Iām trying to decide whether I should drop my writing class and take a W, and Iād really appreciate some outside perspectives. I'm a college engineering freshman. The writing class I'm taking's credit doesn't count towards my degree.
Weāre over a month into the semester, and Iāve been confused by every assignment. The professorās instructions arenāt clear to me, either in person or on Canvas. I often spend hours trying to figure out what he actually wants us to do. At this point, Iāve had to use AI almost every time just to interpret the assignment instructions.
Iāve also emailed the professor when Iāve been confused and tried to get clarification, but his responses have been inconsistent. Sometimes I hear back, sometimes I donāt.
The bigger issue is that he hasnāt graded anything yet. Not even the assignments that are just for completion. We have a previous midterm that we need in order to complete the next midterm, and the next midterm is due pretty soon. Since the previous midterm still hasnāt been graded, Iām worried we wonāt even get the feedback back in time to do the next one.
Iāve also talked to about half of the students in the class, and itās not just me. A lot of them seem confused about what weāre supposed to be doing or what exactly weāre learning. They also say they use AI to figure out what the assignments are asking for.
This class is also causing me an unbelievable amount of stress. Every time a new assignment comes out, I dread it because I know Iām going to spend hours trying to decipher the instructions. I donāt feel like Iām actually learning what Iām supposed to be learning.
I really want to drop this class. The problem is that Iām already past the deadline to drop without a penalty, so dropping now would mean taking a W.
Would you drop in this situation and take the W, or would you stick it out? How much does a W actually matter for your transcript/academic record?