The last day for students to utilize Allegheny’s new course withdrawal policy was Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015. According to Ann Sheffield, the head of the registrar’s office, 162 students used the withdrawal option.

Sheffield said she guessed that more than half of the withdrawals were within the last week the option was available.

“We did get a lot right at the end,” she said.

She also said that about half of those who withdrew were freshmen in their first semester of classes who would not necessarily know which classes are best for them coming in.

“This is what we’d hoped,” she said. “They can change their mind without it affecting their GPA.”

While Aubri Caslin, ’17, did not use the withdrawal option herself, she did have a freshman friend who did.

“He’s a psychology major and he thought he needed math and other prerequisites, so he was completely failing calculus,” she said.

Caslin said her friend was happy he had the opportunity to withdraw from the class at this point as it did not hurt his GPA, but she said the withdrawal policy is not perfect.

“I think it’s helpful for that situation, but on the other hand, now he’s behind on classes,” she said.

While Caslin does not think that students being able to join a four credit class this late would be useful, she does think having the option to join a one or two credit class could be helpful in preventing students from falling behind.

Jared McCollum, ’17, had a friend in the Class of 2018 use the withdrawal policy. He said his friend was too busy for all the classes he registered for, he was not passionate about the subject and that he did not connect with the professor.

“He was having difficulty with the class he was taking,” McCollum said.

McCollum said he supports the extended withdrawal policy, wishing that it would have been an option for him in the past.

“Being able to have more time to make that decision for yourself is just reasonable,” he said.