Withdraw or take a C+?

[alexlearning]

Hi gang: Quick but very important question. I am a post-bac and I got married this summer the week before starting an intense Chem 2 class. Long story short: I have a C average before the final and I can withdraw by this Thursday or I will have to take the final and get what will most likely be a high C or low B. What is the wiser option for down the road? Will admin committees frown more upon a "W" or a low grade? I really appreciate your help.
Cheers, Alex

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[PublicHealth]

Try to get at least a B-. Take biochem and get an A.

 

[Cantal]

if you go with a withdraw, it will raise red flags among adcoms and they will question you about it, but not any more than they'd question you if you had a record of a 3.9 gpa and suddenly pulled a C+.

however, in ur message you posted that you might be able to get a low B. If you professor is willing to work with you, you really show that you are interested in getting a higher grade, and you totally ace the final, then maybe you can pull of a B or B-, which is better than the W in my opinion.

if you are headed for a C or C+, take the withdraw and you might not even be asked about it. If a B is possible, definitely take the time to work and get that B and earn .igher grades in advanced courses.

Good luck!

-Cantal

 

[judoka]

withdraw...w's don't touch your gpa, and no one cares if you have only one or two.

 

[edfig99]

a W in a post-bac when you are "supposedly" concentrating on only the sciences is a bad thing. aim for the B...if you get the C, take upper division science courses, i.e. Biochem.

a W in a core science will hurt you.

 

[All-Star14]

A C+ won't look so bad if you make higher grades in upper-level courses.

 

[closertofine]

I really don't know anything about how ad-coms look at this, but in my opinion, if you can't get a B- or something like that...then maybe you should consider dropping. I thought that most people did post-bacs to improve their GPA...so this probably wouldn't help you in that regard. As I said, though, I really don't have an expert opinion or anything...so maybe I am totally wrong...

 

[kmnfive]

withdraw.

 

[link26]

withdraw.

your marriage/wedding is a legit reason for doing poorly depending on how you convince the other person when asked about it. You can always fabricate $hit.


If you are doing poorly up to this point, you have very little chance of doing well on the final. Trust me. You can't cram chemistry in one week. Don't take the chance.


I got multiple D's in upper div courses like biochemistry and genetics when I went to Berkeley.
And in hindsight, I wished I had withdrawn from those courses. I thought I had a shot at getting a higher grade in these courses, but i got fukt. And these hurt my AMCAS gpa soooooooo much. I don't think i'll even make it past 80% of the primary screenings.

 

[Texas1111]

Adcoms are aware of the premed strategy: withdraw classes to keep up GPA. A 'W' on the transcript will definitely will raise a red flag.

 

[Sprockette]

I had a C+ on my transcript, and I got laughed at by one of my interviewers for feeling the need to "explain" it....to me, it was such an uncharacteristic grade for me and it seemed like a big deal, but the interviewer apparently thought it was silly that I'd be so concerned about it.

I'd say stick it out through the class, do whatever you possibly can to raise your grade, and then, like everyone else has been saying, take an upper-level class and do even better in that.

Good luck!

 

[ASDIC]

well try to do well in ur coming exams. since u are a non-trad, i wouldnt suggest u taking this course again, cuz u wont have time. furthermore, when u take Orgo II, which is tougher than Gen Chem II, u would want to do well in that, cuz just retakin it wont help, it will just hurt.

So....do well...go for a B atleast

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

What Texas1111 said is complete nonsense. Adcoms do not look down on 1 or 2 Ws on your transcript. However, if you have a SERIES of withdrawals on your transcript, it will raise a red flag as to whether you can complete the courses that you opt to take. Personally, I don't care what the separate Texas application system does, but I know that AMCAS does not include Ws in the GPA calculation. In addition, one W on your transcript cannot possibly keep you from receiving secondaries from med schools, let alone actually receiving admission to any US med schools. In addition, also try to limit the amount of courses that you take on a pass/no pass basis. These courses will also not affect your GPA..however, taking excessive units of Pass/no pass courses will probably reflect poorly on you. If your school requires between 120-130 units/credits/hours to graduate, I say less than 20 of those units should be pass/no pass.