Dropping vs withdrawing from a course: what shows on your transcript

Two different deadlines

Almost every Canadian university has two: an early date up to which a course simply disappears from your record, and a later date up to which you can leave the course with a withdrawal notation, usually a W, that stays on the transcript but carries no grade and no effect on your GPA.

After the later date, leaving a course generally means taking the grade you earn, which is usually an F.

What each one costs you

1. Dropping before the early deadline: no transcript record, and usually a partial or full refund depending on how early.
2. Withdrawing before the later deadline: a W on the transcript, no grade points, typically no refund.
3. After that: the grade stands.
4. In all three cases, dropping below a full course load can affect scholarships, student loans, residence eligibility, athletic eligibility and study permit conditions for international students. That is the part people don't check.

Where to find your dates

Your registrar's sessional dates page for the current term is the only authoritative source, and the dates move every year. Search your school's name plus “sessional dates” or “important dates”, and confirm the term matches.

Different faculties sometimes have different deadlines, and half-courses in the second term have their own set.

Before you decide

Work out what grade is still available to you. Add up what you've banked, look at the weight of what's left, and calculate honestly what a good result on the rest gives you. Frequently the number is better than it feels, and occasionally it is clearly out of reach, which is also useful to know.

Then talk to an academic advisor before the deadline, not after. They know the program consequences you can't see from the calendar, and they cannot help you once the date has passed.

Questions