Collecting W's or Accept a C?

[scrubmein]

In Short: Should I take my third W or a C in gen bio?

I am taking Gen Bio I with an extremely difficult teacher and a teaching style that I (and most of the class) cannot follow. Tomorrow is the last day to get a W, so I am doing some serious reflection regarding what I should do to minimally hurt my application. My options right now are either take the W or continue with the high probability of getting a C. At this point, I am bummed about the situation I am in, but I have accepted that I really do not have many options.

Some things to consider:
-I already have two W's, one from 2015 and one from summer 2019.
-I have one C from Anatomy in 2015, but otherwise all A's and B's. I am retaking Anatomy this fall, so that will hopefully weigh a little less.
-If I take the W, I won't be able to apply next cycle and will push back my application another year. (This is because I need to get through Gen Bio I+II by Dec 2020 to apply this cycle.)

My biggest worry is that biology and anatomy are two of the most important prereqs, so it seems like no matter what I choose, I am already in a bad position. I am hoping someone has insight as to which choice will hurt less.

For some background, I have already completed undergrad and am taking Gen Bio at a community college to finish up my prereqs. My cumulative GPA is 3.7 and sciGPA is 3.2.

 

*I don't think this class is a reflection of my studying ability, as everyone in the class is struggling, but if anyone has input regarding that, I'm all ears.

Edited April 29, 2020 by scrubmein

[Abox85]

What are the other W's in?

[scrubmein]

16 hours ago, Abox85 said:

What are the other W's in?

In 2015 I dropped Calculus II when I changed majors and realized I didn't need it.
In summer 2019 I dropped Gen Chem II and retook it in fall and got an A.

 

So two of the W's would be in prereqs and the calc would probably not matter due to time/subject, maybe they'll only focus on the two?

[Elsebond]

I can’t comment exactly how admissions looks at things since I’m still a pre-PA myself but I know Cs in pre-req classes will not look good since that isn’t an acceptable grade in graduate school. Might want to look into more how schools you are interested in treat W’s (could email and ask them).

As far as your grades I hope this doesn’t come off wrong but at some point every person will learn that the teacher is only part of the grande scheme of learning. A class like general biology there is likely a text book, a bunch of free YouTube lecture videos, Khan academy videos (I used these for general bio because I also had a teacher who wasn’t great). If you are passionate enough about learning the material there is always a way! This is actually a great thing - the internet and open education gives you so many options you don’t have to rely on your teacher (as many would have had to in the 1950s for example ahha). Self learning is huge considering you’ll probably have to do this for many many more years - maybe the rest of your life as medical information is always evolving.

Take any negative energy you feel about your teacher- ignore the negative energy of others in the class and harness that into a positive energy that you are taking your education into your own hands. You got this!