Withdrawing from Biochem II

[TR Grant]

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Hello Everyone,


I'll begin with a little background info as to my specific scenario. I am a non-traditional student who is on track to graduate this May with a BS in Biomedical science and minor in chem. I have also previously obtained a bachelors in nursing, and have worked as an RN for about 4 years. Unfortunately, due to my other obligations, (working overnights as a critical care RN, research, volunteering, 3 other 400 level science classes, studying for the MCAT etc), I had to withdraw from my biochemistry II course, and am now auditing it. FYI, this is the second part of a 1 year biochemistry sequence that mostly covers metabolism, respiration etc. I also do not need biochemistry II to graduate, and was told that I have satisfied the basic science course requirements to apply to medical schools. I managed to pull a B+in biochem 1 by working my A** off, my cumulative is a 3.87.

My primary question is if a "W" on my transcript might be offset in my case with the extracurriculars and work schedule (there are times when I'll be up for 25-30 hours at a time 2-3 days per week 😴). I have no other Ws on my transcript by the way.

I realize biochem is pretty important for any pre med student, and that Ws can raise red flags for ADCOMs. Would it be better to try and take the course at a later date, even if it will drop my GPA? Or just continue with graduation this spring as planned?

Thank you for reading the long-winded post. I appreciate any and all feedback!

Best,
TG

 

[Magus5454]

Hello Everyone,


I'll begin with a little background info as to my specific scenario. I am a non-traditional student who is on track to graduate this May with a BS in Biomedical science and minor in chem. I have also previously obtained a bachelors in nursing, and have worked as an RN for about 4 years. Unfortunately, due to my other obligations, (working overnights as a critical care RN, research, volunteering, 3 other 400 level science classes, studying for the MCAT etc), I had to withdraw from my biochemistry II course, and am now auditing it. FYI, this is the second part of a 1 year biochemistry sequence that mostly covers metabolism, respiration etc. I also do not need biochemistry II to graduate, and was told that I have satisfied the basic science course requirements to apply to medical schools. I managed to pull a B+in biochem 1 by working my A** off, my cumulative is a 3.87.

My primary question is if a "W" on my transcript might be offset in my case with the extracurriculars and work schedule (there are times when I'll be up for 25-30 hours at a time 2-3 days per week 😴). I have no other Ws on my transcript by the way.

I realize biochem is pretty important for any pre med student, and that Ws can raise red flags for ADCOMs. Would it be better to try and take the course at a later date, even if it will drop my GPA? Or just continue with graduation this spring as planned?

Thank you for reading the long-winded post. I appreciate any and all feedback!

Best,
TG

One W shouldn't be an issue, my transcripts are rather full of them as i had a tumultuous start to school.

 

[RNtoMD87]

Some schools require more than 1 biochem?

 

[niko327]

Hello Everyone,


I'll begin with a little background info as to my specific scenario. I am a non-traditional student who is on track to graduate this May with a BS in Biomedical science and minor in chem. I have also previously obtained a bachelors in nursing, and have worked as an RN for about 4 years. Unfortunately, due to my other obligations, (working overnights as a critical care RN, research, volunteering, 3 other 400 level science classes, studying for the MCAT etc), I had to withdraw from my biochemistry II course, and am now auditing it. FYI, this is the second part of a 1 year biochemistry sequence that mostly covers metabolism, respiration etc. I also do not need biochemistry II to graduate, and was told that I have satisfied the basic science course requirements to apply to medical schools. I managed to pull a B+in biochem 1 by working my A** off, my cumulative is a 3.87.

My primary question is if a "W" on my transcript might be offset in my case with the extracurriculars and work schedule (there are times when I'll be up for 25-30 hours at a time 2-3 days per week 😴). I have no other Ws on my transcript by the way.

I realize biochem is pretty important for any pre med student, and that Ws can raise red flags for ADCOMs. Would it be better to try and take the course at a later date, even if it will drop my GPA? Or just continue with graduation this spring as planned?

Thank you for reading the long-winded post. I appreciate any and all feedback!

Best,
TG

TR Grant, sounds like you're OK with this one. I doubt you'd be pre-screened out based on a single W. If it came up at the interview, you'd be very right in saying that you were disappointed when a personal scheduling conflict popped up shortly after the add-drop period expired. Rather than try to do a poor job in a course you were really interested in, you wisely decided it was too important to try and half @ss it. This explanation is entirely plausible in light of your excellent academic performance thus far and would likely not raise any red flags.

 

[Magus5454]

Some schools require more than 1 biochem?

No I think they were was taking it to take it

 

[TR Grant]

Some schools require more than 1 biochem?

Not to my knowledge.
My school offers a 300 level "general Biochem" for gen bio majors that is one semester long, and slightly watered down. I took the 400 level Biochem 1, which is the first part of a two semester sequence. It is slightly more in-depth and intended for Biochem and chem majors. The Biochem 2 course covers metabolism/cellular respiration and such, which is why I still chose to audit the course. Important knowledge to have in your back pocket for the MCAT.