Drop the class or keep it?

[IRpremed]

I currently have a 3.92 gpa this semester
I am applying this year, and am taking the mcat in july, thus hindering my chance of applying early.
I have the average amount of ec's, nothing really unique.

My question is this:

I am currently taking a few classes, and one of them (4cr. non-science) im probably going to get a B. This will lower my gpa to a 3.88
If i drop the class, my gpa will rise to a 3.93 (assuming i get A's in the rest of my classes)

Is it worth dropping the class, and getting my 1st W?
I know that both a 3.93 and a 3.88 are great gpas but im really depending on my gpa for this cycle...

any thoughts?
thanks!

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[apumic]

If all you have is your GPA (i.e., MCAT is 30ish or below and nothing interesting in terms of ECs, hobbies, etc.), having a 3.88 or 3.93 won't make any difference. Either way, you're probably screwed. There are tens of thousands of people w/ GPAs better than yours (and hundreds with worse). You need more than a great GPA to be competitive. Your MCAT is what really matters at this point. The W probably won't matter but med schools will know what you were doing and/or may see the W as MUCH worse than it is (i.e., no one drops a B).

What I am really saying is you should see if you can get an earlier MCAT date and do well. Relying on a 4.0 (or 3.9) alone is not a good idea. Any idea how you might do on the MCAT? Applying late w/ a great GPA but average MCAT and nothing special in terms of ECs or interests or contributions or whatnot is a pretty good recipe for disappointment, IMO.

 

[littlealex]

Having a W looks worse than a 3.88.

 

[RunningDiva]

Having a W looks worse than a 3.88.

+2,000,000. how do you explain the W? i wanted a 0.05 better gpa?

 

[IRpremed]

+2,000,000. how do you explain the W? i wanted a 0.05 better gpa?

hmm...never really thought about that....
I guess I will try harder and see what happens in the end,

At what point would dropping a class be "acceptable" B-?


Thanks for the great advice!

 

[golfman]

hmm...never really thought about that....
I guess I will try harder and see what happens in the end,

At what point would dropping a class be "acceptable" B-?


Thanks for the great advice!

I would not even think about taking the W. Unless you can make up some great excuse why you have it on your transcript. But that will stand out a lot more than a B, in my opinion.

 

[apumic]

hmm...never really thought about that....
I guess I will try harder and see what happens in the end,

At what point would dropping a class be "acceptable" B-?


Thanks for the great advice!

LOL more like a D+ or worse. If you see a W on a person's transcript, you think, "They probably weren't going to pass so they dropped at the last second." A W is essentially equivalent to a C-/D+ but without the drop in GPA.

 

[shiftingmirage]

having a 3.88 or 3.93 won't make any difference.

Seriously. A 3.88 will not automatically reject you from any school. Even Harvard, WashU, Hopkins have people with GPA's lower than that.

 

[RunningDiva]

hmm...never really thought about that....
I guess I will try harder and see what happens in the end,

At what point would dropping a class be "acceptable" B-?


Thanks for the great advice!

I would only think of dropping the class if my grade was lower than passing (due to illness, death in family, etc). Wanting to take a W for perfectionistic sake is...well, concerning if you ask me. If you worked hard and earned a B-, be proud of it. You can't really expect to get an A in every single class, especially one that isn't in your major. I think your energy is better spent on finding an EC you really care about or cultivating mentorship relationships versus worrying about this 0.05 GPA points.

 

[apumic]

I would only think of dropping the class if my grade was lower than passing (due to illness, death in family, etc). Wanting to take a W for perfectionistic sake is...well, concerning if you ask me. If you worked hard and earned a B-, be proud of it. You can't really expect to get an A in every single class, especially one that isn't in your major. I think your energy is better spent on finding an EC you really care about or cultivating mentorship relationships versus worrying about this 0.05 GPA points.

^Seriously.

OP, as I mentioned in my reply earlier, it's not going to be your 3.8-3.9 GPA that keeps you out of medical school. It's the rest of your app. You've said you're applying late, which severely hurts your chances (July MCAT, assuming you do well the first time, means you won't even be able to submit your primaries until at least August). Additionally, you said you don't have anything unique EC-wise. That's going to hurt. Basically, your high GPA is going to get wasted because the rest of your app is going to be subpar. It's great that you're pulling a 3.9 but if the rest of your app isn't in place, no GPA is going to get you in the door. Start working on the rest of that and you'll improve your odds a ton.

 

[ucsfstudents]

There is no qualitative difference between a 3.93 and 3.88 GPA when applying to medical school. Agree with above posts. Make sure the rest of your application is great. Good luck!