Withdrawal or Pass Fail / How bad did I fuck up?
Never been too bright at math. After interning at a wealth management firm over the summer, I thought it would be a good idea to challenge myself by taking Calculus II in college. The class is not required for my major so I took it purely in hopes of improving my math skills.
4 weeks into the semester and I’ve come to find that I dropped a banging 61% on my first test. As much as I hate to admit it, I spent a whole week studying for the test and still performed this terribly. Quite funny to be fair. This exam accounts for 10% of my grade.
The Professor will not be curving any of the tests/ the class so I don’t think there is any hope there.
How bad would it look on my transcript if I withdrew from the class or changed it to pass/fail? I’m a sophomore with a 3.97 GPA (non-target). My plan has always been to try to apply to IB. The application process opens next semester for summer 2025 so any firm I apply too will see that I withdrew or pass failed the class.
What do I do? Should I stay in the class? Should I withdraw? Should I pass/fail?
How fucked am I?
Thanks in advance! Appreciate any insight.
Hey there, don't beat yourself up! We all have those subjects that give us a bit of a headache. Now, let's talk about your situation.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, it seems that HR typically doesn't look at transcripts beyond verifying enrollment/graduation and validating GPA. So, if you decide to take this class as Pass/Fail, it could help protect your overall GPA.
However, if someone does take a closer look, it might seem a bit odd to see a non-graded math class on the transcript of someone aiming for IB. But the chances of that happening are quite slim.
As for withdrawing from the class, it's not the end of the world, but it's something you might have to explain in an interview.
In the end, the decision is yours. You could stick it out and try to improve your grade, or you could opt for the Pass/Fail or withdrawal route. Just remember, one class won't define your entire career. Keep your chin up and keep swinging!
Sources: Pass/Fail Basic Finance, What would you do?, Pass/Fail and MBA Admissions, Is having a fail on your transcript bad for B school admissions?
They don’t call it taking a dub for nothing, champ.
People withdraw from classes for all kinds of reasons (didn’t like the professor, didn’t like the course, etc.). I’ve never been asked to take an integral in IB anyway.
The words of encouragement are much appreciated mate. The withdrawal is looking incredibly tempting at the moment. Should I be worried that I’ll get rejected from future finance roles (ie analyst or what not) due to being perceived as bad at math?
I would suggest considering taking it P/F, you will still benefit from learning the material but it won't impact your GPA.
For my internship they didn't even ask for my transcript, and they only typically do during the onboarding process from my understanding. Nobody cares that you took a class P/F or not.
Pass Fail probably looks better than a W, but I doubt they will even notice if it doesn’t affect your GPA.
Overall though, not sure why you thought Calc 2 would help you with IB.
Ditto. I flunked Calc 1 (advanced) in college, and have never used it, even when getting my CFA charter. Just swap to pass/fail if you think it's worthwhile.
Also: consider stats. A lot of finance is basically applied statistics
Certainly not the brightest decision I made. Went in thinking that I’d improve upon my fundamental math skills but instead I’ve learned about graphing in three dimensional space.
It is already proving rather hard to stay afloat in this class while maintaining performance in my other subjects, would it be academic/career suicide to withdraw?
Appreciate your response Isaiah.
Yeah just take the W. Focus on keeping that near 4.0 GPA. I took a W in Honors English as I thought I was going to get a C. I didn’t even get asked about it during recruiting.
Fuck I never took another math class after high school. Why on earth would you take any math in college? Most colleges will let you test out of it.
As long as it doesn't affect your GPA no one cares.
Personally, I just aced some easy freshman year classes and then took my most of my sophomore and senior years pass/fail. Didn't take any math classes and had a couple Ws sprinkled in too. I'm in IB now and going to PE next year.
I agree with the above poster, just take the W and focus on prepping for recruiting (and enjoying college, you only do undergrad once.)
If you are at 61%, then you need to consider the chances of even getting a Pass, in a Pass/Fail scenario.
At 61% (assuming ~65% = Pass), you would have to score almost perfect on everything else in the course, to be firmly out of the 60s, and not risk a bad surprise of something graded low, and then be locked in, and unable to withdraw at that point.
Protect your GPA, and take the W (Withdrawal).
At 3.97 GPA (target or not), that is solid and you don't want to ruin it.
Depending on your major, and program, you might even be able to qualify to graduate with honors at this point -- not if you Fail the course, however.
College is not about challenging yourself by risking your GPA -- college is about getting the highest GPA (and overall outcome) possible; to enable you the best opportunity of grad school and/or full-time hiring after graduation.
It is not about challenging or finding yourself -- It is about setting yourself up for the best possible outcome after graduation.
Protect your GPA, and make strategic decisions throughout college, to enable the best chances of your goal outcome.
People withdraw from courses all the time. It doesn't necessarily look bad; and it could be for any reason.
It looks much worse to have a potential F (Fail) on your transcript.
Having an F (Fail) on your transcript could enough to derail your future plans.
Think strategically, and protect your GPA.
Take the W.
Wow, rough if you actually believe this.
[Edit: User missed intended point / not worth it]
Get off your high horse. You may be a CEO of some PE firm, but here you’re just another commenter and I think your opinion of college is flawed.
I learned way more from the classes outside of my major than I did from the finance/STEM classes I took. Taking one experimental class won’t bring a 3.97 to a 1.0 or 2.0, you don’t need Calc 2 to know that.
Edit: for what it’s worth I haven’t given you monkey shit.
I generally agree with this. I took several steps outside of focusing on my Business Administration major including joining the Honors college (harder classes), adding a Spanish major (with study abroad to Spain) and an East Asian Studies minor (with study abroad to China). I was greatly shaped by these experiences and my college experience was stellar in terms of covering a lot of material in a short amount of time and intellectual curiosity.
[Edit: User missed intended point / not worth it]
Re: Edit -- I appreciate your clarification.
The length of your answers and your pitiful language/tone are proof you are clearly a very small, spoiled, pathetic little person. Whatever rinky-dink firm you supposedly manage, you are nothing more than a weak, insecure failure. If you feel strong spewing your venom behind your keyboard, insulting a kid (using hundreds of words) because he said « Wow, rough if you actually believe this » — you must be a special kind of meek. You must have « submitted » quite a lot.
PS: I am Persiano Rossa, living in Milan and working for Kairos. Go ahead and show us what you’re capable of. In your words, this is the real world, and you are nothing. We all know your limit is flagging this comment to WSO in hopes that your insufferable, pestering attitude may lead to my account being shut down — unlike you, I couldn’t care less about a meaningless online profile. Have fun living with yourself.
lmfao why would you do this to yourself if you know math isn't your strong suit? Literally no finance jobs require calculus except maybe quants? Even then, none of the guys I know at funds like Ex/MLP/Cubist are using it, they're coding & stats powerhouses. Just P/F the course if you think you can squeak out the P or if not, withdraw. No one in IB is going to give a crap about what happened in a calc class that wasn't even required for your major, if anything it just becomes a topic to find humor in if it comes up (which I doubt it will). Your grades are otherwise stellar, priority should 100% be to keep them that way.
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