How bad is two or three withdrawals?

Started by numbersloth
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numbersloth

Full Member
7+ Year Member
I had one really rough year (sophomore year) and had three withdrawals in non-pre med classes. I was over my head trying to get a computer science minor and struggling with family/personal issues. How bad is having a couple withdrawals in one year if I killed it in my junior and senior year? Should I get a masters to show a continuing trend?
 
It's not bad enough to keep you out of med school unless you continue down that path. If your GPA is solid you don't need to waste cash on a master's
 
A couple W's will not tank your chances if the rest of your application is up to par. There is no need to get a masters. There are thousands of threads on this topic, some very recent. Feel free to do a search for some more reassurance.
 
gonnif said:
W's are designed for dealing with external issues to academics, such as family and personal issues. As an adcom in my view, it is easier to understand an applicant who has a few during one term or year, than someone who has them sprinkled about their records. It isnt something to be overly concerned about. Most secondary applications have an open question along the lines of "anything else we should know?" You make a brief one or two sentence explanation of saying family and personal difficulties forced me to withdrawal from some course during sophomore year. If your are a solid candidate otherwise it really we have no effect on your chances. Look forward and keep working hard
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Thanks for this. The rest of my app is strong, its just three during sophomore year but it bugs me since I feel like it puts a dent in my app.
 
md-2020 said:
I had multiple Ws, two of which came in the same year, and one of which was a pre req. I'm of the opinion my interviewers weren't even aware of their existence, tbh.

You're OK.
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This was also my experience. My W's were not an issue.
 
cardzkp said:
lmao wut.
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Extenuating circumstances.... Serious family problems caused me to drop my first three semesters. This was nearly 10 years ago. Joined the army and was discharged honorably so I am hoping that being a vet along with strong gpa and upward trend, good EC's and smdep I can overcome my failures from long ago. I am also urm.


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ArizonaVet480 said:
Extenuating circumstances.... Serious family problems caused me to drop my first three semesters. This was nearly 10 years ago. Joined the army and was discharged honorably so I am hoping that being a vet along with strong gpa and upward trend, good EC's and smdep I can overcome my failures from long ago. I am also urm.


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And I thought I had a lot with 13.
 
Don't really think my undergrad did much to help or guide me either. I got accepted and that was it I could schedule classes. I didn't know squat about course loads and what was manageable so my first two semesters I was enrolled for an insane amount of classes and couldn't figure out why I couldn't manage.


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