Will several 'W' grades significantly hurt my chances?

[QuickSort2340]

I am looking to apply to medical school. Graduated ~6 years ago with two degrees in STEM with a 3.71 cumulative GPA, science/math GPA is greater than my cumulative (~3.75 BCPM). I plan on enrolling in a post-bacc program to satisfy my pre-med requirements (and, fortunately, the program I'd like to enroll in has a linkage agreement with an excellent medical school).

Here's my problem: While my undergraduate GPA is decent (and, hopefully, by the time I'm done with my post-bacc, it'll be better), I do have 7 withdrawals (voluntary, not involuntary) on my transcript from my undergraduate years.

Assuming I do well in my post-bacc program and assuming I do well on the MCAT, should I fret too much about those withdrawals, which should be nearly a decade old by the time I apply to med school?

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

(I am being a little vague with some details here that I would be happy to share in private, if that would help, such as the majors I received my degrees in.)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jarednogeek]

nope, nothing to fret about.

 

[ciestar]

It has been six years and you’re doing a post-bacc, i wouldn’t worry. The you of then isn’t the you of now and let’s assume whatever led you to withdraw then has been resolved (assuming this wasn’t GPA padding lol)

 

[lalalallala]

7 W's over the 4 years? I do think you will need to explain to them - that is a lot of W's - not saying it cant be overcome

 

[QuickSort2340]

7 W's over the 4 years? I do think you will need to explain to them - that is a lot of W's - not saying it cant be overcome

Yes, they were spread out over the four years. If it helps my case at all, they weren't in any core premed classes, since I wasn't a premed at the time

 

[Goro]

Yes, they were spread out over the four years. If it helps my case at all, they weren't in any core premed classes, since I wasn't a premed at the time

It will look like you were trying to save your GPA, so it might hurt.
That said, sometimes you have to apply with the app you have, warts and all, and see how the app cycle shakes out.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

A lot of Ws in one or two semesters looks like you had some issue that necessitated you leaving school or cutting back your work load...that shows maturity and good judgment
A lot of Ws evenly spaced through undergrad shows either that you keep trying to tackle more than you can handle or that you are using Ws to game the system and protect your GPA

That being said, the longer ago they were and the more consistent your more current coursework have been the less of an impact they will have

 

[QuickSort2340]

Thank you all for the input!

 

[LukaDoncicLuk]

I had a fair number of withdraws that occurred early on in my college career. I ended up with a much worse GPA than you have but I have a strong upward trend and didn't have any w's after my sophomore year. I definitely got grilled on my grades for open-file interviews so be prepared to have answers for why you have so many Ws (especially since they are spread out). Make sure to absolutely have no Ws during your post-bacc.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I had 26 Ws and 3 Fs over 5 years. The majority of them were over 10 years ago, and my last 2 years of college were good, followed by a great performance in a postbacc. Did not hold me back from 2 acceptances, and only 1 school wanted an explanation (which is 1 of my acceptances). Have an explanation in case they ask, but it shouldn't hurt you.

 

[QuickSort2340]

I had 26 Ws and 3 Fs over 5 years. The majority of them were over 10 years ago, and my last 2 years of college were good, followed by a great performance in a postbacc. Did not hold me back from 2 acceptances, and only 1 school wanted an explanation (which is 1 of my acceptances). Have an explanation in case they ask, but it shouldn't hurt you.

Inspiring story -- thanks for sharing! If you don't mind me asking, what'd your MCAT look like?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Inspiring story -- thanks for sharing! If you don't mind me asking, what'd your MCAT look like?

519 (131/129/131/128)

 

[QuickSort2340]

519 (131/129/131/128)

That’s absolutely face-meltingly good. Congrats!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

That’s absolutely face-meltingly good. Congrats!

Thanks. I'm very grateful.