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Dropping a U.S university course; 'W' on transcript; affect chances of UK PG study?

Hello everyone!

I am currently a student at Pennsylvania State University here in the United States aiming to complete a BA in Economics by 2015.

As most of you probably know, the American university system requires you to take courses that fulfill a GE or general education requirement in addition to your major courses. This semester, I decided to take up meteorology (big mistake!) to fulfill my science requirement and as the title of this post might indicate, I am not doing to well. I am considering dropping the course, to avoid getting a poor grade in the course which will indefinitely affect my chances of getting into a good UK university for post-graduate study; withdrawing from a class will show up as a W on my transcript and not affect my GPA while a C or D will; wondering what are the perceptions of this?

I dont know if there is anything similar to this in the UK or if anyone here has obtained their undergraduate degree from a U.S university and has experienced dropping a course and getting into a UK univeristy.

Any advice would be lovely!
(edited 10 years ago)
There isn't really an equivalent to taking a 'W' in the UK, and I really don't know how it would be viewed since it's unlikely to have the same connotations that it does in the US (i.e. students wishing to preserve their GPA, slightly sneaky, perhaps etc). I would recommend contacting the universities you are interested in specifically to ask them - if you are worried about anonymity, you could call the international admissions people, perhaps? You may have difficulty explaining to them what a 'W' is etc.

I suspect, however, that what it will all come down to is that a 'W' would be better for you than a 'C,' as UK admissions are likely to be much more interested in your final degree outcome (i.e. final GPA) than in any individual module marks.
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Avatar for Ellim
Ellim
11
I did my undergrad in Australia, rather than the US, but have a few Ws on my transcript and they didn't seem to make a difference in applications. I applied for three PhDs in the UK and was accepted to all pending my MA results - none seemed to even care that much about my BA.

Not sure if it's the same for you, but they actually do effect your GPA, very slightly, in some way (I'm sure you'll be able to find the exact formula your uni uses on their website, or by contacting the examinations department).

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