<p>I am stuck in a big hole. I'm definitely dropping my math class but I may end up dropping my bio class as well.</p>
<p>How terrible is it to have 2 W's during freshman year, let alone in one semester? I will be going from 16->10 credits.</p>
<p>However, with the two classes dropped, my GPA is significantly higher. 3.2->3.6</p>
<p>And add in the fact that I will not have to spend time to study for bio...allowing me more time to do even better on the three other subjects chem psych and english.</p>
<p>BUT none of this would matter if the 2 W's will bite me in the end....I don't want to make a decision that i will end up regretting. :/</p>
<p>phillySASer08: My advisor has always preached avoiding [withdrawals] almost at all costs, the rationale being that med schools will assume you were doing quite poorly in the class if you were willing to take the W on your transcript. A B would be, much, much preferred.</p>
<p>I don’t think 2 W’s will harm your application whatsoever. If you feel as if you are going to get a C in Bio, figure out new study habits, drop the class, and come back swinging next semester.</p>
<p>10ninja you are contradicting both WoWmom and BDM, two of the most experience and most helpful members of this forum. Please do not make such a statement that could and probably will hurt the OP’s chances.</p>
<p>2 W’s over 4 years is no big deal. 2 W’s in one semester is quite a different thing. </p>
<p>2 W’s in one semester is going to need explaining. A major illness. A serious hospitalization. Something like that would be an acceptable excuse. A death in the family – not acceptable. A jerky prof or three–not acceptable. Poor study skills–not acceptable. Bad schedule planning–not acceptable. Protecting your GPA–not acceptable.</p>
<p>And Limitless—people can disagree with me all they want. It’s just usually faster to stipulate I’m right and move forward. ;-)</p>
<p>Since you took Calc1 last semester, do you need Calc2 for your major? While the B is fine, maybe you could drop Calc2 like you say and put your energy into bringing Bio and Chem up to a B? Seems like a better plan than having 2 Ws and a less than full time courseload this semester.</p>
<p>Haha WoWmom, it definitely would expedite the conclusion, however right it may be is much more questionable though :P</p>
<p>Entomom, I think a B-/B is much better than two W’s. It’s much easier to explain away, for one. It shows that the OP did not give up and withdraw, but instead pulled through (especially if OP can write a note explaining the reason, if any, that the grade was low). But then again, I concede that when deciding when to withdraw is a tricky matter that is never subject to an absolute.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree, but I wasn’t recommending 2 Ws. I said:</p>
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<p>If the OP could bring both Bio and Chem up to a B while keeping all their classes, of course that would be the best of all worlds. But, if they are unable to deal with such a heavy courseload (right now the OP has a C & D, they only HOPE to bring them up to a B), I suggested that they might consider dropping Calc and use the time to bring the 2 premed requirements (Bio & Chem) up to Bs. This would result in 1 W (Calc) and still carrying 13 units, which is generally considered a full time load.</p>
<p>“How terrible is it to have 2 W’s during freshman year, let alone in one semester? I will be going from 16->10 credits.”</p>
<p>-You lost eligibility for your parents’ medical insurance. Did you realize that? They had to inform their prospective employers about your status change from full time to part time. God forbid. something happens, you will not have coverage, unless you bought Med. insurance at your school. This is besides point about Med. School admission. You are only freshman. Just learn from your mistakes, it will get much more challengin academically, you seem to need a great adjustment.</p>
<p>^^ Re: loss of health insurance eligibility.</p>
<p>Not necessarily true. One of the new provisions of the healthcare law reform is that children under the age of 26 can stay on their parent’s health plan regardless of their student status. This went into effect in Jan 2011.</p>
<p>We still had to submit a letter, it was not easy to obtain as Med. School did not understand why letter has to mention specifically “full time student”. Everybody in a world knows that Med. School is full time, apperntly except Medical Insurance. So, it went back a forth for awhile. HR would not take a letter that did not say explicitly “full time student”. So, while there is a law, there are obviously contracts beteween employers and insurance companies. Better be safe than sorry, it is too late to check when one actually needs to submit the claim.</p>
<p>I wasn’t disagreeing with you, what you cite is from the OP where they are discussing dropping two classes, Calc & Bio. I was referring to my posts #7 & 9, where I suggest that the OP could W from only 1 class, leaving them with 13 credits, and therefore keeping a full load.</p>
<p>I agree that if they can manage it, the OP should try to remain a full time student. In addition to possible problems with dropped insurance, I think it doesn’t look good for Med school applications to be a part time student.</p>