Data from the Iowa State University Office of Enrollment Research and Analytics reveals the top ten courses withdrawn from during the fall 2024 semester.
“These undergraduate courses, of those with 50 or more students enrolled, include the highest rates of withdrawal after the free drop period in the first five days of the semester,” Jonathan Compton, Iowa State’s data analyst, said.
The class on the list with the largest enrollment is the seventh most dropped class, CE 270 (Engineering Statistics), which started with 821 and had 15.6% of students withdraw from the class, totaling 128 students.
The class with the next highest enrollment is the number one dropped class of the 2024 fall semester: COM S 3270 (Advanced Programming Techniques). The class started at 144 students and 43 students withdrew, equalling 29.9% of the class.
According to the Department of Computer Science, COM S 3270 is an object-oriented programming experience using a language suitable for exploring advanced topics in programming. Topics include memory management, parameter passing, inheritance, compiling, debugging and maintaining programs and significant programming projects.
All other courses featured on the list had enrollment between 50 and 97 students.
Computer Science has the most classes on the list, having two COM S classes in the top 10, including the number one COM S 3270 (Advanced Programming Techniques) and COMS 3310/LING 3310 (Theory of Computing).
“I would have to say, it is a bit intimidating to take courses with such high drop rates, but also it gives me a chance to prove myself,” Carson Shannon, a junior in computer science, said. “Especially since the job market will be just as competitive.”
Chemistry courses, which had the most classes on the list in 2023, were absent from this fall’s list. According to previous reporting by the Daily, those included CHEM 324 (Introductory Quantum Mechanics), CHEM 332 (Organic Chemistry II), and CHEM 231 (Elementary Organic Chemistry).
According to previous reporting from The Daily, chemistry had the most classes on the list, bringing three CHEM classes to the top 10 list, including CHEM 324 (Introductory Quantum Mechanics), CHEM 332 (Organic Chemistry II) and CHEM 231 (Elementary Organic Chemistry).”
Following COM S 3270 was HIST 2840 (Wonders of the World, Global History of Innovation) as the second most dropped class in the fall of 2024 semester, with 62 students enrolled in the course and 22.6% of students, or 14, withdrawing from the class.
Instructors encouraged students to contact their instructors if they are struggling in a course.
