To withdraw or not to withdraw?

All students want As. Some are thrilled with Bs. But no student enrolls in a course with the intention of receiving the grade _ or, rather, the non-grade _ of W.

"W" stands for "Withdrawal," the option left to students who want to drop classes after the official drop date has passed. Unlike students who drop classes, students who withdraw from a course are left with a record on their transcript.

Though some students view the W as no big deal, others worry that withdrawing from a course will prevent them from getting admitted to some graduate schools. But administrators say that a W doesn't necessarily reflect poorly on a student.

"There are lots of reasons students have to withdraw," said Thomas Slavin, the director of admissions at Tufts School of Medicine. "And often it's the smart thing to do."

Although the University does not officially track students' reasons for withdrawing, Lynne Ausman, the dean of students of the Tufts School of Nutrition, suggested several of the most common reasons for withdrawing. "A student takes on too many courses and realize that he or she won't be able to do justice to them, a student is doing poorly in the subject and would like to withdraw, or a student has a health issue and needs to withdraw," she said.

One senior who decided to withdraw from his organic chemistry class said he does not regret it. "I had a heavy workload that semester and had just changed majors," he said. "I didn't view it as a big deal."

A junior pre-med student majoring in Biology took a W last semester for a different sort of reason: she landed a good lab job that conflicted with her class, so her advisor suggested that she withdraw from the class, take the lab job, and retake the class in a later semester.

One sophomore cited two reasons for withdrawing from Computer Science Primer last semester. "First, I just forgot to drop it _ I withdrew two days after the drop date," she said. "Second, I didn't like the course to begin with. Then it got really hard, and I decided that I'd rather withdraw than fail."

The sophomore approached her advisor in making her decision. "My advisor, a dean, said it would be better for me to withdraw than to get a bad grade," she said.

What constitutes a bad grade, however, is a contentious matter between students, advisors, and teachers, who have the option of not signing a student's withdrawal form if they feel the student's reasons for withdrawing are invalid.

Robin Kanarak, the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said some students have told her they want to withdraw from a class "simply because they have a B [and not an A] in their class!"

"It's a lot better to have a B than a W," she said, although she cited some valid reasons for withdrawal, like mononucleosis.

Kanarak also said that the withdrawal option should be used judiciously, and that students should carefully consider in which areas they use it. She said that students should seriously weigh their options, especially when the course from which they're considering withdrawing is within their major.

"A lot of premed students withdraw from organic chemistry, worrying that a C+ won't get them into medical school," Kanarak said. "But in that case, a C+ is better than a W, which suggests that the student couldn't do the work."

Laurie Hurley, the director of admissions and financial aid at the Fletcher School, explained that the effects of a W vary. "Every graduate school will have a different take on Ws," she said.

She said schools can be compassionate. "The admissions committee recognizes that things happen that cause students to withdraw," she said. "There's a million and one reasons why students withdraw from classes."

Slavin, Kanarak, Ausman, and Hurley all concur that a single withdrawal is not likely to have an impact on a student's admission into graduate school. "An isolated W doesn't really mean anything," Slavin said. "It is not viewed negatively in and of itself."

"If a pressing personal crisis arises or someone is overscheduled," Slavin said. "It's a wise thing to cut a course loose."

Issues arise when there are multiple Ws on a student's transcript.

"The problem is when there seems to be a pattern, which suggests that a student doesn't know how to budget their time," Kanarak said.

Kanarak and Hurley emphasized the importance of notifying the admissions committee of the reasons for any Ws on a student's transcript.

Students appear to be receiving that message. As one junior, who withdrew from Biology 13, said, "It's no big deal as long as your transcript isn't littered with W's."