Dropping a Class in Undergrad

[Boofy]

I'm in my first year of a poli-sci/sociology degree. My university requires us to take two science classes throughout our degree. Right now I'm in geography and I'm doing AWFUL. I'll probably get 80+ in my other classes, but this one I'd be lucky to get in the 60s. I'm not a science person, so I'm really struggling. I feel like this is really going to mess with my GPA, so I need some advice. 

Option 1) Stick out the class and just try to do well in my other 4 classes and hope my GPA will balance out throughout the 4 years of my undergrad

Option 2) Drop the class, it doesn't show up as dropped on my transcript, and then take a different class that qualifies as science either next semester or in the summer

I'm just worried that I'll be looked at in a negative way when I go to apply because now I'll only have four classes on my transcript for one semester. Any thoughts?

[CleanHands]

Drop it. That won't matter at all but bad grades will.

[Darth Vader]

Even if adcoms did view 4 courses a semester negatively, do you honestly think this is worse than having a C or lower in a class? Most law schools look at your Best 2/Last 2 years GPA, so if your first year is strong then this is a big stress-relief. There is some evidence to also suggest that a lower cGPA disadvantages you in the process for schools that even look at your Best 2/Last 2 years (generally, you still want a 3.3+ cGPA for these schools). 

Your GPA can be quantified in raw numbers, while your lower courseload cannot. 

[Lilbb19]

Not a big deal. Same thing happened to me first semester of second year. I dropped down to 3 classes. 

[Thrive92]

It depends on specifically which law school you are planning to enroll in -- having said that, there are more law schools that do not care about withdrawn courses or do not count individual courses per semester than there are law schools that do.

I would personally drop the course. You are in your first year, and the vast majority of the schools provide some form of a leeway for those who has had a bad semester (best 2 years, best 20 courses, dropping of credits, etc).