It’s back-to-school shopping season, and college students aren’t just trying on True Religion jeans for size. They’re testing the fit of classes, too, by signing up for courses, attending a few classes, then dropping those they don’t like.

Course-shopping is common among college students, and the practice may be costing both colleges and students, according to a study published in the July/August edition of The Journal of Higher Education by researchers at the University of Florida.

The Florida researchers studied transcripts and other data for 5,000 students in the Los Angeles Community College District and found that 38 percent of the students shopped for courses, often repeatedly dropping and adding courses. The indecision of those students blocked others from enrolling in classes, caused needless work for administrators, and generally wreaked havoc on the scheduling process, the study’s authors found. Frequent course-shopping also correlated with lower grade-point averages.

So, students may be shopping for A’s, but it doesn’t look like they’re getting them. —Elyse Ashburn