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deleted1135735
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Not ideal but also not an app killer. Make sure to take responsibility and talk about how you've bettered your time management skills and work efficiency since then IF it gets brought up in interviews.
I would not recommend bringing it up on your own in your Personal Statement or secondaries.
I would not recommend bringing it up on your own in your Personal Statement or secondaries.
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deleted1135735
How do medical schools look at withdrawals?
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Negatively, it generally shows you either have poor judgement of what you can handle or that you had a low grade in the class. I would strongly avoid any Ws going forward.
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deleted1135735
I'm just wondering why they care so much? It seems that all a W indicates is that you dropped the course after the add/drop deadline.
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Like I said before there are only two reasons a student would actually withdraw from a course
1. They are doing poorly in the class.
2. They overestimated how much workload they could handle.
Both of these reflect bad qualities that ADCOMs would not want in their ideal student.
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Read
www.studentdoctor.net
GPA Repair and Management for Pre-Health Applicants - SDN
The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.
www.studentdoctor.net
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Extenuating circumstances also do happen.
I got promoted at work and was suddenly working 100h/wk in the middle of semester and had to drop my first attempt at Chem 2/Phys 2. Went back and aced them the next semester. 🤷♂️
I imagine someone's family member dying, loss of a serious relationship etc are also reasons people drop which really shouldn't be held against them. There's generally an essay to explain stuff like this.
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deleted1135735
Could you elaborate a little more? I read the document you linked but would like more information about how W's are viewed by Adcoms. It wasn't that I was lazy, I just was taking massive, massive course loads 20+ credits per semester, and it was just so overwhelming. I think I have a bad habit of biting off way too much more than I can chew. I'm applying this cycle.Read
GPA Repair and Management for Pre-Health Applicants - SDN
The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.
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You can't ask this question in the abstract. If your app is otherwise strong, it's a little weird but probably isn't a dealbreaker. If your app is otherwise marginal, it may hurt you.
Withdrawals are there to help you get through rough patches. You can use them to withdraw in the setting of an unexpected life event (ie help with terminal family member). You can also use them if you have a class where you stumble and need to try again. If it's the latter, it is generally expected that you would learn your lesson. Having that happen, and then continuing to register for 20+ credits per semester is just poor judgement, and continually biting off more than you can chew would be almost equally damaging if that behavior persists in med school as laziness would be. So I would not frame this as a positive.
Withdrawals are there to help you get through rough patches. You can use them to withdraw in the setting of an unexpected life event (ie help with terminal family member). You can also use them if you have a class where you stumble and need to try again. If it's the latter, it is generally expected that you would learn your lesson. Having that happen, and then continuing to register for 20+ credits per semester is just poor judgement, and continually biting off more than you can chew would be almost equally damaging if that behavior persists in med school as laziness would be. So I would not frame this as a positive.
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deleted1135735
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Yes, that is insane. The fact that you would then proceed to do that repeatedly demonstrates poor judgement.
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deleted1135735
So do I basically have no hope for MD?
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That is not what I said. I said it is definitely a negative that needs to be taken in the context of the overall strength of the rest of your application.
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deleted1135735
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With a 3.85 SMP and a strong MCAT I honestly wouldn't worry too much about this. The whole point of an SMP is showing that the old you is not the current you. But if given the opportunity to reflect on a "weakness" or "something you've learned," I might suggest you talk about how you learned to not overload yourself.
Congrats on the very strong turnaround!
Congrats on the very strong turnaround!
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As mentioned one cannot generalize, and I don't know your specific situation well enough from your posts. Your questions seem very hypothetical, so please correct me.
That said, I have also noted that overloaded schedules don't get bonus points or sympathy points. If you are consistently overloading your schedule and have a pattern of withdrawing from courses, then it will raise concerns that you aren't ready for medical school coursework, which could be easily 28-32 credit hours at a time.
If you have since corrected this issue with your SMP, then we will presume you have figured out what corrections you made to help you handle such a rigorous schedule. Prepare an answer accordingly for essays and interviews. Make sure you are not making excuses for making poor decisions when it comes to your schedule.
