withdraw or take the hit

[CanadianChemE]

I know this has been asked a million times, but my situation is a bit more difficult. I'm in my fourth year of a five year co-op degree. My current GPA is a 4.0. I am currently doing poorly in a totally irrelevant course for med but a necessary pre req for a class I have to take next semester (which is in turn a pre req for courses in my final semester). There is a good chance I could get this waived and take mass transfer again next semester as a coreq instead. The reason I am considering withdrawing is because of a mark approximately 1 SD below average, and a strong dislike of how the class is being taught. So the question, should I withdraw, with a W, or hope for the best (maybe a B, but I fear closer to a C).

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[deleted407021]

One B or C won't kill you. It may even go unnoticed. Toughen up and finish the class.



*sigh*...the neuroticism in pre-allo is over the top atm.

 

[godawg300]

One W won't kill you either. Honestly. I had 2 Ws and didn't even come up once in all my interviews. Not all professors have their **** together.

 

[baxt1412]

already having >100 credits at a 4.0 and getting one B or one C will hardly affect your GPA. (if this is even a real thread). it will literally not affect your future so stop freaking out and blaming the professor.

 

[godawg300]

already having >100 credits at a 4.0 and getting one B or one C will hardly affect your GPA. (if this is even a real thread). it will literally not affect your future so stop freaking out and blaming the professor.

This is true. The GPA won't change much at all. But if the OP is really set on taking the W, I promise that won't make much of a difference either. It's not even a question really. Either choice would make pretty much no difference, except maybe delaying this class until later.

 

[baxt1412]

This is true. The GPA won't change much at all. But if the OP is really set on taking the W, I promise that won't make much of a difference either. It's not even a question really. Either choice would make pretty much no difference, except maybe delaying this class until later.

i know it won't and nobody in their right mind on here would say that a single W would have any affect on an app, but then it will only feed into his neurotic behavior even more (not an A? might as well withdraw)

 

[blueharbor]

Professors like that are the worst. I'd avoid a semester of unnecessary stress and withdraw, not for the GPA as much as for your sanity.

 

[CanadianChemE]

This is true. The GPA won't change much at all. But if the OP is really set on taking the W, I promise that won't make much of a difference either. It's not even a question really. Either choice would make pretty much no difference, except maybe delaying this class until later.

I would really prefer not to take a W, and I should maybe clarify why I'm freaking out a little over one mark that isn't an A. I'm Canadian (probably obvious from the name) and have already applied to my in province school. I only get one shot there with my current MCAT because as soon as the new one is released they are not honoring the old one. Because of their weird policies, they drop your lowest year which can't be your most recent. Meaning they will arbitrarily drop two of my 4.0 semesters. They also do not count summer classes. Since I am in coop I had an entire academic semester in summer, which will also be dropped. Meaning that instead of applying with 7 academic semesters, I am now applying with 4, to a school that has a 3.90 GPA entrance average. I am not dead set on going to this school, and I have developed a strong hatred for their nonsense beuracracy, but for financial reasons it is definitely my best bet.

And all of these nonsense policies have been confirmed with a med advisor since I didn't think that could actually be the case. But it is.

 

[godawg300]

Even if you got a C or a B, your GPA would still be fine for that school. Seriously, you are freaking out for no reason. Either take the W or the C/B grade. I'm sure it won't be the reason you don't get in.

 

[godawg300]

i know it won't and nobody in their right mind on here would say that a single W would have any affect on an app, but then it will only feed into his neurotic behavior even more (not an A? might as well withdraw)

I don't believe in feeding into people's behavior. Neurotic people are neurotic and that's why the OP posted this question. It's actually funny though because some of the most successful people I know that have gotten into great medical schools are super chill. The OP is old enough to make decisions. This is such a simple one, I'm not sure why it's even being asked.

 

[CanadianChemE]

Even if you got a C or a B, your GPA would still be fine for that school. Seriously, you are freaking out for no reason. Either take the W or the C/B grade. I'm sure it won't be the reason you don't get in.

A C would put me at average exactly with only 4 semesters being weighted. And I already know that my ECs are going to be slightly below average. Meaning that believe it or not this actually could make or break my app.

 

[baxt1412]

A C would put me at average exactly with only 4 semesters being weighted. And I already know that my ECs are going to be slightly below average. Meaning that believe it or not this actually could make or break my app.

>100 hours with a 4.0 will not be significantly impacted by a C in 3 credit hours. period.

plus, you have time to work on your ECs since you have at least a year to work on them. no excuse there, plenty of time to rack up 100+ hours (between multiple ECs) in 52+ weeks

 

[CanadianChemE]

>100 hours with a 4.0 will not be significantly impacted by a C in 3 credit hours. period.

plus, you have time to work on your ECs since you have at least a year to work on them. no excuse there, plenty of time to rack up 100+ hours (between multiple ECs) in 52+ weeks

I have >100 hours, but not enough leadership which they look at strongly. And I already applied in September, so anything I am doing now won't count. But thank you. And I do appreciate everyone telling me I'm neurotic and should get over myself (only slightly sarcastic, I know that I need a kick and I don't want to be the kind of person who is defeated by one exam, I just hate that it had to come now rather than literally any other semester that could have been in the "write off" year. Seems like a lot of wasted effort)

 

[godawg300]

A C would put me at average exactly with only 4 semesters being weighted. And I already know that my ECs are going to be slightly below average. Meaning that believe it or not this actually could make or break my app.

