[Patrick del Poker Grande]

I'm an engineer and getting through all the calc classes was the key to getting through the curriculum on time. I'd imagine it's much the same in CS. That said, it's not the worst thing in the world if you're a semester behind. If you really have no chance to bring up your grade in pre-calc, I'd drop it and get the GPA. Isn't it quite a bit late to be able to drop a class without it showing something bad on your record, though? Also, isn't there a minimum number of credits you have to pull to keep the scholarship? 8 credits isn't even full-time, is it? I don't know the specifics of HOPE, but there is a bit of wiggle room, however, in most of these cases. There generally is a bit of leniency with these scholarships if your GPA isn't tanked too bad and you bring it back up the next term. I have experience helping my ex-gf write letters to scholarship committees to keep her money when her grades weren't so hot. I suspect you'll find yourself writing one or two of these yourself in the future. You better have something to make a good case for yourself.

Here's the father-knows-best crap you don't want to hear. The fact that you only pulled 8 credits your first term and you're already dropping because you're not attending class and putting the work in looks really bad for you in more ways than one. First, it's going to be hard to just turn it around. Everyone says "oh yeah, I'll for sure do better next term" or whatever, but it rarely happens. Also, if you want some leniency with your scholarship, this is a terrible way to start out. You need to realize what you're doing here and get to work. This isn't high school any more and what you do in the next four years or so is actually important - work now and you can cruise the rest of your life.