W's

[oncogene]

Does anyone know how bad W's look on transcripts? I have 10 but half of those are due to dropping a whole semester due to the health of my mother. She had A terminal illness and passed away last fall. I am just worried that they will hurt me and there was nothing I could do about it. Any help would be welcomed. Has anyone else gone through this. Do yuo think this will affect my chances of getting in?. Just freaking out. My g.p.a is 3.3 and science is 3.6. Thanks.

 

[DD214_DOC]

I asked my premed advisor about this once, as I currently have 4 or 5 w's. She told me what they don't like is W's spread out over the course of your undergraduate studies, signaling that when things got tough you simply dropped out. W's bunched together are easy to explain and usually aren't indicative of some sort of academic aversion.

I have one W early in my Freshman year from dropping a math course, but picked it up the following semester for a B+. I have 2 W's in one semester from dropping two courses that didn't count for my major (I switched majors that semester) and my 4th W comes from dropping physics lab after I got sick and missed the first session (we aren't able to make them up). She said I'd be fine.

Good luck and don't worry about it.

 

[cluelessdoc]

I have 7 W's on my transcripts. I won't go into the details of them, as the interviewer didn't even ask about them. Don't worry about them and definitely don't bring them up. However, be able to explain them if asked.

 

[Qafas]

When it comes to W's, I take the cookie. Fifteen. Yup! Yup!
They are certainly not something to be proud of, but there are ways around them. All of mine were in junior college, and none at the university. I think that helped me a lot. A strong upward trend will give adcoms good reason to look past W's and even F's.
Like cluelessdoc wrote though, be ready to explain them....not so clueless after all, eh 😉

 

[Amy B]

I just had an interview and was asked about my W's. I told them about each one. I moved in the middle of my first semester into a Master's program so I had 7 W's right in a row. The interviewers didn't seem bothered about them. Just explain why and then move on.

 

[jmarra03]

I had one W for biochemistry and i retook the class over the summer at the local state university. I wasn'
t even asked about it, but it was my sixth class that semester so I don't think it was too surprising 🙂

 

[Monkeyguts]

I had like seven or eight W's and two incompletes......it was never brought up once at my interview and I was accepted no problem.

Monkey

 

[jonb12997]

You definetly have a legit reason for them, if they even ask about it. If they look down on you for doing that... well, maybe it'd be best to pick a different school to attend. Best of luck.