Dropping/switching a Uni course...easy way out?

I am a 1st year University student and Semester 2 classes started this week.

There is this class though--a philosophy course--that I am not too psyched about. So basically I feel that if I dropped this course to switch to a presumably easier course, I feel that I would be taking the easy way out and I kinda feel bad about it.

This course (the one I'm trying to drop) doesn't really interest me, and I have a hard time understanding it, and it involves (surprise) quizzes, mini-papers to write, an 8-10pg term paper at the end, a midterm, and an exam (of course). Last semester I took a different philosophy course and enjoyed it a lot more--the midterms & exams were take-home, and I could understand what the prof was saying and what we were discussing. Yet today I had practically no idea what we were discussing, and what the prof was saying. He talks kinda fast, but everyone seems into it (in the discussions).

Eventually I would have to take courses with the similar workload so shouldn't I start doing that now,and not drop it? If I keep this course, it would be my hardest one--the one with the most workload, and the one I least understand and am least motivated to do.

I think I'm kinda of answering my own question (I think I'm going to drop it) but is there any way I can feel less bad about it?

Don't feel bad about it. I just finished university - and I had to drop this horrible calculus course because i couldn't understand what was going on lol. Actually I would have done better if I had taken the prereq immediately before but it had been a year and a half since i'd taken the prereq for it.

If you feel you can't do it - or if it will be too difficult it will be better to withdraw from it now and maybe even take it later with a different prof when u are more prepared for the workload. Better to withdraw than to get a failing grade which will affect your gpa.

Hi! It might not be the course...it very well could be the teacher. Maybe his/her style of teaching does not work your you. IMO i would keep the course but ask to be moved to another class that has the same course (often there will be more than one teacher teaching the same course).

I have been in univeristy for three semesters now and I can tell that if a class is bad is almost always because the professor is bad. Almost any course can be good as long as the professor teaches it well and isn't a jerk. A very useful site for all college students like me:

link removed

Go there and browse to your school. Look up ratings for professors and find the good ones. It's the secret to success in college.

Don't feel bad about dropping a course. Especially if you're adding a new one to replace it. If you don't like the class then simply drop it. You can always take it next semester with a different professor if the course is a requirement.

Hello. Thanks for all the replies so far.

Yet I'm still deciding what I am going to do...

I don't think he is a "bad" teacher, just a hard teacher. He is the only prof that teaches this course...(this course is an option, it is not a required one for me)

I went to that site Caldus recommended and looked him up. His ratings said what I thought of him. (I was very surprised that they even had ratings for my school.) Unfortunately, for the course I want to switch into, the prof wasn't listed.

I had fun looking up my other profs too. Thanks for the site, lol.

If it's not a required course and is something where you have a choice, then take the class that interests you more. Whether it is the teacher, the workload, or just a boring subject, if you do not like the class then you won't get anything out of it. You'll dread going to class, will be bored in class, won't want to put in the effort required for the course, and will probably not do as good as you would like.

Just because the teacher is hard doesn't mean he is bad or that its a class you shouldn't take. Alot of time hard teachers get a bad reputation just because they challenge you more and most students are looking to just get by doing as little work as possible. I've had hard teachers but you really learn alot and hard teachers where you learn nothing. I've also had easy teachers where you learn alot and easy teachers where you learn nothing. It's a matter of if there teaching style matches to you and if you like the subject. Since it is an elective, pick the class that most interests you.

Yeah, i agree, just drop it.

*SIGH*

I dropped the course online over the weekend, and today I went to my supposedly new class, sat through the lecture, wrote notes, but when I went to the prof to get signed-in--he was sorry to say that the class was full! It said online that the class was still open though...they really should update their site.

So...now I am stuck. I have about 3 other classes to choose from which fit into my schedule, which are kind of like History courses...One of them I am not interested in at all, the other is so-so. I could go to that one tomorrow but what happens if it's full then I am completely #$%^...

Then I'm thinking maybe I should go back to the course I dropped...but I missed the quiz we had today (I'm guessing that was around 1-2% of our mark)...Yet I'm still kind of reluctant to write an 8-10pg paper (esp. on a topic I am not passionate about)...

Any advice?

It said online that the class was still open though...they really should update their site.

Um, wait a minute. If the system says it isn't full than it isn't full! Did you tell him that? At my university, if the system says a class is still open and you registered online, then that means you're in no matter what. When you say register online, do you mean that it actually registered the class for you or does it just tell how many slots are left?

That class seats about 100 students, and every seat was full. He also said he's probably over the limit for adding students in--he said he added 15 last week.

I'm crossing my fingers that my next choice will not be full, b/c it seriously is my last resort (that fits in my schedule nicely). This time I'm going to ask the prof before class starts to get signed-in.

When I say check online, I mean it says whether or not the class is "Open" or "Full". It said "open" but it was clearly physically "full", aka ?!

You need to be prepared either way. Never assume that the class will not be full. You need to always prepare a back-up plan in the future. I would list out some other courses that I wouldn't mind taking as alternatives in case my main choices were full. But since I'm a sophomore now, it's much easier for me to get into most classes before they go full. I didn't have to deal with any of that stuff this semester luckily.

Well...thanks for your advice everyone...but...I ended up going back to the class I dropped.

I didn't really have a choice. The class I wanted to switch into was full. My second choice was also full. My third choice...I can see now why it was still open--I sat in that class and unfortunately was unable to leave--it was absolutely wretched.

So yeah I'm back in this philosohy course. The prof is a cool guy but it is hard. I have to reread the assigned text like 2 times to understand it, but I guess "You live, You learn" applies here.

*sigh* lol

Well good luck cranberry. Hope it isn't too difficult for you. I had a class like that one semester. You just have to endure it until the end.