How much will a "W" on my transcript affect me

<p>I'm a freshman at Wharton and I'm currently faced with either taking a W or sticking with the class.</p>

<p>How much does a W matter? Will it kill my chances of getting into top MBA schools like Stanford or Harvard?</p>

<p>For more background, currently I have around a 3.7 from first semester, and I know I can do better. I need to get a 3.8 for GPA cutoffs for future job recruiting (these are just my goals). To keep it short, a mix of bad luck and being on the under-prepared side led me to do not the best on a midterm, and by the class's awful policy, the highest I can get is a B+. B or B+ is likely. </p>

<p>If I get this grade, averaging to a 3.8+ will become an uphill struggle since every semester following this one will have less weight, and essentially I do not look forward to being stressed about grades every semester just because this semester I couldn't average up to a 3.8. Without this grade, I can likely average up to a 3.8+, and from here it won't be so bad. I can enjoy life and consider other things (pledging, clubs, socializing...etc). </p>

<p>I understand it might seem drastic to take a W over a B.... but if it doesn't hurt too much, then I see a ton of upside in taking it.</p>