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.