<p>I just recently transferred to SUNY Albany after two years of community college and enrolled in the Biology B.S major. But because of family issues (specifically, my dad and I had a fight and I needed to move out) I withdrew from all my classes to work full-time and save up money to get my own place (I withdrew a little too late and got W's, but I still got 50% of my money back). I want to go back in a year or two, but I'm afraid that when it comes to applying to Graduate school after I finish my major, I will be seriously frowned upon because of the entire semester of W's that is now serving as a black mark on my record. Assuming I get high grades when I go back for the remainder of my time there, and get involved in researching, how severely will this first semester of W's affect my chances?</p>
<p>Anyone got an opinion? Plus, although I would love to be at a top graduate school in the future, I'll even settle for just about any graduate school now with a decent Microbiology or Toxicology master's program.</p>
<p>My feeling is that a semester of Ws looks better than a several Ws scattered throughout your transcript since a full semester of discontinued classes makes it obvious that you withdrew from school completely and for a serious reason (which you can explain in your personal statement) whereas a bunch of Ws here and there makes it look like you were withdrawing from classes you were going to do poorly in. Explain your situation to people in charge of admissions. You should be fine.</p>
<p>I agree with JM, a semester of Ws means something serious happened and you dealt with it. As long as you go back and are totally strong, ready & focused, you should have no problem with grad school, though you may need to do a masters before a PhD as PhD admissions are really competitive.</p>
<p>I know students who have withdrawn and are in grad school</p>