How many VW's or P/F's are too many?

[aiikookie]

VW is Voluntarily Withdrawal. So for my case I'm in my 3rd year of biology and I have:

-VW in english course first year and retook in 2nd year and got B+
-VW in physical chemistry 2nd year (Withdrew 2nd week of semester, decided i wanted to change my major from biochem to bio)
- a P in a course that is already graded on the P/F scale. (It's an internship course)
- a P in Ecology because I did too bad and didnt want it to tank my GPA

All of these I can explain, but I'm doing so bad on this one course this semester and I'm thinking of either P/F it or VW it, it's a 3rd year bio course. Which one looks better and do I have too many VW's and P/F's? I'm hoping this is the last time I use these methods.

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[lissadawynn]

I have 4 F’s on my transcript and 4 Ws. I explained it to the associate dean of admissions at my top pick school when I had a meeting with him and he said they don’t focus on just one negative thing. They look for trends (positive trends). Are you doing better now? Stuff like that. Just be prepared to explain them if asked in an interview and be honest and take responsibility.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree that when it comes to raising eyebrows, you've pretty much crossed that threshold with at least 2 voluntary withdrawals so you should expect to be asked about it or be prepared to discuss it in an application essay (challenges overcome, things to explain about your application. etc.). If this is an upper-level biology course, and if you are a bioscience major, I would be a bit more careful as a screener. What are the circumstances in this case?

Just remember, you can't voluntarily withdraw from a class in dental school so easily. It's usually a full semester leave of absence or you wind up getting into trouble with failing classes.

 

[aiikookie]

I agree that when it comes to raising eyebrows, you've pretty much crossed that threshold with at least 2 voluntary withdrawals so you should expect to be asked about it or be prepared to discuss it in an application essay (challenges overcome, things to explain about your application. etc.). If this is an upper-level biology course, and if you are a bioscience major, I would be a bit more careful as a screener. What are the circumstances in this case?

Just remember, you can't voluntarily withdraw from a class in dental school so easily. It's usually a full semester leave of absence or you wind up getting into trouble with failing classes.

How do admission view VW's that have been retaken? Don't I technically have only one VW since I retook one of them? Also how are courses that are already graded on the P/F scale and not a percentage/gpa scale viewed by admissions? I'd assume I can just explain that it's graded like that