How much will one W impact my chances at a top law school?

<p>I've worked tireless days (only one night so far) to maintain my 4.0 GPA. Until now, everything was working out. However, at the beginning of the semester, I didn't anticipate the workload I would have at the end of the semester--especially in one elective history class that is half fascinating and half tedious. It appears that if I don't withdraw, I can still pull off a decent B, but it would also drag down my other classes to Bs as well. I'm confident that if I take the W I will be able to maintain the 4.0.</p>

<p>I know LSAT and GPA matter most, but I'd like to get into an ivy or ivy-level law school, like Columbia or NYU. (I'd like to stay in New York and live at home. I can name you the entire British cabinet, but I don't how to use the washing machine). Is one W in freshman year bad? Next semester I will make sure to read through every syllabus carefully and make sure that I create realistic schedules.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance</p>

<p>If you have a withdrawal and your college treats it as a no grade event, then it will have no impact. If your college treats it as a punitive event, such as giving you a WF, then it will count as an F in your GPA for law schools. A few non-punitive W’s with no grades will not have an impact.</p>

<p>It’s non-punitive. But I just wanted to add: by dropping this class, I will be considered a part-time student for this semester. Does that make a difference----law school admissions wise?</p>

<p>The law schools will care about your final GPA when you have completed your first undergraduate degree. It doesn’t really matter if you have taken four years or five years to get there, or taken some of the credits while you were in HS. You should however make sure at your undergrad if you have any FA or scholarships that dropping to part time will not impact those awards.</p>

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<p>No it will not make a difference law school wise. However, if you are receiving any type of financial aid, yo could end up owing your school money going from full to part time status</p>