4 W's - done with UCs and graduate?

falltransfer1
Mon, 11 Apr 2016 18:44:05 +0000

While I have never dropped a class, I wouldn’t hesitate to exercise that option if I felt a particular professor or particular class were capable of lowering my GPA.

I don’t think there’s any shame in doing it at all; in fact, I think knowing when to drop and knowing when not to is a sign of a strong student.

Having said that, dropping class anytime you feel that you won’t get an A is not a wise move. While it won’t matter for UC undergraduate admission (they ignore them), a “B” looks tremendously better to graduate schools than a W.

While a W is not a letter grade, it still is something that you should be prepared to provide an explanation for to graduate schools. Since you haven’t dropped a class within your major I don’t think you’ll have to do that, but certainly don’t make a habit of it or you will really screw your chances.

Think about the difference in these two situations: Person A has a 3.92 upon college graduation, has received a few B’s, mostly A’s, and one W. In this situation it is evident that the student probably had good reason to drop that class (poor professor, unexpected life obligation, et cetera) and therefore it is more or less ignored since they are otherwise a good student.

Person B has a 4.0 but 10+ W’s. Well it’s pretty freakin’ obvious what’s going on there. The person may have a 4.0 on paper but anyone who sees their transcript knows the game they’re playing. So they don’t really have a 4.0 because their GPA is inflated. That looks terrible to graduate schools, especially if many of the classes are in their major.

If you were a graduate school admissions person, which one would you pick?

I’d say you’re fine as long as you don’t drop any more classes. If it comes down to a C or a W though, I would take the W in a heartbeat.