Class withdrawal effect on competitivity?

[Erebus]

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Hello,

I'm Erebus, and this is my first post.My question is in regards to withdrawal from my freshman biology class. Currently I am in good standing(B,I think) with the class, however due to a personal issue I need to withdraw from a class to procure funds for college(the school completely screwed up financial aid).While it is not an overly cerebal class, the broad coverage of complex material dictates that a significant amount of time is spent in studying for exams.Due to this factor, I believe it may be in my best interests to withdraw from it and use my extra time for a job.
There is a possibility I may be able to retain the class,however I am concerned my GPA and class ranking may suffer if I am forced to condense study times.Currently I am on seventeen credit hours,and while it may be ideal to show I can juggle work and school,I am hesitant from doing so since this spring semester is my first time in college.
All my advisors and teachers possess slightly differing opinions,however most-if not all-agree that one withdrawal will not kill my chances for a competitive school if I maintain my high GPA and extracirricular activities.This opinion seems to be supported by the 11 different medical schools I have talked to(3 ivy,1 tier one,4 tier two,3 state),only mayo and cornell possessed slightly negative opinions,but they didn't say I was out.
So,if I retake the class next semester how much chance do I stand with others of compariable GPA,research,and extracirric. records?Could this hinder me in research internships?

Thanks for your help;all of you are greatly appreciated.
-Erebus

 

[Angeliqua]

Erebus,
Your chances will not decrease due to withdrawing from this one class. You are still in your first year of college, relax and enjoy yourself. Withdrawing with a B due to financial reasons will in no way work against you. Schools that say they look upon this "negatively" are referring to those individuals who withdraw from classes all the time and have failing grades in the classes at the time of withdrawl. For subsequent semesters, plan ahead and don't take on a larger class load than you can handle. I worked 25-30 hours/week all through college, did research and never took more than 15-16 credits/semester...this has not been an issue for any of the schools I interviewed at; you're right it is positive to for the adcoms to see that you successfully handled both work and school.

Seriously it is better to maintain good grades and not be super stressed out than it is to take a super-impressive huge course load with mediocre grades and $$ problems.

Good luck and have fun in college.

 

[isidella]

Originally posted by Erebus
only mayo and cornell possessed slightly negative opinions,but they didn't say I was out.

I have three Ws on my transcript and got an interview for the Mayo MD/PhD program. ( I am currently waitlisted though-I am sure the Ws didn't help my status).

Don't lose hope. Good Luck!

 

[3.95-41]

Yeah, don't worry about 1 W. I got a W in one of my upper level biology classes in my junior year and didn't even get asked about it in my interviews. I got into Harvard, Cornell, Stanford and Columbia's MD/PhD programs. They will be very forgiving of a W this early in your academic career, especially given your reasons.