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I have a class that I never got around to studying for, reading for or going to. I figured I could outline it all today - the reading was quite slight - but I was distracted by the stunning news of the Chris Paul veto. It turns out that at my school if I don't take the exam I'll simply be withdrawn from the course. I'm a 3L with a clerkship and a near-perfect GPA; I plan to apply to firms during the clerkship. If I were to get a B, it'd be the worst grade I ever got in law school. I think it's possible that I could get a B+/A-, but it's possible that I wouldn't. Possible that I could do pretty badly. I'm trying to at least stay in the top 5-10% of the class. Would a W do much harm? Because I took a bunch of seminars for my last semester, I had to load up on courses this semester, so this is my sixth class. I could easily say that with journal work and all the classes, I realized after add/drop period - which had closed by the time I was back from applying to clerkships - that I didn't have time for all the classes.

Anonymous User wrote:I have a class that I never got around to studying for, reading for or going to. I figured I could outline it all today - the reading was quite slight - but I was distracted by the stunning news of the Chris Paul veto. It turns out that at my school if I don't take the exam I'll simply be withdrawn from the course. I'm a 3L with a clerkship and a near-perfect GPA; I plan to apply to firms during the clerkship. If I were to get a B, it'd be the worst grade I ever got in law school. I think it's possible that I could get a B+/A-, but it's possible that I wouldn't. Possible that I could do pretty badly. I'm trying to at least stay in the top 5-10% of the class. Would a W do much harm? Because I took a bunch of seminars for my last semester, I had to load up on courses this semester, so this is my sixth class. I could easily say that with journal work and all the classes, I realized after add/drop period - which had closed by the time I was back from applying to clerkships - that I didn't have time for all the classes.

W looks a lot worse than a B. Given that you (1) might pull it out anyway; (2) have a clerkship that'll help paint over a single lackluster grade; and (3) have great grades otherwise, I'd say take the final. The benefit (not having a W, which many think indicates a C, or worse) outweighs the potential cost (a *gasp* "B").

I don't see how a single W could hurt that much, especially if you do well in your remaining classes.

vanwinkle wrote:I don't see how a single W could hurt that much, especially if you do well in your remaining classes.

It can't hurt that much, but it's definitely worse than B, right?

MrKappus wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:I don't see how a single W could hurt that much, especially if you do well in your remaining classes.

It can't hurt that much, but it's definitely worse than B, right?

Only if it's punitive, IMO.

Who thinks a W means a C? It means you never finished the class, and you didn't even get a grade to hide. That seems kind of ridiculous to me. Maybe if you had a row of them, but just one is easily explainable.

I think a W would look much worse than a B. I have no authoritative basis for saying this (I'm not a hiring partner, obviously), but if I saw a W I would basically assume the person withdrew because they were literally going to fail (or get a C). A B may not be good compared to your other grades, but a W will look even worse. Unless you're actually worried about failing or getting a C, take the exam.

I'd also add that few people are going to ask you to provide the explanation you outlined above. They'll just look at your transcript and assume.