Grade vs. W

[jsend]

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Dear pre-med folks,

I recently graduated from university and this past semester I spent time working on my apps for next year and working at home. I chose to take a course at distance and travel once per week to attend class and any given exam. The course is calculus and I already took it as a freshman in college, I just wanted a refresher. I was supposed to take it as an audited course but somewhere between the beginning of class and the deadline for auditing, it slipped my mind.

Things have come up this semester and while I am usually a crack student, my grade will only end up as a "B". Family members were sick, I had work commitments, etc. It will lower my overall GPA to keep this mark, so my question is this: Should I take the B and deal or should I withdraw? It's not like I am struggling with a full time course load (I'm not, this is my only class), and I withdrew from 0 courses as an undergrad with 20 credit hour semesters.

What is worse (in your opinions, obviously) for an adcom to deal with? A crap grade or a "W" for sound reason?

Thanks a lot, cheers for your time!

 

[golfman]

In my opinion, there is no question that you should just take the B. Plenty of people get B's, and most admissions committees won't care if you have one on your transcript. I got into 7 medical schools and I had 2 B's on my transcript. Don't worry.

On the other hand, it's tough to explain a W on a transcript. Most people that take W's have a C or D. That's what adcom's may assume. Heck that is what I would assume with a W. And if you try to explain your W by saying that you were going to get a B, that wouldn't sound very good.

 

[mdbound1987]

There are people who have received an F in a course and still got into med school, so take the B. If you don't mind me asking, why are you taking calculus again? I know you said to refresh, but you don't need it for the mcat or anything so I was just curious.

 

[jsend]

Refresher, didn't have any solid basis in math for 3 years and need to take chemistry and physics still. I figured it would help out but like I said I had planned to just pass/fail it but simply forgot to change my credit status. Already taken it so it will be funny on AMCAS and count as an average of six credits value. 🙁

I figured a W wouldn't mess with AMCAS.

 

[Bernoull]

Dude, honestly a B is a good grade. I'm won't suggest withdrawing. If you were looking at a D then theat's a different story. To give u some reference, one of the acceptance conditions for med school is usually "get Cs or better for remaining courses or maintain current level of achievement" they two tend to be synonymous.

 

[jsend]

Your advice is contrary to my instinct so I am glad I asked. I figured explaining away a single W (and my only course) was the far easier thing to do.

Thanks!