take a W or stay in the class...

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Omidjoon

Member
10+ Year Member
5+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
57
Reaction score
0
its my freshman year. I am in a biology class with a first year professor and i'm bearly pulling a C (something about having to prove himself to other teachers), i still have 1 more exam and a final (the final also replaces our lowest test grade) and lab is 1/3 of our grade (i have a 90 in there). Should I stick it through and shoot for the sky or should i take a W.


BTW
If i drop i will be ineligible to transfer to the school of my dreams (UT-Austin) in the fall and thus ruining my entire college career ;-)

Members don't see this ad.
 
I have a W and it hasn't hurt me a bit. Now if you can't transfer that is another question.

Omidjoon said:
its my freshman year. I am in a biology class with a first year professor and i'm bearly pulling a C (something about having to prove himself to other teachers), i still have 1 more exam and a final (the final also replaces our lowest test grade) and lab is 1/3 of our grade (i have a 90 in there). Should I stick it through and shoot for the sky or should i take a W.


BTW
If i drop i will be ineligible to transfer to the school of my dreams (UT-Austin) in the fall and thus ruining my entire college career ;-)
 
A C is terrible in bio...i know it's tough, but a C is going to mean a lot when schools look at your science gpa. i say take the w and study next semester to get an a.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
work harder, strong and focused, you can't blame the teacher for an introductory course. it's not mit for the matter so unless you're ******ed or you're just lazy, you need to work harder. plain and simple.
 
i was not putting blame on my teacher, my lab TA told me this... i like the teacher, however contrary to what you are thinking my poor grade is not for lack of studying, i work damn hard and i'm not trying to make an excuse for my C, i am wondering whether or not to sacrifice the next four years of my life being unhappy at my current university and taking the W, or try to get that far out of reach A or the possible B or C and transfer and take grade replacement later... theres no need to attack me and be rude about it
Hermit MMood said:
work harder, strong and focused, you can't blame the teacher for an introductory course. it's not mit for the matter so unless you're ******ed or you're just lazy, you need to work harder. plain and simple.
 
yeah, hermit, that was mean, man. whatever.

are you sure you can transfer if you end up with a c or c-? you need to understand the extreme weight that med schools put on the grades you get in your intro classes (particularly if you are not thinking about taking 2-3 years off before med school). GPA is key. KEY. But you need to learn the stuff too for the MCATs. A C is a killer. It will rock bottom your science GPA. The only way you can recover is basically get A's in all your other science classes.

what hermit is trying to say, i think, is you need to not just work hard, but you need to figure out the right way to study for the class. cross-reference books if you have to, figure out what kinds of questions the teacher likes to ask...and study in that way. i think that's what he means about not being a ******. looking back on the last four years, i admit i was a '******' when it came to a couple classes, because if I just strategized more in my studying rather than just reading page by page i could have done better.

but in the end, that's all for your future classes...if you can't get that grade up to some kind of a b, I'm very hesitant about keeping a C grade because of what it can do to a GPA.
 
I can transfer with a C, its not the GPA part, it is teh number of Hours part, i am required to take 30 hours and i took 14 my 1st semester and 17 this semester and if i drop i'll only have 27 hours which means i will basically be ineligible to transfer in the fall... if i take the C my GPA this semester would be a 3.2 or 3.3 (i'll have 3 A's, 1 B's and a C) averaging my GPA out to about a 3.3-3.4 for my freshman year. if i drop it'll be about a 3.5-3.6 but i'll be stuck at the school that i've been trying to leave.

Turtle48 said:
yeah, hermit, that was mean, man. whatever.

are you sure you can transfer if you end up with a c or c-? you need to understand the extreme weight that med schools put on the grades you get in your intro classes (particularly if you are not thinking about taking 2-3 years off before med school). GPA is key. KEY. But you need to learn the stuff too for the MCATs. A C is a killer. It will rock bottom your science GPA. The only way you can recover is basically get A's in all your other science classes.

what hermit is trying to say, i think, is you need to not just work hard, but you need to figure out the right way to study for the class. cross-reference books if you have to, figure out what kinds of questions the teacher likes to ask...and study in that way. i think that's what he means about not being a ******. looking back on the last four years, i admit i was a '******' when it came to a couple classes, because if I just strategized more in my studying rather than just reading page by page i could have done better.

but in the end, that's all for your future classes...if you can't get that grade up to some kind of a b, I'm very hesitant about keeping a C grade because of what it can do to a GPA.
 
Even if you do withdraw, realize unless you do something different the results will be the same. Bio 1 is a weed out class. So prepare for the attempt. Not sure about your major and if your taking upper level bios later but if you can't get A/B in intro classes it only gets harder.

I don't want to bring you down, but be realistic about your approach and why you have a C now and correct it next time.
 
I understand....i am trying to figure out what works and frankly i dont know what more to do.... i'm just giving it my best shot, maybe medicine isnt for me but i'd really like for it to be so we will just have to see what happends.

