So I spoke to my engineering advisor who said that one should only cancel a course If he/she is sure they will fail course. Spoke to a friend who is in Life Sci. He says that cancelling still looks bad since it shows your employer/ect that you could not/unable to finish the course. He basically said it was pointless to cancel and might as well finish the course with a pass or fail. I am confused as to what to believe now.

At the end of the day do you want a failure or a dropped course on your transcript? Neither looks good but a failure will bring your average down.

I agree with Phil, they both aren't stellar things to have on your transcript but a dropped course looks better then a failed one.

I guess it depends if it is a compulsory course or an elective. I really don't see potential employers giving two shits about the fact you cancelled ECON 1BB3 first year and took ECON 1B03 instead.

If however it's like math or something, and they saw you cancelled it, then retook it the following year, that's a different story. They would assume you weren't doing well, and that's why you dropped it.

I'd be careful of dropping a course because you may be kicked out of your program.

Just stick with it...even if your not doing so great now, you still probably got a final and other possible ways to bring your mark up.

Also, if this course is a gpa dropper, just pick easier courses to raise your gpa up..it can't be that bad.

Originally Posted by mastercool

I'd be careful of dropping a course because you may be kicked out of your program.

Just stick with it...even if your not doing so great now, you still probably got a final and other possible ways to bring your mark up.

Also, if this course is a gpa dropper, just pick easier courses to raise your gpa up..it can't be that bad.

Dont know what totalitarian rules you got in your program, but in engineering as long as its not a prerequisite course for your future courses, and as long as you will take it in the future, you are good to go.

Just make sure you have enough space to take it in the future.

I would take a cancel over a fail simply because it doesn't affect your GPA. They say that to first years in eng because the less courses you take the higher the requirement is to enter second year. Example. I want to enter civil with a full course load. The minimum is a 5. If i cancelled/dropped a course/took one ahead of time it may be a 5.3

A lot of people have asked this question lately, and it pretty much always depends on the specific scenario. In general though, a fail will look bad 100% of the time, and a "cancel" will only look bad part of the time. Consider your specific situation and do whatever you want.

for me, I cancelled a course which i am getting a 70 on.
well, but that's because i want to get into pharm school
if u have a bad grade, they wont even look at your application
but if i am retaking it and get a good grade, at least u get a chance to explain why u did bad on it.
I'm like getting 80s in all other courses, but that's only in the edge of getting in to pharm school, any mark that can affect it for sure is not good.

Originally Posted by coffeecappu

for me, I cancelled a course which i am getting a 70 on.
well, but that's because i want to get into pharm school
if u have a bad grade, they wont even look at your application
but if i am retaking it and get a good grade, at least u get a chance to explain why u did bad on it.
I'm like getting 80s in all other courses, but that's only in the edge of getting in to pharm school, any mark that can affect it for sure is not good.

That's a complete lie.
I'm *in* pharm school right now, and there are certain courses we can get exempt from if you took equivalents and got above a 70. Well, there are several people who took the courses and did not get above 70 therefore didn't get the exemption.
Also, I got a 6 in a course, and a few 7's, one or two 8's and a few 9's...all those are in the 70 range and it didn't hurt me at all.
Grades are only one aspect of the application.

Originally Posted by starfish

That's a complete lie.
I'm *in* pharm school right now, and there are certain courses we can get exempt from if you took equivalents and got above a 70. Well, there are several people who took the courses and did not get above 70 therefore didn't get the exemption.
Also, I got a 6 in a course, and a few 7's, one or two 8's and a few 9's...all those are in the 70 range and it didn't hurt me at all.
Grades are only one aspect of the application.

the course i am failing is phy 1l03.. and I AM NEVER TAKING EQUIVALENT COURSE SUCH AS 1B03 BECAUSE WILL FAIL MORE

Originally Posted by coffeecappu

the course i am failing is phy 1l03.. and I AM NEVER TAKING EQUIVALENT COURSE SUCH AS 1B03 BECAUSE WILL FAIL MORE

You should really check your information.

First, a 70 is NOT failing. Not even close
Second, 1B03 and 1L03 are not equivalent. 1L03 is equivalent to grade 12 physics and 1B03 is university-level.
Third, if you did not take grade 12 physics, you need two terms of university-level physics for pharmacy school, so you'd have to take 1B03 regardless, and you should double-check that 1L03 counts as "university level".
Fourth, if you did take grade 12 physics, then you taking 1L03 is just like you taking any other course and getting a 70 in it is like getting a 70 in anything else.

You might find the pharmacy school websites useful. I'm really not very familiar with Waterloo's program but their website has all the info you need, and UofT's Pharmacy prospective student website is also very helpful.

If you're applying to professional schools a cancel is almost always better than a fail or a bad grade, particularly if you only have one or two. Professional schools care more about your average than they do about any individual course. An F or D or even a C can have a huge impact on your professional school average but a cancel has none.

In addition, by canceling you can focus more on your other courses and keep your grades up in them rather than sinking time and effort into a course which is not salvageable. This semester I dropped a course because it was literally taking 50-60% of the time I had to do school work. I was losing sleep (at least 1 all-nighter a week) and struggling in other courses because I had no time to study. Since I have dropped this course all my other courses are going much better. Just some food for thought.

for waterloo pharmacy, they dont require phys 1b03

Originally Posted by arathbon

If you're applying to professional schools a cancel is almost always better than a fail or a bad grade, particularly if you only have one or two. Professional schools care more about your average than they do about any individual course. An F or D or even a C can have a huge impact on your professional school average but a cancel has none.

In addition, by canceling you can focus more on your other courses and keep your grades up in them rather than sinking time and effort into a course which is not salvageable. This semester I dropped a course because it was literally taking 50-60% of the time I had to do school work. I was losing sleep (at least 1 all-nighter a week) and struggling in other courses because I had no time to study. Since I have dropped this course all my other courses are going much better. Just some food for thought.

the second part is so correct.