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Someone I know just received a very poor grade on an accounting test and decided to switch his major from accounting to something else and go to law school. He thinks that his final grade will be a C or a D in the class, which would hurt his GPA. He's been considering withdrawing from the class and taking the W, but he's not sure how this will affect his admissions prospects. He already has 2 W's on his transcripts from early in his undergrad. Would taking the W and writing an addendum be a better option for the future or should he stick it out and take the grade? What would look better to an admissions officer?

Any advice is very much appreciated!

if the w is non punitive, then ya thats better than a d

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Yeah, I have a W or 2 and I didn't write an addendum.

Withdrawing from a class is one thing, but it seems a bit dramatic to change majors because of a bad test grade. Unless he really wants to do the other major instead. It isn't a good idea to change majors too many times- could delay graduation, make student seem flaky/indecisive, etc. Just something to think about.

If it's intermediate, he should W and change majors. That's the weed out for accounting.

Dub, especially if switching majors.

I'm 0L, but I've worked with transcripts for graduate admissions.

I applied with three Ws and it didn't affect me in the slightest. No addendum needed.

Why would you write an addendum regardless of the Ws you have? It's not like law schools put out numbers on the average number of Ws their students had in undergrad.

F an addendum. F the grade. Take a W and GTFO. Admissions DGAF about Ws, but they surely care about GPA. Add the HYS caveat and there may be an argument, but then again ur "friend" is about to tank a class HYS candidates "often" don't, so the point is moot. Take the W and never look back is the credited response.

Side question: I'm a little confused. I thought W's were essentially F's when LSAC crunches your gpa? Isn't that why there's a gpa and an lsac gpa? I have a few W's I got in junior college and have been working my ass off to compensate for those "F's".

Just wondering why everyone is telling the OP to take the W instead of a D, if the W=F?

secondshot wrote:Side question: I'm a little confused. I thought W's were essentially F's when LSAC crunches your gpa? Isn't that why there's a gpa and an lsac gpa? I have a few W's I got in junior college and have been working my ass off to compensate for those "F's".

Just wondering why everyone is telling the OP to take the W instead of a D, if the W=F?

Non punitive W's are not counted as part of your GPA, hence it is as if you never signed up for the corse (except that it is listed on the transcript as something you tried, but walked away from).

haus wrote:

secondshot wrote:Side question: I'm a little confused. I thought W's were essentially F's when LSAC crunches your gpa? Isn't that why there's a gpa and an lsac gpa? I have a few W's I got in junior college and have been working my ass off to compensate for those "F's".

Just wondering why everyone is telling the OP to take the W instead of a D, if the W=F?

Non punitive W's are not counted as part of your GPA, hence it is as if you never signed up for the corse (except that it is listed on the transcript as something you tried, but walked away from).

But most W's are punitive, right? In what circumstance are they not? Does LSAC decide if they are punitive or does the college? And why would a college deem their W's non-punitive in the first place, doesn't that defeat the purpose? Thanks for bearing with my questions. It's going to be the difference between a 4.0 and 3.5 for me, so this is an important factor for me.

Sorry I hijacked the thread.

secondshot wrote: But most W's are punitive, right? In what circumstance are they not? Does LSAC decide if they are punitive or does the college? And why would a college deem their W's non-punitive in the first place, doesn't that defeat the purpose? Thanks for bearing with my questions. It's going to be the difference between a 4.0 and 3.5 for me, so this is an important factor for me.

Sorry I hijacked the thread.

It is up to the school. In my experience (I have attended over 10 colleges), the schools I am familiar with generally allow non-punitive W's. Usually this requires jumping through a hoop or two, primarily officially withdrawing before a specific date, some schools require signed notification/acceptance from the professor of the course you are dropping (but I have not seen a restriction like this for ~20 years). If you pull out of a class without jumping through whatever hurdles are put in place many schools will list it as a W/I or simply an I (incomplete). Most often you will have a limited time window to convert there to some form of letter grade or they will default to F's.

Depends on the school.

Grades Excluded
Withdraw, Withdraw/Pass—only if the issuing school considers the grade non punitive.
......
Withdrawal grades that signify failure (such as WF=Withdraw/Fail, WU=Withdrew Unsatisfactory, WNP=Withdrew Not Passing) if the issuing school considers the grade non punitive. The total number of credits assigned to these grades will appear on the applicant's academic summary, but will not be included in the GPA calculation.

http://www.lsac.org/aboutlsac/policies/ ... marization