Explaining bad grade/class withdrawal

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northernchild

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I have 3.71 s/3.7 cGPA, but got a C in Biol 1 my first semester of college (retook at school I later transferred to: B+) which is why my sGPA is lower than it should be (all A's in my other science courses). The Biol 1 course only had 5 grades, and I did well on the 4 exams (something like B, A, B, A), but our research project studying planarians failed because many died (resulting in a failing grade for it, and hence the C). My second semester of college I had to withdraw from Biol 2 (no academic penalty however) because my advisor told me I had to take a freshmen specific course which was at the same time as my Biol 2 class, but didn't tell me soon enough to drop the class yet told me to start attending the other class so I could catch up by the time I withdrew from Biol 2 (it was a huge fiasco and part of the reason I transferred).
So considering the above info: I'm wondering if I should explain this on my secondaries even though I have a decent sGPA (4.0 in my chem minor) and technically didn't retake the Biol 1 course. I'm mostly worried since there's no way to prove this, and I don't want to look like I'm making stuff up... Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
 
No, I don't think that's worth addressing on your secondaries. No one is going to take you to task or throw out your app for getting a single C in Bio 1. Be prepared to talk about it a little bit if asked in an interview, but that's not something you should feel the need to defend on an app. It's really not a big deal. Your cGPA and sGPA are solid and you've clearly demonstrated the ability to do well in science courses.
 
You should be fine anyway, and since you did well on your other science courses it won't be a big deal.
 
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