Do W's look bad on transcripts? And which school looks better for a Math PhD?

cosmicfish
Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:31:16 +0000

In general 1 or 2 W’s will not hurt you too much - every now and then you step into a class that just doesn’t work for you. If it is out of your field, they usually will not care at all.

In your case, you have two issues - the semester withdrawn for financial and health reasons, which you should address both in your SOP and in at least one LOR if possible, and then the single W which you later retook. The first is very straightforward and should not give you a problem. In these circumstances I would not address the second unless you can make it a strength - “I understand my limitations - when my research started to impact my classes I realized I needed to reduce my courseload…”

Rose-Hulman is very good, and as long as the professors there are (1) PhD’s and (2) doing research I would not see any problem with staying there. Vanderbilt is also very good, possibly a bit better - I am not sure for math. As long as you address those two questions about Rose-Hulman, I would go with your preference.