I'm a biochem major planning to apply for a med school after graduation.
However, I'm on verge of dropping one of my classes and it will leave a "W" (Withdrawal) on my record. Everyone has different opinions about... Does it worsen your record?... or not a big deal?...

 

Yes it does worsen your record plain and simple. SHould be obvious that you either couldn't handle the load or were going to fail and dropped before you failed. Doesn't look too good on the med school app.

 

I have spoke with my counselor about this. A few (less than 3, I'd say) W's won't hurt you at all.

 

The level of "severity" depends on the school itself. At the UW, if one plans to apply into a competitive major, it may very well hurt rather more than the not so competitive ones. But there are people with circumstances and the school itself would show a little more understanding if explained. Let's just say that it doesn't look very good, but it's not nearly as bad as failing the course altogether.

 

If you apply to med school it will. I'm sorry bout your counseler doesn't know squat.

MeTh222 are you appling to IU school of Medicine? That's my alma mater.

 

Damn thanks for the heads up. Gotta be even more careful bout selecting courses now.

 

I'm not sure about med school, but a regular 2-year transfer from a JC to a University, they don't really care. Med school, as Raj said, is probably much more picky about these things. However, if you don't think you'll do well in the course if you do keep it, I would suggest taking the W and not sacrificing your GPA.

 

It really depends on the school also. Some schools only allow a very short time to withdraw from a class with a "W", so you wouldn't even know if you're going to fail or succeed in it. UW only allows students the first few weeks to do so.

 

I had one W on my transcript, and of course I got asked, Why did you have to withdraw from that class?

 

One won't hurt anything at all. I had one and have never heard anyone even mention it (I've applied to three grad programs and have since gotten a masters degree).