Context: I am a third-year undergraduate statistics and computer science major and I am interested in pursuing a statistics PhD. I plan on applying to graduate programs next fall.
Earlier this semester my family and I got COVID and this really put me behind in all of my classes, and the one egg I dropped whilst playing catch-up was my real analysis class. I bombed both exams, and there is really only the final exam left which can affect my grade. After bombing the exams I switched the class to a Pass-Fail grading option. I did talk this through with my professor, and I am on track to still pass the class considering how much work I have already put in. However, it realistically can at best be a C+/B- depending on the final exam score. From meeting with graduate students I know, I am under the impression that this course is heavily weighted in admissions for statistics programs. Should I stay in the class and let the grade resolve as a Pass or drop the class entirely and take it a second time? Would applying with real analysis absent from my transcript entirely be better than saying I "merely passed" the class? Does that fact the we are still in a pandemic still hold any weight?
