Considering Dropping a Course?

There are a lot of factors at play if you are considering whether or not to drop a course.  The following information may be helpful:

1. The Library has a Mark Calculator to help you get a more realistic idea of where you are at in a course and what you need on the final exam to attain a final grade your are comfortable with (50%, 60%, etc): https://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/writing-studying/studying-resources-workshops/mark-calculator

2. After going through this exercise, it is also important to consider how you did on assessments similar to the final exam format, and whether you are starting to comprehend course content better since that first failed mid-term perhaps.  If you did well on assignments, but not on tests, is the final grade needed on the exam realistic?

3. Courses dropped by the last day of classes do not appear on your transcript.  Failed courses, however, remain on your transcript and continue to contribute to your cumulative average even once a required course is retaken and passed.  

4. If you are concerned about the impact of low or failed grades on a future professional program application, it is best to look more closely into the admission requirements for the schools that offer those programs.  Do they look at a cumulative average, or the last or 10 best credits, or pre-requisite courses and last two full time semesters?  Is a reduced courseload in one semester, with higher grades, going to be a better outcome in the long run than a full 2.5 credit courseload with much lower grades.

5. How much current time and effort are you designating to this course?  If you opt to try and complete things, will this impact your ability to focus well on your other courses? 

6. Is this course part of your major?  Students in the BA degree program are required to obtain a major average of 70%. If this course is part of your major, and you do not pass this course or do poorly, this will impact your major average.

7.  If you are concerned about reducing your courseload to part-time status and any implications that may have on OSAP funding, etc, please check with Student Financial Services at finaid@uoguelph.ca

If you do decide to drop a course, this can be done on your own using WebAdvisor.  Once you have dropped the course, please be sure to double check your class schedule to ensure it has been successfully removed.  WebAdvisor will not give any form of confirmation.

If you would like to continue in a course, but are concerned it might impact your overall cumulative average, you can consider the credit/no credit grading option.  Undergraduate students may elect to take up to a maximum of 2.00 credits on the credit/no credit grading option. Complete details on the grading option can be found here.  The request for the credit/no credit grading option form can be found on our Registrarial Services download, forms and document page.

To qualify for this option as a BA student you must:

  • Be currently registered in this course.
  • Apply the credit/no credit option only to elective courses.  Any course that can contribute towards your major, minor, area of emphasis, or area of concentration will not qualify.
  • Complete and submit the form by the last day of classes.