Im getting a C- in my BIO LAB, should I go ahead and drop it? Here's my case

[alexfoleyc]

Im doing well in lecture, but my lab is not what I thought it would be like. I am geting a C-. I did some calculations and it seems like although this is a one credit class, a C- will significantly affect my GPA. I calculated my my tentative GPA, and it seems like that C- will bring my GPA down by ".1". And this is my first semeter of college for which i heard that once you screw up your GPA it can be diificult to bring it back up. What should I do? How bad does a W look on a transcript?

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[jtimmer1]

A C- in one lab will not kill you. The semester isn't over yet anyway. Just persevere and bring it up to a B, it shouldn't be too hard if you just study.

And just for the record, a W will look worse that a C. Like I said, just try to bring it up. I also believe your calculations are a little off.

 

[Greonis]

And this is my first semeter of college for which i heard that once you screw up your GPA it can be diificult to bring it back up. What should I do? How bad does a W look on a transcript?

Not true at all. "Rough starts" in college are more common than you might believe. You still have many semesters remaining during which you can adjust your study strategies and receive higher grades. There are plenty of posters on this forum who will share their "abysmal" freshman year GPA's alongside medical school acceptances. You really have nothing to worry about at this point other than learning from your mistakes and attacking your upcoming semesters with greater rigor.

As for whether or not you should drop the class, a W is generally something that you want to avoid, but having a few interspersed throughout your application will not be the end-all of your medical school prospects. I personally would only drop a class, however, if I were going to either fail it or receive a D-grade and there were nothing that I could do about it. I don't believe that dropping a class to negate a C-grade is worth the additional scrutiny/explaining that will be necessitated by the appearance of a W. In your case, I'd say stay in the lab and see what you can do to pull that grade up. If you end up with the C-, well, it's only one credit, and if you never receive another grade that is lower than a B in your life, you'll hardly notice its effects on your GPA in a year or two.

 

[AdmiralChz]

I could have sworn we went over this! A W from a pre-med class is a MAJOR red flag on your application. As I said before, how do you know you'd do better in future labs? I would meet with the teacher and see if you can determine what is bringing you down and how to rectify the problem. This will help you in future semesters.

I was in a similar spot with my Gen Chem Lab, and I was able to bring my grade up to a B-. While it may bring the GPA down for one semester, after 6+ semesters that grade all but disappears. Now it doesn't even contribute to a .01 difference for me than if I had gotten an A.

 

[sleepy12]

I got a C- in bio lab and I've already got an acceptance.

 

[dtepper]

I got a C- in bio lab and I've already got an acceptance.

/thread

 

[LossForWords]

I got Cs in two of my pre-req classes+labs (4 hrs), and I still got an acceptance.

I think you can recover from one C in a lab.