8th week Course Drop Dilemma

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babadoitright

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I'm a senior at a university. I have an A- gpa, and I do scientific research (pending publication).

I'm contemplating whether or not to drop a core class with a W, with only two and half week left until finals.

Aside from personal issues (death of friend, etc), the Prof's system of operating the class does not fit well with me, causing me to have a borderline C+/B- going into the final. I can take the final and try for a B- or I can drop with a W and retake in the summer with a much better professor (verified by a friend). I can also have the W removed via petition (I'm sure I can get the Prof to sign it). Also, this would be my first W since transferring (couple from JC before).

This is a core class for my other non-science related major. I have completed my science major (double major here).

I plan on taking 1 - 2 years off before applying to med school (mcat within that time frame).

Should I drop and go for the for-sure A or should I stick around for the C+/B-? I am going to be sticking around for research until December, so taking classes this summer or fall won't change much.

Edit: Also, all my other courses (3 others) are on course for A's thanks to help from friends who attended class.
 
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I personally believe W's aren't too bad if you have less than 3-4 THROUGHOUT your entire record and so long as they are not in core premedical classes.

Sometimes, people get sick, or have to miss a test or some other factor that makes taking a W an appealing and good option. I'd rather have a 3.7 with 3 W's then a 3.6 with 3 C's and 0 W's
 
Take the B-. No one will care that you got a B- in one class. Even if it was O-chem 3. Ad coms know that some professors are mean and hard to deal with and they will look at your overall performance, not your outlier grades
 
That's the thing, I don't know if the final exam / final curve will be enough to get a B-.

I'm really getting ahead of my self since I haven't gotten back the score for my last midterm with this class, but I'm trying to have my guns ready in the case I have to make a decision within a few hours (drop deadline coming up soon, final in two weeks).

Thanks for the responses so far.
 
First of all, my school got out like two weeks ago so I can't even imagine some schools not even going into finals yet.

Secondly, I would definitely go with dropping for a W, especially if you think you can manage to get the W itself removed by petitioning it. It would be one thing if you had a 4.0, but with an A- average (I'm guessing 3.7), you can afford to avoid anything that might drop your GPA.

Cheers
 
First of all, my school got out like two weeks ago so I can't even imagine some schools not even going into finals yet.

Secondly, I would definitely go with dropping for a W, especially if you think you can manage to get the W itself removed by petitioning it. It would be one thing if you had a 4.0, but with an A- average (I'm guessing 3.7), you can afford to avoid anything that might drop your GPA.

Cheers

Broaden your perspective. Not all schools operate on the semester system. I just finished my midterms.
 
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