Should I purposely fail my class?

[Rilesss]

Basically, I made a huge mistake by taking a 5 unit summer class, meanwhile working full time. I'm currently in a college algebra course, which is a prereq for stats. The semester before this, I had withdrawn from the same class and got a W. I'm currently on the fence. Should I tough the course out and get a C, or should I get a D or F in the class so I can retake it and get a better grade? At my school, you can only get "grade forgiveness" if you receive a grade of a D or F. It replaces the D or F in your GPA but the previous grade remains on your transcript. Would this make me less competitive when applying to CSU nursing programs? I don't think I want to withdraw from the class and get another W. I currently have a GPA of 3.84 and a C would greatly decrease my GPA. I will be applying to several CSU BSN programs. CSUB is my top choice. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Should I purposely fail or should I tough it out and get a C? Does CSUB care about my college algebra class or are they more concerned with stats? Would another W in the same course look bad? Any responses would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Jl0202]

I had this exact issue. When I first started college about 10 years ago I ended up withdrawing from two algebra classes before finally withdrawing from college altogether. When I finally decided to return to school I thought that I could be able to take the online algebra class. Worst mistake I could have made. No amount of focus or drive could have helped me to pass that class. I still tried until the very end and I ended up with an F. I took the class yet again that summer and earned a B. I thought that those two W's and an F would look horrible on my transcript when it came to the CSU's. I was wrong. This class doesn't even transfer over to the CSU's. They will be eliminated from your GPA when you apply to the schools. However, some nursing departments that consider overall GPA will consider this class when they are calculating your points for admission into the nursing program.

I went to the CSUB Nursing Department website and it looks like they only consider your 8 prereq grades when calculating your GPA. They will not look at your algebra class. Also, I personally found statistics to be much easier than algebra. I had no problem earning an A in that class. Make sure you get A's in the prereq's and you should be fine.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

It wouldn't look bad to get two W's in the same course?

It's not going to look as bad as an 'F' on your transcript. Believe it or not, schools look at more than just the GPA.

[mirandaaa]

I can't give much advice, but I will say that I find it very frustrating that people are penalized for withdrawing. If someone is responsible enough to realize they can't handle a course (due to WHATEVER reason), they shouldn't be penalized for that.

I had to withdraw from my ENGL course a few years ago because my professor was requiring tons of out-of-class group work and at the time, I was attending a small community college where people from other towns attended and we could never manage to get everyone together outside of class. He would also hold us over (class ended at 2) and it would make me late to work (I worked 30 min. away at 3). I'm fortunate in the sense that my school doesn't care about that one "W", but it's unfortunate that some places do care.

[caliotter3]

Save that D or F for a future misstep. You never know.

[SeattleJess]

No.

[windsurfer8, BSN, RN]

Really there is not great answer. It won't look good either way. The thing is learn from this. Why make your chances of getting into school harder than it already is? I am telling you it is worth going into animal mode in school and getting the good grades. Yes..less partying....but it is worth it in the end. They want the students who work HARD and show they want it with results. Tons of people "want" to be nurses. Many less are actually willing to put in the work to get it. If you get the As and Bs you don't have to worry about stuff like this.

[brandiep1982]

Is it not possible to improve your grade? If it is not possible is this because of your job or because it literally doesn't matter how well you do from here on out, you will still get a C?

[Veigar3]

Don't fail on purpose, that means you're taking college education for granted. I understand you're playing the game of a competitive nursing student, but don't trade in your personal integrity.

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

some schools won't let you withdraw from the same class twice...

[ThatOneDude822]

I was just accepted to CSUB's program starting Fall 2015. I see you've already gotten some advice whether to withdraw or take the D/F, so I won't touch on that too much. But I do want to let you know that CSUB Nursing only allows ONE retake in science and ONE retake in non-science (two total retakes), so that's something to keep in mind when making your decision.

http://www.csub.edu/nursing/_files/PreNursing%20Handbook.pdf

There is a link to the pre-nursing handbook for CSUB. Page 6 covers W's and retakes.

As far as college Algebra vs. Stats, CSUB takes 3 things into account when applying.

1) Prereq GPA (anatomy, physiology, stats, eng, speech, critical thinking, micro, and chem)

2) math/science gpa (stats, anatomy, physiology, micro, and chem)

3) your TEAS score.

So while not doing so well in algebra may not directly affect your chances of being accepted, I would still try to do well in it in order to maximize your grade in statistics, which would increase your chances of getting a higher grade in statistics which WILL make a difference.

Here is a link to the scoring guide: http://www.csub.edu/nursing/_files/Scoring%20Guide.pdf

Here is a link to a calculator that will determine both GPAs as well as the number of points you have: http://www.csub.edu/nursing/_files/GPA%20Points%20Calculator.xlsx

Good luck!

[PaulBaxter]

My vote is that you try to get an A in the class.