Dropping classes is the easy way out, but it can place students in a hard position when they lose financial aid in addition to scarring their transcript.

Picture this: it’s five weeks into the semester. You are tired of your English class and you don’t want to write that seven page essay you know is coming up soon.

The only reason you took the class is because you needed to build up your units so you can get full time credit for financial aid. You’re just going to drop the class, take the W. It’s only your third withdraw and you can take the class later to make it up. Doing this shouldn’t hurt you that much, right? Wrong!

Dropping classes past the census day (the last day to drop classes without attaining a letter grade of some kind), or even before that day, could be harmful to students in a number of ways. Some students believe that even after they clear the W by retaking the class they dropped from, the W will disappear from their transcript.

The truth is the W does not disappear, the W will in most cases still show up on the student’s transcript. If the student is trying to transfer, this can cause a lot of colleges to think the student has commitment problems when it comes to taking classes.

It may also cause them to believe the student was in potential danger of failing a class, and if the class had to do with the students major—that could spell trouble. The more W’s, the worse off you look.

You might want to reconsider dropping your class especially if you plan on transferring and might need to rely on financial aid in the future.

The well of government money does have a limit. The Pell Grant for example which a lot of Skyline student have access to, has a limit of 600 percent. In one school year you can gain up to 100 percent, so 600 percent would amount to six years.

If you are claiming to go full time but only attend part time, you are burning up money you might well need after you transfer.

If you are just using classes for financial aid and the classes you are planning to drop have a waitlist, you are taking a spot from someone who might actually need to take the class and leaving the spot empty when you drop.

Constant dropping of many classes can also put a student on academic probation, potentially suspending financial aid. If the students behavior is not changed during academic probation, said student could be dismissed from the campus.

If you are a student who sees themselves dropping classes because it’s too hard, don’t be shy to ask your instructor for help. Most of the time, they will work with you because that’s what they are there for. There is also the Learning Center in the first floor of building five where there are tutors who are ready to help you.

Counselors are an amazing resource for students who find themselves dropping classes because they might not need it or just flat out don’t know what to do. They can help you find a class that you would want to stay in based on your interest. Skyline has some of the best counselors who really do care, so use them while you have the chance.

Whatever the problem, dropping a class should only be an option when no other option is available.

The students of Skyline have a plethora of resources available to them. Dropping a class because of laziness or it being too hard is a disgrace to yourself and a disgrace to others who’s didn’t get the chance at taking the class. Stick with it; the payoff of completing something is way better than the ease of dropping.

This article has been update to fix formatting issues. 2/15/2013 12:27 a.m.