Being sideswiped by W (better than F)

[murfettie]

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Called a school I took some classes at. Was only there for a few weeks.
Dropped the class, got my refund. Left the country as a fugitive...
No, not really, as an aid worker.

I was SOOOO sure I dropped all the classes before the drop deadline, which is 4th week. According to my memory. I called the school to check, to make sure I don't omit anything, and apparently, they are all W. They told me only the 1st week you are allowed to drop classes without a W.


I've always been proud of being that annoying person who cares about detail, so I feel a little shocked! I always wondered how could nontrads could be side swiped by F bombs from years ago, now I understand.

I'm not worried since I have maybe 5 W's in total over the course of.. 6 years of full time college life, during, pre and post undergrad.
Just a little surprised...

 

[QofQuimica]

You'll have the hassle of having to submit that transcript to AMCAS. But if it was six years ago, and you've gotten good grades since then, I wouldn't worry extensively about it. Just be prepared to explain what you told us here in case someone asks at an interview.

 

[murfettie]

Oh, what's worse, I even have a different last name on that transcript.
I'm trying to figure out what am I suppose to do about it..

I got married, changed my last name
Apparently, there is some legal hassle with properties under my name in foreign country --- too much hassle, not worth it.
Got naturalized, got a chance to pick a new name (yay america) ...
So I picked my birth name.
Now I got one random transcript with a different last name and 3 W ...
It's wasting a lot of my precious MCAT studying time.

 

[futureboy]

I've got Ws so old I don't remember why I dropped the course. 🙂 Not sure how I'll explain. "I forget why I dropped that calc class in 1994" may not be an acceptable answer...

 

[riverjib]

Oh, what's worse, I even have a different last name on that transcript.
I'm trying to figure out what am I suppose to do about it..

I got married, changed my last name
Apparently, there is some legal hassle with properties under my name in foreign country --- too much hassle, not worth it.
Got naturalized, got a chance to pick a new name (yay america) ...
So I picked my birth name.
Now I got one random transcript with a different last name and 3 W ...
It's wasting a lot of my precious MCAT studying time.

As annoying as it seems, you'll have some explaining to do. I'm currently concerned about five W's in 1997. They don't look good, and I can tell med schools that this was due to a family crisis, and it happened literally 14 years ago. If you have five W's spread out over a few years, be prepared to explain each one.

 

[NTF]

Same thing happened to me, except my W's were recorded as F's by AMCAS because the school had listed them as unofficial W's.

I was asked about it in 2 out of 7 interviews and I explained what happened in the "anything else you'd like to add" sections of secondary apps.

I received 6 out of 7 acceptances (1 waitlist) from my interviews including both schools where interviewers asked me about it.

I wouldn't worry too much. Be upfront, but don't dwell on it.