BrettBatchelor said:
Even if you do withdraw, realize unless you do something different the results will be the same. Bio 1 is a weed out class. So prepare for the attempt. Not sure about your major and if your taking upper level bios later but if you can't get A/B in intro classes it only gets harder.

I don't want to bring you down, but be realistic about your approach and why you have a C now and correct it next time.
 
I had two W's on my record, and not a single interview question about either. I explained my situation and how I 'recouped' afterwards and I always got something like, "Oh, well they were during your freshman year and it seems you moved on fine," or "don't worry, I'll make sure the committee knows your situation." Granted every applicant, application, school, and interviewer are different, my drops haven't adversly affected me.

But if it is more important for you to transfer and you can't do so with a drop, then I would recommend sticking it out and trying your best. Getting a low grade in freshman bio won't make it IMPOSSIBLE to get into med school, just a little bit harder :)

Also, if you drop and retake the class over summer or fall, can you transfer next spring?
 
no i have to have a transcript with proof that i completeed at least 30 hours at my university in residence into UT-Austin by July 1st for me to be allowed to transfer in the program that i am in.

sick of waiting said:
Also, if you drop and retake the class over summer or fall, can you transfer next spring?
 
well a W looks a lot worse than a C because it shows that you weren't responsible and just gave up. stick with the class you might be surprised and really, why the hell are you coming here from advice from other premeds who are just trying to cut you down, they are not admissions personnel and frankly are just going to tell you things to make you feel like ****. go talk to your college advisor or premed advisor about it because a science GPA is not killed by one C, that is ridiculous, I have one C and all it did was take a big .2 off my GPA and if you have lots of A's in all your other classes, it will look strange. good luck :)
 
Omidjoon said:
no i have to have a transcript with proof that i completeed at least 30 hours at my university in residence into UT-Austin by July 1st for me to be allowed to transfer in the program that i am in.

Hey,
**** happens in your freshman year. My freshman year I was bombing Calculus and took a W and retook it later, got an A, and am now into med school, so like other people said a W isnt a huge deal.

I would be more concerned about the fact that you seem to be really unhappy about where you are at school. if you're hating it that much you're not going to make it through. Nevermind turning yourself into a good med school applicant, if you cant get yourself happier at college you aren't going to be able to turn your grades around.

That said, I was pretty unhappy freshman year, but kept on keeping on and eventually came out of it. Make sure you are giving it a fair shake. There are a lot of things freshman year that can make you unhappy and tranferring schools may not solve those problems.

If you really think transferring is the answer then I would eek out whatever kind of grade you can and then plan to start fresh next fall.

All these people are saying that GPA is so important that you dont want to mess it up. And GPA definitely is important, but allow yourself to consider retaking intro bio in a summer later on or during a post-bacc to show that you can make an A in it. Dont sacrifice four years of happiness staying where you are to protect your GPA for med school. you will regret it.

Good luck. Keep your head up :)
 
andone said:
Hey,
**** happens in your freshman year. My freshman year I was bombing Calculus and took a W and retook it later, got an A, and am now into med school, so like other people said a W isnt a huge deal.

I would be more concerned about the fact that you seem to be really unhappy about where you are at school. if you're hating it that much you're not going to make it through. Nevermind turning yourself into a good med school applicant, if you cant get yourself happier at college you aren't going to be able to turn your grades around.

That said, I was pretty unhappy freshman year, but kept on keeping on and eventually came out of it. Make sure you are giving it a fair shake. There are a lot of things freshman year that can make you unhappy and tranferring schools may not solve those problems.

If you really think transferring is the answer then I would eek out whatever kind of grade you can and then plan to start fresh next fall.

All these people are saying that GPA is so important that you dont want to mess it up. And GPA definitely is important, but allow yourself to consider retaking intro bio in a summer later on or during a post-bacc to show that you can make an A in it. Dont sacrifice four years of happiness staying where you are to protect your GPA for med school. you will regret it.

Good luck. Keep your head up :)

Bombing a course is not the same thing as a C. The C can be retaken just like a W can.

Additionally, the C isn't a big deal, if you counterbalance it with an A.
 
I got my one and only "C" in my first bio class freshman year, and it certainly dragged my GPA down. But unlike you, I probably didn't work as hard as I could have in that class and I also collected a couple of B-'s along the way. After that, I worked my tail off to get straight A's so I could bring my GPA up enough to apply to med school. I've gotten in this year. A "C" is no fun but it's not the end of the world.
 
Hermit MMood said:
work harder, strong and focused, you can't blame the teacher for an introductory course. it's not mit for the matter so unless you're ******ed or you're just lazy, you need to work harder. plain and simple.


I want someone like hermit to keep yelling at me so that I keep on track...seriously..

I drift off the line of focus, so easily.. :(
 
Top