Dropping a Criminal Justice Class?

For whatever reason, you decided to drop your criminal justice class. What now?

When dropping a Criminal Justice class you should do it soon and do it right. No matter if you are dropping an online criminal justice course, or the one taken on campus, you should take these 3 steps to heart – a short how to guide.

Step 1 – Find out if you can drop the class

You have taken a Criminal Justice course where you don’t feel like you have given it your best, and then… I gotta drop this class! The premise for dropping a class is usually the same – to avoid a bad grade, get a tuition reimbursement, or take another class. You would be surprised how many students find out too late that they cannot drop their class, so don’t let it be you.

Step 2 – Drop it sooner rather than later

After you make sure that your school allows class drops, find out when is the first day you can drop the class and when is the last day to do so. Usually the school will allow few days to 2 weeks to drop a class with no negative consequences to your grades, GPA, and etc. This is also the time frame where the school may refund your tuition costs after you drop it.  Any procrastination on your part may equal loss of thousands of dollars, an inability to drop the course later (after the last drop date), and if you didn’t study, a bad grade.

Step 3 – Drop it right

Drop it right?? Yes, you heard right. Drop it right! Most schools require proper documentation associated with dropping a class. If this documentation is not properly filled out, approved by the proper department(s) / individual(s), and signed by all other parties involved, you may be in big trouble.

If you initiate the process of dropping your criminal justice class, or any other for that matter, make sure that you are involved in all the steps throughout this process. Get all the copies of the paperwork after they are signed / stamped by the proper persons and departments. If you are dropping your class online, make sure to keep any confirmation pages by printing them out or saving the confirmation number for your records. I would also visit, call, or email the department handling dropped courses for another confirmation – you know… just in case.

More advice

Don’t drop classes too often. It looks bad and can look worse on your college transcript. Moreover, it can become a very expensive problem – take into consideration that some schools allow a prorated refund of your tuition costs depending how soon you drop the class (example: drop it in the first 7 days = 100%, drop it on the 8th day = 90%, 15th = 75%, and so on until you cannot get a refund and/or cannot drop it no more). Some colleges and universities have limits on how many times during your academic journey you can drop classes. I recommend you drop a class only if you are seriously unable to complete the course successfully – whether it is through bad grades or non-attendance.

Have you dropped any of your courses? Let us know how it went.

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