• late withdrawal

    when the stars are not alligned, LWD

    April 14, 2011

    Dear aska….
    im in desperate need of your help! I am currently in my second year (studying architectural design), have been doing pretty well “so far” with a CGPA of 3.3, but things have not been that great this semester. I have taken an astronomy course, which I though is gonna be lotsaaa physics and math and cool stuff, but ended up being the most boring weird stupid course ever! Im getting high 50s in that course and it was supposed to bump up my average!!!!? seriously this course is faaar from what i though it would be (i took two astronomy courses last year and got A+ in both)…wanna know what my final paper is about? its about detecting Aliens!!!
    anyways, now im seriously considering dropping it but of course its too late, plus im taking 4 courses so im already behind everything! and i dont wanna finish school in 5yrs. did i mention this essay is due in 5hrs and i dont even have sources?

    ok so now you have an idea of how messed up my school life is. now i have two options but idk which one would be better for me, so I instantly thought of you ASKA 😛

    option1: to try and finish this essay, get prolly low 60s in that, end up with a C- in the course, but not having that LWD written on my transcript.

    option 2: to drop astronomy(late withdrawal) and stick to my other courses, trying to get A’s in the remaining three courses, havng that F***ing LWD written on my transcript but geting a really high gpa instead.
    my greatest concern is wether that LWD is a terrible thing to have on a transcript? cuz i

    totally want to get my masters degree from a school better than UofT and i dont wanna do anything stupid and spoil my chances. help me pleaaaaseee ASKA thanQ for all you amazing answers <3

    ???????????????

    Hey pal. Aska is super sorry for answering this question late. There was an aska-switchover, these things happen, yadda yadda yadda, etc. But OMG how cool is it that you got to write a paper about detecting aliens?! So cool, Scully. Anyways…

    I’m sure you have already made a pivotal decision about your future and handled the situation well. But in regards to the LWD, please know that it will never affect your future plans, especially in second year. I mean, U of T only lets you do 3 LWD in total on your transcript, and if your say, final year of school before applying to law school was inexplicably marred with multiple LWDs, Harvard might say, “what’s up?” But in general terms, schools understand that LWDs happen and go by your marks and application more closely than anything.

    (In the interest of full disclosure, please know that Aska itself has a LWD on their transcript, and has lived to TELL THE TALE.)

    Now to be horribly controversial, Aska suggests you treat LWDs like an abortion (?) – only terminate the class if you really can’t go through with the procedure. Last minute essays and tests and stress build ups might seem insurmountable at the time, but sometimes you know that if you power through it, you can finish the course and not have to make up the credit down the line. LWD are not something you should do any time you get in trouble – they are a special, significant preventive measure.

    Hopefully you are not pro-life and now think I am the worst advice-giver ever.

    Anyways, please let me know how this situation played itself out and email me your paper on detecting aliens.

    xoxo, Askastudent

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  • exams,  failing,  grades,  late withdrawal

    Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.

    June 1, 2009

    i really need help figuring out about this new policy about dropping courses after you’ve sat for their exam… apparently you can drop 2 credits worth of courses and the grade you recieved in them will not appear on your transcript nor will the effect your CGPA the catch is that the course will still show up on your transcript showing that you did take that course and that you have dropped it.
    now alot of people have told me there is no such policy but i clearly rememebr one of my professors telling us about it before a lecture.
    ANY ONE WHO KNOW’S FOR SURE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!

     

    I hate to be considered part of “a lot of people” (sounds too commonplace for Aska). However, dear asker, I am about to tell you the same thing everyone else has: NO, that policy does not exist.

    Now, I wasn’t satisfied with simply telling you no. So, I’ve been investigating with ‘the authorities’ on what actual policies the Prof/you may be misinterpreting. I feel like a much less cool Sherlock Holmes.

     

    1) What you are describing sounds a lot like the NEW policy for “Late Withdrawal.”

    You may classify up to 3.0 credits as Late Withdrawal. This means that the course will appear on your transcript with LWD in lieu of a grade. As such, it will not affect your CGPA. In order to classify a course as LWD, you must get this approved by your College Registrar’s Office by the last day of classes. Yes, I said APPROVED. This means that you can’t just bail on a course because you don’t want that nasty A- on your transcript (nerd), or because the exam is on the same evening as the American Idol finale. You will have to demonstrate that you may fail the course, or that it will significantly degrade your CGPA. It is intended for scenarios in which students are seriously overwhelmed by their coursework.

     

    2) Secondly, your inquiry has hints of a “Petition for Late Withdrawal” without academic penalty.

    This is a formal petition process reviewed by the Faculty of Arts & Science. You may be granted withdrawal from a course after the final drop date, and technically for 6 months after the course has finished. If this is approved, WDR will appear on your transcript in lieu of the grade. These do not count against the 3.0 LWD credits that you are entitled. Obviously, the grounds for getting a petition approved are MUCH stricter than Option 1. We’re talking about serious unforeseen issues (e.g. medical). Petitioning for a WDR after you have sat through the exam is even tougher – because you made the decision not to take advantage of the LWD previously. I suppose you would need to demonstrate that your judgment in deciding to stay in the course and sit through the exam was, in the first place, compromised or something like that.

     

    Make sense???

     

    Although this query-response combo is a bit of a dud, there is an important lesson to be learned here. Our Western pedagogical structure inflates students’ perceptions of their Professors to the highest tier of wisdom and significance. Profs deliver their knowledge, through one-way means, down to students. This allows an imbalanced power dynamic to permeate the University. It is a social norm that denies opportunities for dialogical and experiential learning. It also precludes the idea of Professors as students themselves, and their ability to learn from students.

     

    So, what’s the point of my rant? Believe it or not, I’m not just typing to read myself write. Rather, I’m trying to illustrate that Profs don’t know everything, they are often out of touch with academic policies and make things up, and just because they said it – doesn’t mean that it’s right.

     

    P.s. Vive la revolution!!

    P.p.s. Aska is still known to gaze, enamored and starry-eyed, at a Prof from time to time.

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