W on Transcript?

[Ramesh2190]

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Hi,
I'm currently a freshman at Duke University finishing up my second semester. I really like it here and have made some good friends. The classes are extremely tough and I didnt realize how hard I would have to work. Anyways, I did pretty well first semester even though it was hard to adjust;

Chemistry - B+
Economics - B
Latin 1 - B+
Required Seminar - B+
GPA - 3.225

I mean I could have done better, but I was happy I didnt get any C's. I came into Duke as a prospective bio major. This semester I took Biology 26 - which is a class about organismal diversity. After taking this class, I realize I didnt want to do this in college. I was learning about plants, fungi and protists. It was not interesting to me and the classes structure was horrible. The professor lectured so broadly and yet, the test questions were so specific. I didnt do too well on the first 2 midterms and there was no real way of me pulling out a C+/B-. I decided to withdraw b/c I was hating the class and it was taking valuable time away from my other classes. The course is not required for premed and it is not even that relevant to whats on the MCat. Also, I dont want to be a bio major anymore. So, I now have a W on my transcript. How bad is this with regards to medical school admissions? If I work hard and show steady improvement by pullingl my GPA up to 3.5/3.6+ and getting a good score on the MCAT, do i still have a shot at the top medical schools? I would appreciate any insight into this situation. Thanks

 

[redlight]

top medical schools want super EC's on top of good grades and a high mcat, along with a host of subjective stuff they look for. even then, that guarantees nothing due to the extremely competitive nature of the application process (admission to many of these tops schools is well under 10%).

the fact that you have a W is not important. it wont count against you. just don't make it a trend. please check out the search function next time.

 

[shindotp]

In contrast to what redlight says, I have heard that W's are pretty bad unless you have a good reason.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Nothing you can do about that W but forget and move on.

 

[redlight]

In contrast to what redlight says, I have heard that W's are pretty bad unless you have a good reason.

where have you heard this? i'm curious 🙂

 

[TooMuchResearch]

There are plenty of med students and accepted pre-meds on the forums with the occasional (or more) C, F, or W. You're fine.

 

[bad virus]

I got into a top school and my state school (the only two I had enough money to do secondaries for) and I had five W's and one C. They were'nt even brought up in my interviews. I had a good reason for all of them, but it looked like my application was able to do the talking for me. My advice is to find that major you will do good in and up that GPA to the heavans. Your a freshman so your story is already written out for you (example: I was young and stupid my first semester but then I got my act together, that is all you have to say).

 

[pietachok]

I got into med school with 3 C's and a W. Mind you, one C and the W were due to illness.

The other 2 C's were way back in my freshman year and I did a post-bacc before applying to med school.

I have an engineering degree, so it offered significant evidence that I could hack difficult science work in spite of any mis-steps.

 

[vin5cent0]

Don't let one bio class influence your major. I'm taking organismal diversity right now and it sounds like you and I have the same teacher (we don't). She lectures very broadly, yet her tests are very specific and near impossible to study for. Very few people get A's and B's on her test.

However, don't think that biology is only about the study of unicelled organisms and fungi. It's not. Wait until you get to the interesting classes - Immunology, Genetics, Cell bio (I think it's interesting, at least), etc etc.

That being said, a W isn't bad. Just don't make it a habit (and even then, I don't think even having a few W's is that bad of a thing).

 

[Ramesh2190]

Thanks to everybody who responded. I definitely am interested in Biology and I will be taking a lot of the aforementioned courses. I just dont think I want to major in something science related because I am sure I will be doing plenty of science classes in med school. I just think I should branch out during my undergraduate years and take advantage of some of the other things provided to me.
That said, can anybody recommend some extracurricular activites to do while in college? I already volunteer at the hospital and am in some clubs. However, with all the studying it is really hard to make time to do other stuff.

 

[shindotp]

where have you heard this? i'm curious 🙂

Just on these boards... I guess I was wrong (which is great because I have a W from a CC class I took in highschool haha).

 

[mehh]

hello fellow dukie..
dont be discouraged about the "W" and getting into a medical school. But if you're aiming at TOP medical schools they might ask you a question on that "w" and you should start bringing up that GPA 🙁

ec-wise, i would say do anything you are passionate about. while volunteering/research is good something that makes you stand out would be highly desirable.