<p>Hi guys, I'm new here, but I've got a question.</p>
<p>Last semester, I became seriously ill, was hospitalized for about 3 weeks, needed surgery, etc. I'm kind of an obsessive honors student (the thought of losing my 4.0 scares me--a lot), so until I was hospitalized, I hadn't missed class, but after I missed 3 weeks of class while in the hospital, my university told me I would have to withdraw. I was really sick for several weeks after my hospitalization and recovering from pretty major surgery, so I don't think I could have gotten to class anyways.</p>
<p>But now I have 15 hours worth of Ws. I was readmitted into my university in good standing and got all of my financial aid back, so that wasn't an issue. But have I totally bombed my grad school chances? How are W's looked at if there's a legitimate reason?</p>
<p>Any response, good or bad, will help me sleep a lot easier.</p>
<p>It will be quite clear on your transcript that something major happened that semester, especially if you were pulling a 4.0 or anywhere close to it. Briefly explain it on your statement when applying and you should be fine.</p>
<p>Did you explain it in your SOP? Anyway, I had a couple, so I explained it in mine and I ended up getting admitted into the top program of my field. It should be fine.</p>
<p>I had way more W’s than that from a prolonged illness and then a car accident. I explained VERY briefly in SOP (one sentence) and also had my recommenders address it. Honestly with just one semester’s worth of W’s I would not worry about it and especially don’t make it a bog deal in your SOP or sound defensive about it. I had a very successful application season and was accepted to multiple top tier schools and will be matriculating at an ivy league top school in my field.</p>