Would a withdrawing (getting W in transcript) hurt me in the long run

[meki4life]

Hi all, so I'm a first year Earth Science student; right now I'm taking a grad level Nuclear Physics class from the Physics department in my university because my research has something to do with cosmogenic production (nuclear reaction)

 

Initially I was planning to audit the class, but as the class went on I did fairly well on the homeworks and first midterm. However I totally bombed the second midterm (the entire class kinda bombed it, the average was 55 but since I don't have strong enough background in physics-land I scored a standard deviation lower than the average) and now my grade is hovering at C+/B-. Apparently according to other Physics grad student this is kinda how the physics department in my university try to weed out non-commited physicists out of their program.

 

In my Earth science program, C+ would mean academic probation; so should I withdraw from the class and get a W in my transcript? I told my advisor about the possibility of getting a W, and he totally understands my circumtances but I'm afraid that it hurt me in the long run (getting scholarships, fellowships, etc).

 

If this happened during my undergrad year, I will definitely plow through till the end (with help of several Red Bulls during finals), but the possibility of getting academic probation if I didn't do well in the final really scares me. Also I personally think that a B- is still within reach - however I'm not sure whether the risk is worth it for me especially since it is a tangential course (not even an elective)

 

Any comments or recommendation here would be greatly appreciated

[Shelley Burian]

Don't know about the W affect on your transcript but you might consider investigating how seriously your institution takes academic probation and what the consequences are. At my institution, it happens to a fair amount of students and can be triggered by a professor simply not getting grades in on time giving you too many incompletes. It doesn't affect scholarships or stipends and is very easy in most circumstances to erase the following semester. Since you are borderline in the class its something to consider.