Advice on what to do

[Vee9]

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I'm in my first semester of second year and would like to drop a course this semester. I'd like to end up with a higher grade rather than keep this course, get an unsatisfactory grade and have to retake it again.

I've emailed the schools in the US and they have all said that dropping a course wouldn't affect my application if at all, since it will be the first time I drop a course.

Waterloo, however, responded like this:

Assuming you are applying to Waterloo, they do require you to have a full course load (5 courses per semester) during the Fall and Winter terms regardless of whether you have taken additional summer courses. So if you were thinking of dropping a first term course at this point in time, I definitely wouldn't recommend it as you won't be able to enroll in another course to fulfill the full course load requirement.

I'm very confused and I'm not sure what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[csandova]

How many courses are you taking? More than 5? Waterloo is basically saying that they require you to take at least 5 courses a semester. If for example you're currently taking 6, if you were to drop one you would sill be fulfilling the 5 credit requirement.

 

[Loptometriste]

It depends how bad you are truly doing in this course and if you are okay going to a U.S. school.

 

[Vee9]

I'm currently taking 5 courses but I have a feeling that when finals come, my mark won't be enough.

 

[Artemis2]

Waterloo does say they require 5 courses a semester. But they also will not consider you if average is below 70%. So you basically have to make a gamble.

I do know someone who got accepted into waterloo by taking 4 classes every semester. So apparently the 5 classes a semester rule doesn't always apply

 

[Vee9]

Did they have a valid excuse for only taking 4 courses? When I talked to the admission lady, she abruptly said that dropping a course to get a better grade was not going to cut it but she said it rather rudely :\
She said it doesn't matter if you've taken summer courses but on their website, it kind of contradicts what she said:

"If you are taking extra course(s) in the summer, you don't have to take a full course load. All course work must be finished by May 31 of the year of application (e.g. May 31, 2013 for applications for September 2013)."

 

[Artemis2]

They weren't aware waterloo required you to take a full course load. No one asked during their interview why they did not take a full course load either.

 

[Artemis2]

I should add they never dropped a course and got great grades in all the courses they did take

 

[Runningman85]

That's weird, Waterloo puts a big emphasis on having a full course load so I'm surprised they didn't ask about it.