Does a "withdraw" on HS transcript look bad for college admissions?

Applying to College
1

I took dual enrollment classes throughout high school and during my IB junior year I signed up for a Medical Terminology course and College Algebra. However, I withdrew from the Med Term course because of my regular IB workload and so many exams, presentations, etc. during my second semester. I told my guidance counselor that I would rather withdraw from it than fail the course completely while it was still a few weeks in, and she agreed as junior year was so stressful.

I plan on retaking the course during my senior of high school when I know that I will have time for it, but probably during my second semester. Will the withdrawal look bad on my transcript and affect my college admissions? Please provide genuine answers.

2

If it says withdrawal on your transcript, it won’t look good and could hurt. I’d suggest that you can explain your circumstance on the additional info section on the common app.

3

I don’t think that it will matter much. It means that you started taking the class and then stopped, which is of course entirely correct. It sounds like you otherwise still had a significant course load. If you do well in your other classes, and if you have an overall sufficient number of other classes that you do well in, then I don’t see this as being anything other than “this applicant had the common sense to back off to a course load that was reasonable”.

4

You also should think through your reasons for taking this class. Is it something that you do need?

Withdrawing from an elective class because you realize you aren’t interested in the topic is perfectly fine too.

5

I don’t think one withdrawal would be a big issue especially in an elective class. It sounds like you made the right move to not get too overwhelmed junior year.

6

Agree there’s little issue with withdrawing from “medical terminology.” I think the question is why bother retaking it?

Also, you need to provide more info if you want “genuine answers.”

7

What additional info should I provide? Thanks!

8

I don’t necessarily need it, but I want to eventually go to medical school and the course will be required for me in college as a pre-med student, so I wanted to get it out of the way if I could. But unlike the college algebra course that actually helped in my regular IB math class, Med Term wasn’t my prime focus since it didn’t benefit me in my other high school courses I guess

9

Where is it required as a separate course? Your emphasis now should be on hs rigor.

10

I think that the recommendation letter your guidance counselor writes could address the issue.

Besides, it’s a done deal. Don’t worry about it.