W's on the transcript

[dr.rick]

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How are W's looked upon by DO schools? Although I am not in a tough situation such as falling on hard times, I am most likely looking at failing o chem 3. Should I drop with a "W" and take it later or take the failing grade and repeat? either way I am repeating, but my concern is how aacomas and schools would look at it?

 

[jellibelli]

How are W's looked upon by DO schools? Although I am not in a tough situation such as falling on hard times, I am most likely looking at failing o chem 3. Should I drop with a "W" and take it later or take the failing grade and repeat? either way I am repeating, but my concern is how aacomas and schools would look at it?

If you think you're going to fail (as in getting an F), then I would suggest taking the W and retaking it. At least your GPA won't be severely hurt, and a W looks better than an F any day. (Especially since with either of the grades, F or W, you'll have to retake anyway.)

If it's around a C, don't take a W. Just retake it later on if it really bothers you.

 

[mj1878]

Ochem III? Are you in the quarter system or something? Also, if you're toward the end of the semester, isn't it too late to get a W? I thought that at some point, it was too late to drop a class.

If you can pull it off, I'd definitely drop it. But how badly are you doing? Is there any chance you can get at least a C?

Ws aren't the kiss of death. I had a bunch from when I was a music major. Don't sweat it. However, if you have a bunch of Ws and a correspondingly low GPA and MCAT, then it raises a lot of red flags.

 

[bio-chik]

How are W's looked upon by DO schools? Although I am not in a tough situation such as falling on hard times, I am most likely looking at failing o chem 3. Should I drop with a "W" and take it later or take the failing grade and repeat? either way I am repeating, but my concern is how aacomas and schools would look at it?

hey,

I would take the W any day over the F. IT's not that big of a deal. I had a W in Stats freshman year and I re-took the class my sophomore year. It didn't keep me from getting accepted into med school. It's the whole package, grades, EC's, MCAT's, and personality in the interview. So don't get hung up on the small stuff. 🙂

 

[DORocksMySocks]

I have 3 Ws on my transcript....all of those were in classes that I had taken during Post Secondary (I know some states don't have this so, it is basically a program where, if you are in the top portion of your high school class, your state will pay for you to take college courses and get BOTH high school and college credit). I was 16. I got into programs with those on my transcript, so I wouldn't worry about them looking bad. A W certianly looks better than a F.

 

[dr.rick]

How would a W be placed in the application? I know that if you retake a class, you have the option to put repeat and last repeat, but what about W's that you take over?

 

[MedSchoolFool]

How would a W be placed in the application? I know that if you retake a class, you have the option to put repeat and last repeat, but what about W's that you take over?

This is a good question. I was under the impression that when applying to DO schools the only grade you have to report is the highest grade achieved, i.e. if you make a C in Biochemistry but retake it and make an A, then the only grade you have to report as far as calculating your AACOM GPA is the A, since this is the highest grade achieved.

Does this count for W's too? I mean, if you withdraw from a class, but later retake the class with a passing grade, do you report only the passing grade since this would be the highest mark achieved?

Anyone know? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going to do some quick research on this.