Do you realize the difference between a 3.9 and a 4.0? Like seriously, they are pretty much in the same bracket. I can't imagine anyone saying, hmmm, this 4.0 is way better than this 3.9!?

 

[baxt1412]

I have >100 hours, but not enough leadership which they look at strongly. And I already applied in September, so anything I am doing now won't count. But thank you. And I do appreciate everyone telling me I'm neurotic and should get over myself (only slightly sarcastic, I know that I need a kick and I don't want to be the kind of person who is defeated by one exam, I just hate that it had to come now rather than literally any other semester that could have been in the "write off" year. Seems like a lot of wasted effort)

you applied during your 4th year out of a 5 year program? you realize that applying now means you would start late summer/fall of 2015, correct? that means during your 5th year of your engineering program.

not to mention, anything done before an interview will "count" as you can update the school on that experience. so it's not wasted time.


then don't let a test defeat you. freaking ace the rest of the course and deal with whatever grade you get. that means you didn't get defeated. the only way you let this test defeat you is if you stop putting in effort or take a W.



i'm so confused with this thread right meow.

 

[CanadianChemE]

Do you realize the difference between a 3.9 and a 4.0? Like seriously, they are pretty much in the same bracket. I can't imagine anyone saying, hmmm, this 4.0 is way better than this 3.9!?

Believe me, they are effectively the same. But by the mysterious "algorithm" that the school I'm applying to uses, it does make a huge difference because the entrance average is so high and they have to have some objective and arbitrary way to differentiate. It isn't a linear scale how they allot points. They have essentially shut out making actual logical decisions from their application process and they look at everything in black and white. Down to the interview, which is now an MMI (ie you answer a prompt that you read before entering the room and the person does not talk back to you, just sits there with a checklist seeing how many of their arbitrary bullets you pick up on). I think they are going in a horrible direction with admissions because sometimes you do need to make subjective calls.

 

[CanadianChemE]

you applied during your 4th year out of a 5 year program? you realize that applying now means you would start late summer/fall of 2015, correct? that means during your 5th year of your engineering program.

not to mention, anything done before an interview will "count" as you can update the school on that experience. so it's not wasted time.


then don't let a test defeat you. freaking ace the rest of the course and deal with whatever grade you get. that means you didn't get defeated. the only way you let this test defeat you is if you stop putting in effort or take a W.



i'm so confused with this thread right meow.

Yup, I realize all that. I would be one academic semester short of an engineering degree. I decided to apply now because they updated their policies (after I paid for the MCAT) that only the new MCAT would be recognized as soon as it was released. And no, see the MMI comments above. The "interviewers" are not even allowed to see your app. It does not come up. Anything past the deadline is not counted. I'm still doing things obviously since I'm not just going to drop my ECs... Of course they still count for something, just not this application.

 

[CanadianChemE]

You know what, never mind this thread. I'm not withdrawing. The more I try to explain why it actually matters the more I realize that it shouldn't and I don't really want to go to a school where it does... It is going down a really bad path with admissions and in general. The dean of medicine stepped down a couple years ago because he was caught ripping off the speech from another dean at another school... I will take the hit and apply next year to a school that I would actually be proud to go to and doesn't encourage neurosis. Thank you everyone.

 

[godawg300]

Well it seems like you have your answer. You seem convinced the C/B will actually impact your chances while it actually seems to me that non-academic EC might be your flaw. I've done 4 MMIs but have never heard of that one. Anyhow, maybe just buckle up and do your best to get a B or withdraw. I wouldn't want to go to a school like that personally.

 

[NervousNerd]

You know what, never mind this thread. I'm not withdrawing. The more I try to explain why it actually matters the more I realize that it shouldn't and I don't really want to go to a school where it does... It is going down a really bad path with admissions and in general. The dean of medicine stepped down last year because he was caught ripping off the speech from another dean at another school... I will take the hit and apply next year to a school that I would actually be proud to go to and doesn't encourage neurosis. Thank you everyone.

One B or C will just show you're human. If anything, it may make good conversation at an interview!

Think positive!

 

[CanadianChemE]

Well it seems like you have your answer. You seem convinced the C/B will actually impact your chances while it actually seems to me that non-academic EC might be your flaw. I've done 4 MMIs but have never heard of that one. Anyhow, maybe just buckle up and do your best to get a B or withdraw. I wouldn't want to go to a school like that personally.

Cheers, glad we agree (even though I assume you hadn't actually read my reply yet)

 

[CanadianChemE]

One B or C will just show you're human. If anything, it may make good conversation at an interview!

Think positive!

But what if I wanted to be a GPA producing robot