Low Grade or W in Prereq?

[jessjlstar]

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Hey all!

I'm in quite the dilemma. As a freshman, I thought Intro to Sociology would be a good class to take. But instead, I am failing. My teacher does not relay what will be on the tests, so I am struggling to figure out what to study. School has just started, and I almost have zero chances of getting an "A." However, a "B" could be possible. Should I drop the class and get a W then take it again over the summer? I would take it online and probably have a high "A." Or should I just stick it out and hope I do good? If I drop it now, it will go in as a "W," but it will not differentiate whether or not I was passing. What would you do?

 

[jewel11786]

W grades won't hurt your GPA, but just make sure you carefully consider your reasons for dropping the class before you do. Having a transcript full of Ws doesn't look good if you get into the habit of doing it. Sometimes you'll have difficult or impossible professors to deal with and normally sticking it out is a good learning experience on how to handle difficult classes/professors. When you get into OT, you probably won't have the option to drop a class. In my program, it would mean staying back an entire year. During my undergrad, I only dropped extremely difficult classes such as calculus or chemistry. If you really think the class is impossible and the professor is horrible and you'll have a better chance of passing better with an online course, go for it, but consider what I've said.

 

[BHSUStudent]

If you have any shortcomings on your transcript, be prepared to explain the reasons to the admissions committees (e.g., during an interview). Although a few W's shouldn't raise a red flag, dropping a 101 course because of difficulty wouldn't send a good message to admissions committees, especially since graduate school is much more rigorous. I don't recommend taking easier courses either. People take unrelated courses like basket weaving to inflate their GPA, without considering the fact that admissions committees will take notice. You will need to sell yourself as a well prepared individual that is serious about becoming a highly competent, dedicated OT professional to the admissions committees. Being well prepared means taking many science courses in kinesiology, biology, psychology, sociology, having research experience, work experience in a related field, many observation hours, and having a comprehensive understanding of the OT profession. Meanwhile, you will need to demonstrate that you can handle high course loads (15-17 credit hours) without cracking under academic pressure. You don't want to give them any reason to doubt your academic abilities. All the above will make you much more competitive as a potential OT student. As a person pursuing the OT profession, you should be focused on making yourself appear as competitive as possible.

If a particular prerequisite course is too much for you, you will need to set unessential things aside and focus on getting the highest grade possible in that course, because your competitiveness is more important in the long run.

Trust me, you will save yourself much stress later on by working really hard as an undergrad. If you are highly competitive and have few shortcomings, you will have much more confidence in yourself, and less to worry about as you start applying to OT programs.

 

[Gemut]

If it were me, I would take the W and call for a do over. One thing I have learned in returning to school after years away from academia is to work very hard in class but spend a fair amount of time researching your prof before signing up for their class. I had an amazing Physiology teacher, an M.D. who knew his stuff AND loved teaching. At the same school there was a physio prof who knew his stuff but made basic concepts seem difficult and difficult concepts seem unintelligible. With a little research on myedu.com, I discovered prof 1 had much better student outcomes than prof 2. Same school, same class, different section. No admissions committee would be able to distinguish the qualitative difference in this situation, all they would be able to see is your final grade. The moral of the story is Do Not Register for any prerequisite class unless you have done your due diligence and can be assured that with hard work you can achieve an A.

In my case I dropped prof 2(sans W) when I was not able to switch sections due to overcrowding ( guess whose section was maxed out?) and retook the following semester with prof 1. I aced the class because I did my research prior to class and worked very hard in class. One of the reasons prospective OT's are required to take Statistics is because it helps you understand the difference between possibility and probability. Under no circumstances should you enter an undergraduate course without having analyzed, to the best of your ability, all available information about your teacher and the breakout of the grades they have given in the past. If prof 1 gives 38% A's and prof 2 gives 16% A's, all other factors being equal, you are more than twice as likely of earning an A with Prof 1. That is called working smart. Work hard and work smart.

 

[BHSUStudent]

Asking around is also effective. I never avoided professors that were notorious for being hard. I enjoyed them, actually. Some are difficult because of inexperience or incompetency. Some are difficult because they dislike grade inflation, and/or want to prepare students for the real world, which is highly competitive. An easy class may come back to haunt you later on (e.g., if you take college algebra from a professor because you heard she/he was easy, this may affect your GRE score for the quantitative section). What you want is quality, while balancing course load enough so that you don't bite off more than you can chew.

@Gemut, if prof 1 gives 38% A's, this is skew (i.e., a ceiling effect). It is not necessarily an indicator of instructor competency. Grades should be distributed like a bell curve. Prof 2 has a distribution resembling a bell curve in contrast to Prof 1. While you are more likely to earn an A with Prof 1, it is grade inflation, which (1) makes it difficult to figure out which students are the higher quality students, and (2) invalidates the hard work of strong A students by making their achievements less meaningful.

 

[Gemut]

@BHSUStudent
Pedaling largely discredited abstract notions like all grade distributions must conform to a Bell Curve or the best students are being punished is neither helpful to future OTs nor perceptive of the intent of the post. Reporting the reality of what is helps those on the path to OT grad school get to the goal. The reality is not all A grades are equal and it is important to internalize that graduate school admissions teams are not capable of distinguishing between an A and an A, even if the underlying work to earn those grades was significantly different or based on educator caprice. A red herring like not working hard in a prerequisite class will lower your GRE score is a completely unsubstantiated claim.

My advice to the op was to take the W and retake the class. A single B grade on your transcript, especially in a relatively easy class like Introductory Sociology, will put you at a marked disadvantage down the road. The grad school admission process for the allied health fields is highly competitive. Many who seek to enter the helping professions are not highly competitive by nature. It is very helpful to grasp early on in the process the nature of the game. Telling someone to scale an 11,000 foot mountain peak instead of an 8,000 foot pass to cross the continental divide to prove their mettle when the goal is to get to California is not practical advice.

Advising the traveller where the passes are, that's what scouts do.

It is my intent here to offer completely unvarnished, practical, real world advice based on my personal experience that will assist those who want to get into OT grad school. Sometimes that advice will involve short cuts like work smart in addition to working hard. Platitudes about how life ought to be tend not to rise to this standard.

 

[failureisnotfatal]

A "B" is by no means a bad grade. There is no reason to drop if you know you can get a "B." If, however, you really think you're going to fail (D/F) then it is probably better to drop it.