{"id":35997,"date":"2018-10-26T11:23:50","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T15:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=35997"},"modified":"2018-10-26T11:23:50","modified_gmt":"2018-10-26T15:23:50","slug":"the-myths-of-course-dropping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2018\/10\/26\/the-myths-of-course-dropping\/","title":{"rendered":"The Myths of Course Dropping"},"content":{"rendered":"<em>November 5th is the official deadline to drop a Fall class for this semester<\/em>. Speaking from personal experience, I know what it\u2019s like to be confused by, and bit scared of, the concept of dropping a class, so I wanted to take this chance to bust some of the myths and misconceptions around dropping courses.\r\n\r\n<figure id=\"attachment_36148\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36148\" style=\"width: 613px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/dropcourse.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-36148\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/dropcourse.jpg\" alt=\"Image of the drop course icon from ACORN. Caption: To drop or not to drop, that is the question\" width=\"613\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/dropcourse.jpg 1190w, https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/dropcourse-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/dropcourse-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/dropcourse-1024x585.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 613px) 100vw, 613px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36148\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">To drop or not to drop, that is the question<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<strong>MYTH:<\/strong> You should drop a class if it means keeping a high GPA.\r\n\r\n<strong>WHY THIS IS FALSE:<\/strong> While it\u2019s definitely nice to have a great GPA, it shouldn\u2019t be the only factor in deciding whether you should drop a course or not. Keep in mind that you get 30% of your final mark before the drop deadline. This means you have another 70% to go, which might give you enough time to reevaluate your learning strategies and ask for help. There are plenty of resources at U of T that you can use, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/asc\">Academic Success<\/a> and U of T's many\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/writing.utoronto.ca\/writing-centres\/\">Writing Centres<\/a>.\r\n\r\nIf you don\u2019t think you can turn your mark around, then taking it as a credit\/no credit course (CR\/NCR for short) is also an option, especially if you want to stay in the class and you don't need the grade for your POSt. This way, you can still get the credit if you pass the course.\r\n\r\n<strong>MYTH:<\/strong> You should drop a class to free up your time.\r\n\r\n<strong>WHY THIS IS FALSE:<\/strong> While this can be an incredibly tempting idea, it\u2019s important to think about why you want to free up your time. Do you want more time so you can focus on your other classes, or do you want to drop classes because you\u2019d rather be at home watching Netflix? If you\u2019re struggling with time management and motivation, there are tons of blog posts (<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2018\/09\/10\/25-hours-in-a-day-making-time-for-everything\/\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2018\/09\/25\/one-now-at-a-time\/\">here<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2018\/08\/21\/time-keeps-on-slippin\/\">here<\/a>) which can help you get on track.<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/acorn.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36049\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/acorn.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"60\" height=\"40\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n<figure id=\"attachment_36050\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36050\" style=\"width: 732px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/netflix.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36050\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/netflix.jpg\" alt=\"The logo for Netflix. Caption: My personal weakness\" width=\"732\" height=\"412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/netflix.jpg 732w, https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2018\/10\/netflix-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 732px) 100vw, 732px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36050\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My personal weakness<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<strong>MYTH:<\/strong> You should drop a class because you don\u2019t need it.\r\n\r\n<strong>WHY THIS IS FALSE:<\/strong> U of T is an amazing place to indulge in your curiosities and interests. Even if a class doesn\u2019t seem completely relevant to your degree or career aspirations, it still might open doors for you! Plus, it could be worth it if you really enjoy the topic.\r\n\r\nI took Celtic Folklore last year (SMC346, in case you\u2019re interested), and not only was it super fun but my prof also said she\u2019d be able to put me in contact with faculty at Harvard\u2019s Folklore &amp; Mythology Department if I ever wanted to pursue the topic in grad school. How cool is that?\r\n\r\n<strong>MYTH:<\/strong> You should just follow your gut when deciding to drop a class.\r\n\r\n<strong>WHY THIS IS FALSE:<\/strong> It\u2019s important that you list out your own pros and cons for dropping a course: in other words, take everything I say here with a grain of salt! Maybe you do need to drop a class to have more free time, maybe you\u2019re in a rut and need more time for self-care. Maybe you realized that it\u2019d be better to replace one class with another. At the end of the day, remember to listen to yourself in making your own decisions.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">\nNovember 5th is the official deadline to drop a Fall class for this semester. Speaking from personal experience, I know what it\u2019s like to be confused by, and bit scared of, the concept of dropping a class, so I wanted&hellip;\n<\/div><div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2018\/10\/26\/the-myths-of-course-dropping\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;The Myths of Course Dropping&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2018\/10\/26\/the-myths-of-course-dropping\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;The Myths of Course Dropping&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":356,"featured_media":36148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6669,1,58,67,68],"tags":[127,1707,13636,341,692,25467,15751,13565,1085,25622,23738,48,23684],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/356"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35997"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36211,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35997\/revisions\/36211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}