How does a class withdrawal look on one's transcript?

[Ragman]

I withdrew from both English II and Intro to Biology in community college, before I began to improve my GPA. How bad will this look? I assumed that they didn't matter once you completed the classes eventually and received a good grade.

On a bit of a side note, when I was in high school I took a chemistry class at the local community college and wound up failing it. I have yet to take any chemistry prerequisites in college--and intend to do so at a four year university. Will this look bad on my transcript as well? And does retaking classes in general for better grades look bad no matter what?

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[Narmerguy]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/search.php?searchid=14803203

 

[Ragman]

I did a search beforehand, but then decided that I wanted my specific question answered. Notably because my situation also involved taking college courses while in high school.

ETA: After doing some quick research, I see that medical admission in general factors retakes into one's GPA. So it would be better for me to leave the few C's that I have alone since it would be a waste of time. Overall, it looks like W's even look better than bad grades provided that I don't have many of them.

 

[drdandelion]

I withdrew from both English II and Intro to Biology in community college, before I began to improve my GPA. How bad will this look? I assumed that they didn't matter once you completed the classes eventually and received a good grade.

On a bit of a side note, when I was in high school I took a chemistry class at the local community college and wound up failing it. I have yet to take any chemistry prerequisites in college--and intend to do so at a four year university. Will this look bad on my transcript as well? And does retaking classes in general for better grades look bad no matter what?

Better than an F but if you have too many withdrawals...it can look bad. One here or there shouldn't do much harm. But several in a semesters or for multiple semesters doesn't paint one in a positive light.

 

[Ragman]

Better than an F but if you have too many withdrawals...it can look bad. One here or there shouldn't do much harm. But several in a semesters or for multiple semesters doesn't paint one in a positive light.

Basically, I have one D and an F that I need to retake. This was back when I didn't care about school, and during that same period I have two withdrawals.

From that same time period I have three C's. Two in relevant areas pertaining to medicine, the other in a music history class. Everyone has advised me so far not to retake the C's if I believe I can grasp future class material, and just keep moving on and doing better.

From calculating my GPA with the retakes, I realized that raising my GPA is still possible, albeit with the factored-in retakes being a minor statistical setback.

The shortened version: I was an idiot who didn't care about anything, now I'm doing better but I'm still dealing with damage control over my past stupidity.

Luckily, provided the fact that I'm doing better and based under the assumption that I'll continue to make great grades, I believe that I can explain my mediocre beginnings in community college easily during an admissions interview. I guess Narmerguy was right: I answered my own question by searching around. Sorry guys.

 

[Sid Farkus]

I withdrew from both English II and Intro to Biology in community college, before I began to improve my GPA. How bad will this look? I assumed that they didn't matter once you completed the classes eventually and received a good grade.

It looks surprisingly bad (surprising to me, at least). I have 3 W's on my transcript and an interviewer last year was not happy about it. It spawned a lot of questions about my consistency, commitment, etc., so make sure you don't get any more! lol

My story, with paraphrasing for brevity:
My honest answer was, "I didn't think a W was a bad thing during college, just that it cost $20. For those three semesters, I wanted to squeeze in more credits; however, each started to place a lot of strain on my other grades--more than I was comfortable with--and it didn't come to the surface until the non-W-deadline had passed." To which the interviewer responded, "It sounds like you haven't had the best advising. You need to seek out good advisors who will get you into medical school." Damn! I couldn't win!

 

[drdandelion]

Basically, I have one D and an F that I need to retake. This was back when I didn't care about school, and during that same period I have two withdrawals.

From that same time period I have three C's. Two in relevant areas pertaining to medicine, the other in a music history class. Everyone has advised me so far not to retake the C's if I believe I can grasp future class material, and just keep moving on and doing better.

From calculating my GPA with the retakes, I realized that raising my GPA is still possible, albeit with the factored-in retakes being a minor statistical setback.

The shortened version: I was an idiot who didn't care about anything, now I'm doing better but I'm still dealing with damage control over my past stupidity.

Luckily, provided the fact that I'm doing better and based under the assumption that I'll continue to make great grades, I believe that I can explain my mediocre beginnings in community college easily during an admissions interview. I guess Narmerguy was right: I answered my own question by searching around. Sorry guys.

Yeah, sounds good to me! The most important thing is that you have matured. Everyone makes mistakes. Those who learn from and grow from their mistakes are seen as being qualified.