<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am a college freshman and I want to transfer next year. That means I will be applying this spring and colleges will only see my fall term grades. I initially came here as a mechanical engineering student but I decided I wanted to switch to economics after a few weeks and I withdrew from a mechanical engineering class. This means I only have 13 units instead of my original 17, and they will see that I withdrew from the class. </p>
<p>Will this end up hurting me?</p>
<p>Thanks,
The Gracken</p>
<p>It is a fairly neutral event. Meaning, what you bring to the table weighs much more heavily than a single W.</p>
<p>As a sophomore transfer, transfer colleges will tend to look very closely at your high school records and your SAT scores. They will weigh the HS stats much more than your single semester at college.</p>
<p>What the colleges will also likely look at is how well you do in the 13 units you did complete. If you have a strong gpa from that first semester, great. If not, that obviously isn’t so great.</p>
<p>It will also matter how selective the transfer college is–many middle tier colleges really won’t care too much beyond a solid first semester. Elite colleges may be much more picky because they have so few admissions to offer and/or the competition for those spots is that much more intense. So, it isn’t that a single W works against you as much as the other applicants without a W and who are taking 17+ units simply rank higher.</p>
<p>So, it is water under the bridge. It won’t disqualify you. It might only become a problem in a place where there are limited spots and it comes down to you and another applicant. In other words, the W won’t keep you out of places where you are already good candidate based on all your other qualifications.</p>