Repercussions of taking a W

[tneduts lacidem-erp]

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Hello all,

Recently, one of my parents who is living with a terminal disease has gotten much worse recently and I am spending a lot of time each day taking care of them. I reached out to my school to let them know and see if I there was anything that could be done academic-wise to relive some of the workload and I was told to just try to get everything done on time.
I have been able to do so for my classes except for my modern physics class which even before this situation happened, was by far the one I found most difficult. Since I had AP credit for physics 1 & 2, I took this modern physics course for the premed physics requirement.

Modern Physics was the course I had to spend the most time on by far and "sacrificing" it is the only way I am currently able to maintain good grades in my other classes. I asked if I could get an incomplete for this course until my situation is resolved but was told it was too early for an incomplete and to ask again in two weeks.

I'm barely hanging on to a B- in that course which will definitely go lower if I have to take the midterm next week which I am not at all prepared for, maybe down to a C. Currently I have As and an A- in my other courses.
I am thinking that I will have to take a W for this course and am wondering what repercussions there could be aside from the ugly W on my transcript especially since this is a prereq. If I later take another physics course to fulfill the physics prereqs or take this course in the summer, does it look like I used my parent's illness as an excuse to take an easy way out?

Some people have told me to just take the GPA hit but I am not sure this is a good idea since my GPA is already on the lower end at a 3.61 cGPA ~3.5 sGPA. After this semester, I will have currently taken about 2/3 of my projected total credits.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be highly appreciated, thank you

 

[KnightDoc]

This is exactly what Ws are for. Yes, it's ugly, but one or two absolutely will not kill you, and you sure don't need a C to go along with your 3.6. Take care of your parent, and yourself.

When the time comes, you will explain the circumstances. I guarantee you that the outcome of your application will not be determined by this. Do what you need to do. Good luck, and I'm sorry about your parent.

 

[Moko]

This is exactly what Ws are for. Yes, it's ugly, but one or two absolutely will not kill you, and you sure don't need a C to go along with your 3.6. Take care of your parent, and yourself.

When the time comes, you will explain the circumstances. I guarantee you that the outcome of your application will not be determined by this. Do what you need to do. Good luck, and I'm sorry about your parent.

I agree with @KnightDoc , the W will not impact your chances at medical schools, nor will anyone think less of you for taking time off to spend with your terminally ill parent. So, withdraw from this course and spend some quality time with your parents. Just my thoughts and wishing you the best.

 

[MyOdyssey]

OP. Are you sure your 2 semesters of AP credit in physics don’t cover your premed requirement? Does your college transcript reflect the AP credits? If yes, medical schools often consider the requirement fulfilled. (Some make you take upper level courses in those subjects.)

For now take the W.

 

[tneduts lacidem-erp]

OP. Are you sure your 2 semesters of AP credit in physics don’t cover your premed requirement? Does your college transcript reflect the AP credits? If yes, medical schools often consider the requirement fulfilled. (Some make you take upper level courses in those subjects.)

For now take the W.

My advisor told me last year that I had to take a year of physics in college and that since I had AP credits from high school for physics 1 and 2, I had to take the next level up. My transcript does indeed reflect these AP credits as transfer credits and I would love to not have to deal with physics at this point if not taking more physics will not drastically limit my med school options

 

[KnightDoc]

My advisor told me last year that I had to take a year of physics in college and that since I had AP credits from high school for physics 1 and 2, I had to take the next level up. My transcript does indeed reflect these AP credits as transfer credits and I would love to not have to deal with physics at this point if not taking more physics will not drastically limit my med school options

Totally depends on the schools. The general advice is to not limit your options and take the year of upper level physics, as your advisor advised. If you don't want to deal with it, spot check a few schools you are interested in and see whether or not they require physics (most do) and whether they will accept AP credits without additional coursework (most won't, but some will). Either way, you don't need to deal with it right now.

