Repeated courses/Withdrawing from a class

[Shunte]

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Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has repeated multiple courses or withdrew from any classes? If so, how did you explain this in your interview? What are the chances that your interviewer will bring that question up?

 

[kevinacko]

i never repeated any classes but did withdraw from 4 or 5. it never caused any problem and never came up in interviews.

 

[Shumba]

I had several W's and no one said a word to me about them.

 

[larryt]

Case and NYU asked me about that. I just told them exactly what did happen back then.

 

[adornato]

I HAD TWO CLASSES THAT I RESIGNED FROM AND I AHD ONE CLASS THAT I AHD TO RETAKE I GOT A D+ IN CELL BIO. AND RE-TOOK IT AND GOT A B+, THE ONLY SCHOOL THAT ASKED ABOUT IT WAS CASE WESTERN AND THAT IS THE FIRST SCHOOL THAT ACCEPTED ME. SO I WOULDN'T WORRY ABOUT RESIGNING OR REPEATING CLASSES. I AHVE AN OVERALL GPA OF 3.41 AND SCIENCE 3.27 🙂

 

[ItsGavinC]

Here's some general good advice:
Withdrawals are detrimental only when your transcript contains numerous W?s and it is apparent that you are withdrawing from difficult classes to keep from receiving undesirable grades.

When you apply to dental school each grade is treated equally regardless of how many times you have taken the class. You should only retake a class in which you received a C grade or higher if you did not learn the subject matter well enough to do well in subsequent classes and on the DAT. You should repeat classes in which you received a C- or below.

 

[arns51]

Withdrew from 2 class and retook one of those classes. One of my four interviews mentioned it but thats all they did, simply mentioned it and didnt even ask for an explanation.

 

[Mangocat]

I took orgo over again during the summer, and not many schools have asked me about it (I can think of only 2). I did MUCH BETTER the second time around. I'm not sure about the withdraws, but if you have one repeated course, it's not going to kill you. Now if you are taking a lot of courses over again-I'm sure that will be a red flag on your app.

 

[grettlin2]

I withdrawed 2 classes. No school asked me about that, except BU. The interviewer kept asking why??!! I felt she was kind of...... Anyway, don't worry too much. I heard that as long as your Ws are less than 4, you will be fine.

 

[akathisia]

I think ItsGavinC has it right. However I would add this little tid-bit to think about: ADSAS calculates in any grade you have gotten in any course taken during college. They will add in each and every grade you receive regardless if you have retaken the class. Taking a D in a class then repeating and getting an A looks great on your college transcripts because they don't count the D once you receive the A. At ADSAS however those repeated courses are added in and thus lower your GPA. My point is this: taking the grade instead of a W will lower your GPA. A low(er) GPA may keep you from getting an interview. Taking a W and then repeating will not lower your GPA for ADSAS and you will have a better chance at getting an interview since your GPA will be greater. If you never get an interview you will never get into dental school. Better to have to explain the W's later at an interview than never to have gotten an interview. GPA can be a serious stumbling block for some people. I was never told that dental schools look at every course and add old repeated scores into your total GPA. If I had known earlier I would have done things differently and saved myself 0.11 GPA points.

Just my 2 cents. However, I'm not in dental school yet so take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

[PERFECT3435]

i withdrew from 3 courses and repeated 14 units of my undergrad (mostly claases that i had c's in).
i was never asked about why i repeated them or withdrew from any during my interviews.

on the other hand, i believe that you will have to explain those withdrawls and any courses that you repeated on your secondaries for most schools.

 

[EVN3331]

I don't understand how schools could careless about seeing W's on someones transcript? It doesnt make sense, I guess im just frustrated since I have a couple C's on my transcipt and would have taken the W if I had knows schools didn't take them as seriously as I once thought.