Notice the load early
Credits are a weak measure of workload. Four courses with three projects and two labs is heavier than five lecture courses. In week one, add up the real deliverables across your syllabi and map them onto a calendar. Two big things due the same week is a signal to plan now, not to panic later.
Triage when it gets tight
When you cannot do everything well, decide on purpose rather than by default. Protect the assignments worth the most points and the ones in your major. A B on a large project beats an A on a small quiz and a missed lab. Tell an instructor before a deadline if you are going to be late — many will work with you; almost none will after.
Dropping one course
If the term is genuinely unmanageable, dropping one course before the "W" deadline is a normal, sound decision. Check three things first: whether it takes you below 12 credits (full-time status, some scholarships, athletics eligibility, F-1 status), whether it is a prerequisite for something you need next term, and whether your program has a minimum pace.
One "W" on a transcript is not a problem. A pattern of them raises questions; one does not.
Incompletes
An incomplete is for when you have done most of the work and a late-term emergency stopped you from finishing — not for a course you are behind in across the board. It is a written agreement with the instructor listing exactly what is left and a deadline (usually the middle of the next term). Unfinished, it becomes the grade you had earned, which is often an F.
Reduced-load authorization
Athletes, students on certain visas, students with a disability accommodation, and students on some aid programs need authorization to drop below full-time. The relevant office (athletics compliance, International Programs, Accessibility Services, Financial Aid) can approve it in advance so a necessary drop does not create a second problem.
Planning the next term lighter
If this term was too heavy, build next term at 13–14 credits and add a summer course to stay on pace. A four-year plan with one lighter term and one summer session usually still finishes on time and produces much better grades than five white-knuckle semesters.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.