F Grade

[Pittsburgh90]

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Hey all,

I'm wondering two things:

1) Do W's on undergrad transcripts impact admissions committees decisions? I have 4...

2) Last fall I went thru a traumatic situation and was advised by my advisor to take a leave of absence to recuperate but I did not listen. This resulted in me withdrawing from my anatomy course and failing physiology. I'm re-taking them but they're still on my transcript and will obviously be a part of optometry school?

How bad do both of these things look? Thanks.

 

[PinkCupcake]

W's aren't that bad, but they will ask about them and the reason you withdrew from those courses. For me, the majority of my W's were due to one of two things 1) Elective course I didn't like or 2) Class was comprised of 500+ students and there was no way to get individual help from the professor. I also explained that my university gives an automatic W for any course you withdraw from after the first week of classes (and who really knows if they will enjoy an elective course after a week?).

As for the F grade...that will certainly raise red flags. I have no Fs on my transcript whatsoever so I can't offer advice on this one. I would assume they'd ask you to re-take the course and get a better grade.

 

[Jason K]

Hey all,

I'm wondering two things:

1) Do W's on undergrad transcripts impact admissions committees decisions? I have 4...

2) Last fall I went thru a traumatic situation and was advised by my advisor to take a leave of absence to recuperate but I did not listen. This resulted in me withdrawing from my anatomy course and failing physiology. I'm re-taking them but they're still on my transcript and will obviously be a part of optometry school?

How bad do both of these things look? Thanks.

In all honesty, if you apply to one of the bottom tier, new schools, you'll probably be fine as long as you have a good explanation for the W's, and the rest of your record supports you. If you get booted, just give it a year or two. Just about anyone, with any grades, will be able to get in to optometry school pretty soon.

 

[Pittsburgh90]

Which one are considered bottom tier schools?? Thanks for the help.

 

[PinkCupcake]

Any of the unaccredited schools (MCPHS, Western, UIW, Midwestern) and Puerto Rico.

 

[Jason K]

Any of the unaccredited schools (MCPHS, Western, UIW, Midwestern) and Puerto Rico.

Don't forget RSO and the Appalachian School of Optometry. I think you might be able to see at least 20 patients by the time you graduate from the latter.

 

[punnygal]

don't forget rso and the appalachian school of optometry. I think you might be able to see at least 20 patients by the time you graduate from the latter.

lol

 

[punnygal]

For real, though, Pittsburgh, look up the admissions stats of the schools you are interested in here: http://www.opted.org/files/Profile of the Entering Class 2012.pdf to get a general idea of where you may be able to get in with your GPA and OAT score. I say if your GPA has been hurt by the presence of an F grade, you better study your face off for the OAT and get a score that will impress them.

 

[PinkCupcake]

Don't forget RSO and the Appalachian School of Optometry. I think you might be able to see at least 20 patients by the time you graduate from the latter.

I forgot about the Appalachian School of Optometry (aren't RSO and University of the Incarnate Ward the same school?). Isn't ASO opening in Virginia?

 

[Pittsburgh90]

Thank you. What about University of Houston?

 

[sbopt87]

The F, i don't know. I never received an F, but I did withdraw probably 4 times. But I worked the entire time in school and have lots of work, volunteering, and shadowing experience than most people according to my interviewer.

 

[Pittsburgh90]

I guess I'm wondering the mere presence of the F, my GPA still stands at a 3.4 and that is a science GPA?

 

[PinkCupcake]

Cumulative GPA and science GPA are two different things. Science GPA only factors in your science courses (Physics, Biology, Chemistry, ect.) while cumulative GPA factors in all of your classes. On your OptomCas application your GPAs will be calculated separately.

 

[Pittsburgh90]

My science and cum are the exact same. I'm just worried about applying with a huge F on my transcript. I have reasoning but still...it's an F??

 

[optometrygirl29]

i figured id comment here i have 2 F's intro to music and public speaking there are reasons for the grades and my GPA suffered bc of them but i will say that i have not one but TWO INTERVIEWS SCHEDULED! YOU should be fine

 

[PinkCupcake]

Which schools if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Pittsburgh90]

That's amazing! So, you never re-took the classes and the F's remain on your transcript as F's? Congratullations!

 

[optometrygirl29]

Well I didn't retake them I took both those classes at cc and they remain on my transcript I did take a music course the higheruniversity level and got an A and I didn't need public speaking to get my degree so I didn't retake it .....so to answer your question they are still there I could have and should have retaken the but it wasn't bc I couldn't to the work I didn't finish either course didn't take the exams I have interviews in NOVA IUAPR and ICO requested I retake the OATbefore scheduling an interview

 

[Pittsburgh90]

My science and cum are the exact same. I'm just worried about applying with a huge F on my transcript. I have reasoning but still...it's an F??

 

[optomfome]

I had 2 F grades and a W and im interviewing at ICO, PCO, and NECO and still waiting on a few schools but i did do very well on the oat also these grades were earlier in my degree and i showed a huge gpa leap on my transcripts afterwards so i guess they took that into account.

 

[OD 2 BE]

Hey all,

I'm wondering two things:

1) Do W's on undergrad transcripts impact admissions committees decisions? I have 4...

2) Last fall I went thru a traumatic. ituation and was advised by my advisor to take a leave of absence to recuperate but I did not listen. This resulted in me withdrawing from my anatomy course and failing physiology. I'm re-taking them but they're still on my transcript and will obviously be a part of optometry school?

How bad do both of these things look? Thanks.

What class did you get an F in? If its not a pre-req, it shouldnt be a big deal. Also if you can do better in your upper level bios, chems you should be ok. Just have a good reason to tell to the commitee.& also do well on your OAT & you can get interviews just due to a phenominal OAT score. Good luck

 

[OD 2 BE]

Scratch the part where I just asked which class. Do better when you retake it and also if u can take an upper level bio to solidify yourself.

 

[PreOpt317]

i figured id comment here i have 2 F's intro to music and public speaking there are reasons for the grades and my GPA suffered bc of them but i will say that i have not one but TWO INTERVIEWS SCHEDULED! YOU should be fine

THIS gives me hope! Congrats on the interviews! If you don't mind me asking - for what schools did you get interviews for?

 

[PreOpt317]

I had 2 F grades and a W and im interviewing at ICO, PCO, and NECO and still waiting on a few schools but i did do very well on the oat also these grades were earlier in my degree and i showed a huge gpa leap on my transcripts afterwards so i guess they took that into account.

I have a similar situation to you. I did poorly my first year of college and am now working extra hard so optometry schools see a significant increase. May I ask what your OAT scores are? Reading your post really gave me hope! Thank you, and good luck on your interviews!

 

[optomfome]

TS:360
AA:380
I don't want to give you misleading info so also take into account that although i had a horrible gpa in the beginning of my undergrad in the latter years of my degree my gpa went up substantially with the last couple years averaging to a 3.8.

 

[Pittsburgh90]

The class is a Human Physiology class that I am hoping to re-take in the fall....

 

[Pittsburgh90]

Another problem...I took a pharmacology course in which the course that was the pre-req was different than the other students in the course thus I had a lot of struggling and I tried to complete it for the sake of graduating. Half way through I tried to file for a late withdrawal but it was not approved. My advisor told me to stop worrying about the class and just take the F grade and focus on my other classes. So, I now have another F in pharmacology on my transcript. Should I re-take this thus not graduate on time thus wait another year? How bad does this look? Again, my school is huge and I don't think it was the pharmacology course that was difficult (well, it was but I think I could have done better had I had the proper pre-requisiste class)