Withdrawals from classes effects on admission

[CCUmed]

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I have four withdrawals on my my transcript and was wondering how the adcoms will view that. Are they really allowed to mark me down for the W's on my transcript?

 

[johncalvin]

Are they all in the same semester? Generally, 1 or 2 are fine, but anything more than that, you may have to explain in secondaries or interview.

 

[CCUmed]

No, I withdrew from one class in in 3 different semesters. The fourth is a medical withdrawal from a summer class. Do I need to mention these kind of things in my app or just wait for them to bring it up in a interview?

 

[njbmd]

I have four withdrawals on my my transcript and was wondering how the adcoms will view that. Are they really allowed to mark me down for the W's on my transcript?

Withdrawals are a problem unless they occurred because of an illness (or an emergency). Many students find that they become overwhelmed with their courseload (or the course materials) and opt for a withdrawal instead of getting a low grade in the course. You can have one or two of these but not over multiple semesters in multiple years. For example, you took Organic Chemistry and withdrew then reenrolled in the course and withdrew again. You finally end up taking the first semester of Organic passing it with a good grade but you enroll in the second semester of Organic Chem and end up withdrawing there. In other words, you don't want a pattern of withdrawals from competitive courses.

If you had an emergency or an illness that caused you to withdraw from an entire semester of coursework (meaning three or four Ws in one semester) then you came back and did well, there is no problem with these. You might explain then in a couple of sentences on your PS (no more than this) or in an interview but taking the Ws and getting your problems under control is wiser than failing all of your courses.

We don't want to see a pattern of Ws and retakes. More than one or two becomes a liability in today's competitive climate. If you have to withdraw because of illness/emergency (personal or familY), the Ws are not much of a problem.

 

[Compass]

I withdrew from one of my classes when I discovered that my advisor had neglected to tell me that it would NOT count for one of my major electives. I ended up having to find another class I could take to use to graduate in my final semester...

 

[GoSpursGo]

I withdrew from one of my classes when I discovered that my advisor had neglected to tell me that it would NOT count for one of my major electives. I ended up having to find another class I could take to use to graduate in my final semester...

That sounds reasonable to me... assuming that the W's aren't in the competitive pre-reqs, I don't think it's gonna hurt you that much, but I'm not an adcom.

 

[Compass]

That sounds reasonable to me... assuming that the W's aren't in the competitive pre-reqs, I don't think it's gonna hurt you that much, but I'm not an adcom.

It was Dev Bio. My advisor asked my why I was taking it if it didn't fulfill any requirements. That, coupled with an 18.5 credit semester as well as research and volunteering every week, caused the penultimate decision v.v

 

[GoSpursGo]

It was Dev Bio. My advisor asked my why I was taking it if it didn't fulfill any requirements. That, coupled with an 18.5 credit semester as well as research and volunteering every week, caused the penultimate decision v.v

Well that sounds fine; lots of students have plenty of legitimate reasons to withdraw from classes, and it sounds (to me) like you have one here. Just make sure that if you have any "Is there anything else you'd like to tell us" spaces on your secondaries that you go ahead and explain it there.

 

[Compass]

Well that sounds fine; lots of students have plenty of legitimate reasons to withdraw from classes, and it sounds (to me) like you have one here. Just make sure that if you have any "Is there anything else you'd like to tell us" spaces on your secondaries that you go ahead and explain it there.

Addressed ^.^

The OP probably needs a bit more help, though. 4 Ws. Medical W can be easily explained away, but it looks as if the OP repeatedly bit off more than could chew and then spat it out 🙁

OP, need more info on times, which periods? Early on? Or as recently as last semester and such?

 

[Poliscidoc]

As long as it doesn't follow the line of "Well Mr. Adcom- I withdrew because I didn't want to fail..." his response "You have 33 W's?"

You should be just fine

 

[GoSpursGo]

Addressed ^.^

The OP probably needs a bit more help, though. 4 Ws. Medical W can be easily explained away, but it looks as if the OP repeatedly bit off more than could chew and then spat it out 🙁

OP, need more info on times, which periods? Early on? Or as recently as last semester and such?

One was medical, another was because he got bad advising and wound up signed up for a class that did nothing for him. Even if he just withdrew from the other two "just cuz," I think 2 unexplained W's won't be a huge deal.

But that's just me; again, I'm not an adcom. It's just don't think 2 W's is all that uncommon for a premed (not counting the 2 that he has legit reasons for).

 

[FuturaDocta]

Quick question... please

Are W's factored into the GPA as failing?

 

[Compass]

Quick question... please

Are W's factored into the GPA as failing?

If it is not awarded in your school's GPA as an F, then it is not an F.