Summer Courses, Possible W

[academic_20]

Hi,
I'm in a dilemma. I'm thinking of taking a physics course this summer at another college. At this college, the tests are weighted less in the overall marking scheme so I feel like I would do much better there than at my normal college where the tests weighted heavily. Although this is true, I am also still hesitant because I am not sure if I will do well in the summer course since physics is a weak subject for me. If I don't do well, I will withdraw from the course, resulting in a W on transcript. So my question is do you think it is worth for me to take the physics class in the summer where I may end with a W or just take it next semester in my college where the grading much harder? Is having one W on my transcript bad?

 

[Monkeymojo]

Taking a W is bad. I don't think a single W is going to tank any application but you will definitely need to prepare a response for interviews on why it is there if you do end up taking one. Stating the class didn't match your learning style (again if you do need to take a W) will not be seen favorably. The only reason I could see adcoms taking it easy on someone is if they were impacted by COVID or another life event but that doesn't seem like the case here. In addition, adcoms realize which classes are the 'hard' ones and selectively saving them for summer semesters will once again be a point of tension during your interviews that you will have to explain. My recommendation is to just do it in the fall.