdrawal
available during the
first week of the semester and
the current no refund drop?
The drop/add period as it
is called was instituted by the
Admissions office as a means
to allow students to adjust to
their courses. If they do not
think the class is for them, or
another class has come to
their attention that they
would prefer to take, they
may drop or add additional
courses without losing any
money.
“I have not withdrawn and
this is my third semester,”
said Elise Reifsnyder, 19,
from Fairless Hills. “I think
that the date should be longer
to get your money back
because one week is not long
enough to get to really know
your professor.”
According to a report by the
Department of Education,
dropout rates among 18-24-
year-olds in 2002 to 2003 were
a staggering 11.3 percent
among males and 8.4 percent
among females. The report
also noted studies that had
shown that dropouts are less
likely to work in jobs that
require a high school certificate
or higher and were far
more likely to be part of our
prison and death row
inmates.
“We all have a responsibility,”
said U.S. Secretary of
Education Margaret Spelling
in a 2007 address, “to make
sure our higher education
system continues to spur
innovation.”
She went onto report on
numerous statistics about
undergraduate students. Half
of all undergraduates receive
some form of federal financial
aid, and 90 percent of the
fastest growing jobs in the
future will need some form of
post secondary education,
she said.
Many Bucks students must
understand that while a withdrawal
is academically better
to have on your transcripts it
still doesn’t remove the fact
that you choose to drop a
course instead of seeing it
through.
Students completely withdrawing
from the college
must secure a clearance from
the Financial Aid office prior
to submitting a withdrawal
form. If you do not you could
risk losing scholarship or
financial assistance, something
that many cashstrapped
students cannot
afford to do in today’s ever
worsening economy.
No appeal for a change of a
grade to ‘W’ will be considered
after three years has
elapsed since the end of the
semester or session in which
the grade was received.
Student-initiated withdrawals
are those completed
by students before the deadlines,
with a simple ‘W’ on
the transcripts and no refund.
Withdrawal becomes official
the day the Admissions office
receives written notice of the
drop, so the day you drop is
the day the course becomes a
‘W’ on your transcript.
Instructor-initiated withdrawals
however are strict. If
a student has poor attendance
until the midterm then the
Office of Admissions will
notify you of your drop from
the course. If you want to
contest that decision, however,
the Committee on
Academic Performance can
be called in to schedule a
review of the instructor’s
actions.
For those crafty few who
think that not attending class
will mean the professor will
just drop you from the
course, a rude awakening is
in store for you. If official
withdrawal papers are not
filled out then you are not
officially withdrawn. Instead
of a safe removal of a course
from your academic record,
you instead will be faced with
a failing grade due to lack of
attendance.
“I don’t understand why
someone thinks dropping
will help you,” said Sara
Mohn, 20, from New Hope.
“Just work harder and take
the grade you deserve.”