Withdrawing from a class

[derail]

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Hey guys--

I'm an undergrad right now, and I have a slight dilemma. One of my mentors moved to a different school over the summer--and I was doing my thesis with him. I found someone else to take over the project this past fall, but it was after the drop deadline. I'm currently in 16 credits--biochem, calc physics, ochem lab, and developmental neurbiology. On top of that, I have three lab jobs, plus now the thesis. I've gotten in a little over my head time-wise. None of my courses are too difficult if I put in the time, but I seriously don't have it.

I want to withdraw from the neurobiology course and put that time toward my thesis, but at this point, I'll get a W on my transcript. Also, the professor in my neurobiology class has no clue what he's doing, and he's teaching us stuff backwards. He gives us a reading list every week, and then teaches us the opposite of what the articles say. I've approached him about it, and he'll say something along the lines of "lol oops said it wrong" and correct himself. I don't have the time to spend correcting his errors in my notes.

I have two Ws already from health problems I had my first and second year in college. My pre-med advisor says she'll mention why I'm withdrawing in my recommendation letter--the professor problem plus this awesome opportunity to write a publishable thesis.

So, given all that, how bad will the W look? I'm taking the MCAT this spring, and I have a 4.0 for the past two years--a 3.61 total. (Transferring did weird things to my GPA).

 

[24thGrade]

It sounds like you know what the most fulfilling option would be for you, but....

Get other peoples opinions definitely, but here are my 2 cents: I think if you are concerned mostly about admissions to an MD-PhD program I would be tempted to drop the thesis (assuming that would not give you a W on your transcript as well). From what I could tell, no one that I interviewed with gave a rat's *** that I didn't do an official thesis. I did a lot of good research as an undergrad and discussed it well with interviewers and I think that's really all there is to it.
Although I don't specificallly feel like your withdrawing from the class would have a big impact on the process, I don't think you or your advisor stating that your professor is a dits is going to sound good. Even if it is true, that is probably the same excuse other people who simply couldn't cut it in a class would give. That, and no one likes to hear excuses.

Anyways, that's my perspective. Other people will probably tell you otherwise. Good luck.

 

[derail]

My advisor is kinda useless. She told me just to drop it and that no one cares about Ws, but she advocates heavily the medical schools in the Caribbean and barely knows what MD/PhD programs are. We have maybe 1 applicant a year to MD/PhD programs. Also, she said she'd focus more on the sudden opportunity to finish my thesis rather than the ditzy professor. I have an A in the class--I got the highest grade in the course on our midterm--but it's seriously frustrating to be taught wrong information by a professor who truthfully doesn't care. He emailed me the other day after I asked him if we'd be getting grades back on our homework; he said it wasn't worth his time to grade and the homework isn't informative.

I really want to do the thesis. I worked my ass off designing it and getting it IRB approved. It's all ready to go, and no matter what result I get, it'll be publishable. I know publications don't really matter, but this project has become my baby. I'd love to finish it.

 

[Anandamide]

(Note, I already talked to the OP about this separately. Here’s my advice/thoughts. I’m posting this, because we wanted to see what others thought.)

I don’t think you should withdraw from the class. If this were your first withdrawal, I don’t think it would be too much of an issue. But you already have two W’s from your freshman and sophomore years of college (effectively from years three and four out of seven if we include your additional years of college credit since age 16). A third withdrawal could raise a red flag on your transcript, potentially undermining the work you’ve done to prove that you’ve overcome your past health struggles.

You view dropping the thesis as an unacceptable option, and you cannot pull back on your hours at work. You mention that none of these classes are particularly difficult for you, though. It’s not as if you’re struggling to pull good grades here. You could get a 4.0 this term; it would just be at the sacrifice of your happiness/sanity.


Why not settle for a slightly lower GPA? I would think medical schools would rather see an A- (even in a core premed requirement) than a withdrawal in a neuroscience elective – especially when you want to do your graduate work in neuroscience. But one A- would drop your GPA to a 3.59cum, 2 would drop you to a 3.58. So the question is really what looks better – a 3.61 with 3 withdrawals or a 3.59 with 2 withdraws and a publication?

 

[Fencer]

.... So the question is really what looks better – a 3.61 with 3 withdrawals or a 3.59 with 2 withdraws and a publication?

The 3.59 with 2 Ws and a publication is considerably better.

 

[bd4727]

I agree with Fencer. I don't think anyone really cares about W's, unless your transcript is just filled with them (basing this on my 2 years as a student reviewer for our MSTP). My experience is that the transcript is kind of given a quick once over, but the debate over an applicant really comes down to the GPA, for better or worse (same reason I don't think taking a course for "honors" matters, etc). Difference in .02 points does not matter.

I think I have said this on here before, but just think about how you would group GPAs if you saw 100 applications in a weekend: 4.0s would stand out, 3.7-3.95 would all seem about the same because you would have 85% of applicants in that range, and GPAs around 3.6 and below would grab your attention. So, my advice would be unless you can do something to bring you up a whole 'tier' in GPA, it isn't worth worrying about. Now, if you have a chance to get a publication, then it becomes even less of a concern to bump your GPA marginally.

I think its great that you want to take ownership of your thesis project and have something comprehensive and written up formally. I would agree with 24th that the actual designation of it being a "thesis" is probably not going to get anyone's attention for a number of reasons: first, many schools have this so tons of other applicants will be talking about their thesis therefore it isn't a big deal, and also you are talking about an undergraduate thesis to people who write paper for Nature Genetics and such, so they really don't care.

Anyway, just kind of my general thoughts on things you brought up, but overall I would say don't worry about marginal changes in GPA, no one cares about Ws and people really don't look that closely at your transcripts (at least in my experience), and all else being equal having a solid research experience is more important than either of those two things and especially if you can get a publication.