I know this has been asked before, but I'm looking for specific advice. I am currently in 18 credit hours. I have all A's in my classes, except 4 credit calculus which I have a B in. I am finding that I spend around 70% of my time doing calculus and am getting around 5 hours of sleep a night. I am a Classics major and do not need calculus. I scored a perfect on my SAT math and am thus exempt from any math req at my school. Additionally, the med school I want to go to doesn't require calculus.(IU) I am essentially spending all my time working on an elective, and only have a B. This is an upper level calculus course and the final is exterememyl hard, so a C is possible. Will medical schools seriously look down on a withdraw here? Would it be better to have a 4.0 with a W than a 3.6 without one. Thanks for the advice.
To withdraw or not to withdraw?
- Thread starter chrisski
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One calc courses isn't going to bring down from a 4.0 to a 3.6 (at least not in the end). Even an F in a 4-credit course (at 120 credits total) would only bring it down to a 3.87. That being said, if it's not necessary and this is your only W, go ahead and drop it. Just don't make a habit of this.
He's talking in the grand scheme of things not one semester.
There are a few med schools that require calc. Personally to keep my options open I would bust my ass and get the B. That way when it comes time to pick medical schools to apply to I don't find one that I really liked but didn't have the calc requirement. Good luck either way.
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This is your first semester? Don't worry about it. Med schools would look at your first year as a whole, but not just the first semester. Also, it's pretty late in the semester, so check with your dean because if you have to do a WF (withdraw failing) that will trash your GPA. If you think a B your first semester freshman year is going to prevent you from going to medical school, you need to step back and take a look at the broader picture.
Are you absolutely, 100% certain that you could do nothing to raise your grade? Do you regularly go to office hours? Have you tried getting a tutor? Have you taken a long, hard look at your study habits? Study techniques that worked in high school classes don't necessarily work in college classes, because there is more of a variation in content and teaching style. Can you go to your TAs and ask them how they got through the class with a good grade? If you truly think you've exhausted all your options at getting an A or a B, go ahead and drop if you're able to do it before the withdrawal deadline. And honestly, DON'T STRESS ABOUT IT. Getting destroyed by a class is actually a very good learning experience, especially if it happens early on.
Are you absolutely, 100% certain that you could do nothing to raise your grade? Do you regularly go to office hours? Have you tried getting a tutor? Have you taken a long, hard look at your study habits? Study techniques that worked in high school classes don't necessarily work in college classes, because there is more of a variation in content and teaching style. Can you go to your TAs and ask them how they got through the class with a good grade? If you truly think you've exhausted all your options at getting an A or a B, go ahead and drop if you're able to do it before the withdrawal deadline. And honestly, DON'T STRESS ABOUT IT. Getting destroyed by a class is actually a very good learning experience, especially if it happens early on.
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I got the one professor in the department who almost speaks no English. Even worse, all the TA's are international students from China. As you can imagine, the end result is disastrous. I sit by two math major, these kids are absolute geniuses, and they both have C's due to lack of communication in the course. I'm not the type to make excuses, but its ridiculous. I actually had an A in the class, but after the midterm(class average was 49%) I dropped down to a middle B. While it is possible that I maintain a B, it is also possible that a grievous miscommunication occurs on the upcoming final(35% of grade), due to language barriers, and I end up with a C. And yes, I did nothing but study for the last test for 3 days, and went to all office hours.
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Since it's a communications barrier that seems to be affecting lots of students in the class, I think it's worth it to try to drop. Like I said before, though, just make sure that if you drop it now it will just show up as a normal "W" on your transcript so as not to factor into your GPA. If you have to do "Withdraw Failing" then your only option to salvage your GPA is just to stay in the class and try for a B.
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Why not drop it, or if you want to take it for fun, take it P/F, but there is no reason you need 18 units and it is surprising when doing the AMCAS forms how much you can regret an A- here or a B+ there, thinking of all the things you could have done to bump that grade.
So, don't take a random unneeded B if you can help it.
So, don't take a random unneeded B if you can help it.
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Since you are just starting college, I would drop it and take it again later with another professor. That way it looks like you dropped for the language reason and not you could not handle it. I would also check around and find the easiest professor for the class.
Drop it now and save yourself the trouble. I dropped around 5 classes and was never asked. Dont let school take you, you take it!!
Drop it tonight!!! 😎
Drop it now and save yourself the trouble. I dropped around 5 classes and was never asked. Dont let school take you, you take it!!
Drop it tonight!!! 😎
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Nonsense. W's don't hurt you in this process. That is SDN urban legend.
I had a bunch of Ws, but I graduated in 4 years with a full load every semester. Med schools don't give a crap about W's...but they damn sure care about your GPA.
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Same here, and I think I dropped 6...6 interviews so far, no questions about any of that.
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you guys are absolutley awesome. Its great to here from people who are actually experiencing it. Thanks you for helping me make my decision. I can now look forward to a beautiful 4.0 at the end of the semester.🙂
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Ex...cellent!! You made the correct decision...enjoy life now...🙂
One word of advice is find out which professors are the best to take in each class. It saved me alot of work....I got to where I could look at the syllabus and listen to the professor and tell whether to drop his ass!!
One week, tops!!
I realized about half way through the semester that my school publishes grade distribution for all classes that professors have taught in the past. Using this tool, along with ratemyprofessors.com, I should never have to take a non-english speaking professor again😀
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Note that you should have a few different med schools in mind (10-12). Some of these might require calculus.
If you drop it, I would take it later. Having calc on your transcript leaves doors open.
(I got a B in calc II after doing very poorly on the exams, so there's always room for improvement! It might just be easier to finish out this semester and slack off later in your college career.)
If you drop it, I would take it later. Having calc on your transcript leaves doors open.
(I got a B in calc II after doing very poorly on the exams, so there's always room for improvement! It might just be easier to finish out this semester and slack off later in your college career.)
