Dropping non-departmental required course

[BrokenRecord]

Hi all,

Needless to say grad school has been pretty tough thus far. It isn't necessarily the work that is so treacherous as it is other life issues (moving across the country, adjusting to living alone, being away from partner, adapting to a completely different culture, etc.) I am taking about 15 credits this quarter (no research or teaching obligations) of which two are the standard, non-departmental foundational courses for public health (biostatistics and epidemiology). I'm doing reasonably on biostatistics with room for improvement but with epi I just completely tanked the midterm with a 47% (the mean was 70% which is passing, so no real possibly of a curve). There are other chances at this point to get a passing grade (extra credit, big class paper, etc.) but not a comfortable enough chance to not have to worry about pushing out an A on every assignment from here on out. I will still be at full time (11 credits) should I decide to drop epi. I am still contemplating on dropping the course for two major reasons:

1. I do not want to stress out with this class when I have two other classes that are in my department, specifically with a potential advisor and one with the program chair. I have not been putting a full effort into those classes as I should, and given that it is in my department, perhaps reducing my courseload will give me more opportunity to devote to those two more important courses.

2. I have a pretty much guaranteed PI who has expressed interest in having me come and work with him in getting familiar with data analysis for a new project he is working on. Let me backtrack by saying that in our masters program we don't have to choose an advisor yet, but it surely wouldn't hurt if we get started on any type of research or project as early as possible. Our funding this year is taken care of, but the second year maybe an issue depending on if you can find a PI with funding as an RA. He is a senior professor with a lot of pull as far as funding and outside connections is concerned. We work really well together and I want to be apart of the project as it really excites me a lot. For this reason, I think if I sacrificed epi at least this quarter while I have a chance to, it may be better to my advantage than pushing getting started on this project.

I'm going to speak with my program manager, but I just completely feel at a loss. Just soliciting from some advice from you all. Thanks!

Edited October 24, 2012 by BrokenRecord

[Ennue]

Who told you to take these courses? I.e., why are you taking the epi course? If it's a program requirement and your whole cohort is taking the class I'd be hesitant to drop it. If it's one of several possible courses, you were the one who picked it, and it's acceptable to be taking 11 credits, I'd feel more comfortable dropping it. In any case you should be discussing this with your program manager and possibly your almost-PI to figure out what the expectations are and how you can meet them best.