 

[MyOdyssey]

My advisor told me last year that I had to take a year of physics in college and that since I had AP credits from high school for physics 1 and 2, I had to take the next level up. My transcript does indeed reflect these AP credits as transfer credits and I would love to not have to deal with physics at this point if not taking more physics will not drastically limit my med school options

There's quite a bit of variation among schools about AP credits for schools:

At Harvard (non-tech track), a year of AP credits counts as one semester of college physics. You'd still need to take a second semester of college physics:

Prerequisite Courses

meded.hms.harvard.edu

Yale wants you to take more advanced physics coursework notwithstanding the 2 semesters of AP credit:

Pre-med Requirements

Our pre-medical requirements are detailed below. These prerequisites do not need to be completed to apply but must be met prior to matriculation. Applicants

medicine.yale.edu

UT Southwestern would allow you to place out of physics with your AP credits

Prerequisite Courses

Prerequisite courses for applying to UT Southwestern Medical School include biology, chemistry, biochemistry, English, math, and physics.

www.utsouthwestern.edu

I suggest looking at your state's medical schools and checking to see how it (they) treat AP credits.

If you want to apply to a broad range of medical schools, then I'm afraid you're stuck with having to take 2 semesters of college physics.

Physics is also tested on the MCAT.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hello all,

Recently, one of my parents who is living with a terminal disease has gotten much worse recently and I am spending a lot of time each day taking care of them. I reached out to my school to let them know and see if I there was anything that could be done academic-wise to relive some of the workload and I was told to just try to get everything done on time.
I have been able to do so for my classes except for my modern physics class which even before this situation happened, was by far the one I found most difficult. Since I had AP credit for physics 1 & 2, I took this modern physics course for the premed physics requirement.

Modern Physics was the course I had to spend the most time on by far and "sacrificing" it is the only way I am currently able to maintain good grades in my other classes. I asked if I could get an incomplete for this course until my situation is resolved but was told it was too early for an incomplete and to ask again in two weeks.

I'm barely hanging on to a B- in that course which will definitely go lower if I have to take the midterm next week which I am not at all prepared for, maybe down to a C. Currently I have As and an A- in my other courses.
I am thinking that I will have to take a W for this course and am wondering what repercussions there could be aside from the ugly W on my transcript especially since this is a prereq. If I later take another physics course to fulfill the physics prereqs or take this course in the summer, does it look like I used my parent's illness as an excuse to take an easy way out?

Some people have told me to just take the GPA hit but I am not sure this is a good idea since my GPA is already on the lower end at a 3.61 cGPA ~3.5 sGPA. After this semester, I will have currently taken about 2/3 of my projected total credits.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be highly appreciated, thank you

When you retake physics (assuming you take the W), look into whether you can take the physics 1 sequence at another college. Second year college physics is no joke and you may run into the same issues when you attempt to take second year college physics again.

Would this be acceptable? @Moko @gonnif

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

You took the W for a totally good reason. That’s what it’s for. I took four Ws because my second child was born, and I was working a lot too. No issues when I was applying.

Now the other 22 Ws… those I needed to explain lol.

 

[DoctorFate]

You took the W for a totally good reason. That’s what it’s for. I took four Ws because my second child was born, and I was working a lot too. No issues when I was applying.

Now the other 22 Ws… those I needed to explain lol.

Uh... what. How did you explain those lol

 

[DoctorFate]

OP, try talking to a different advisor too, or take one year of physics at a different college. I second @MyOdyssey. Second year physics is much much harder than first, and irrelevant to your medical education for the most part. It won't be on the mcat or likely related to any part of medicine you will practice. If your school truly bars taking courses you have credit for and you can't take physics at another college, try to take a different first year physics course.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Uh... what. How did you explain those lol

Immaturity. I had about a decade between then and when I applied, so that helped.

 

[stickgirl390]

I had 1 W from psych 1, literally never came up a single time in interviews.

 

[EducatedGuesser]

Ten years from now, as an MD, which will you most regret? Take the understandable W and invest in time with your parent. This invested time will better prepare you as a compassionate, caring physician.