WITHDRAWALS, RETAKES, PASS/FAIL, AND SUMMER SCIENCE

Many students have difficulties with certain areas of study, some with the humanities, some with the social sciences, some with the physical sciences. If you are having a problem, you should immediately discuss the situation with your adviser. There are many ways you can build your strength in the sciences, particularly if you are patient and are prepared to work hard as most students are. But there also are many ways in which you will not be successful.

Withdrawing from a required prehealth course or taking it Pass/Fail rarely solves a problem; it may delay the consequences of the problem, but it rarely solves it. Retaking a course "for a better grade" usually serves little purpose other than to lull you into a false sense of security. Admissions committees are fully aware that most students will ultimately be "rewarded" with good grades if they retake courses a sufficient number of times. Retaking a course simply to earn a high grade rarely implies mastery of the subject: tenacity, perhaps, but not mastery.

Admissions committees will often treat a grade of W or P as a C-minus or lower. They will factor this into their evaluation, even if you repeat the course. Also keep in mind what happens if you repeat a science course because you failed it or earned a poor grade. If you earn a D in the class the first time around and pull a straight A when you repeat it, the average of D and A will still only be a 2.5—just above a C-plus. This is not how NYU handles repeated courses, but it is how AMCAS and allopathic medical school admissions committees will treat them. EXCEPTION: Ostepathic medical schools will not count the initial grade in a course when the course is repeated. If you would like to become a D.O., repeating a course in which you do poorly makes good sense.

If you are applying to allopathic medicial schools, we are not saying you should never repeat a course. If you receive at least a C in a science course, live with it, move on, and take an additional science course later on to “make up” for it. But if you receive a grade lower than a C, you need to consider either repeating the course—or rethinking your prehealth plans. Discuss this with an adviser.

NYU has an excellent reputation with medical schools. If you have demonstrated your interest in the health professions by starting to take the required prehealth courses at NYU, why would you suddenly withdraw from one of your required courses and take it at a less-reputable school? The answer is obvious to you, to us, and most importantly, it is obvious to every member of every admissions committee across the country.

For this and other reasons, the Preprofessional office simply does not grant requests to take prehealth science courses at another school over the summer and transfer the credits back to NYU. Medical schools are wary of summer courses: their concern is that in such a short period, the instructor will skip over material—or the student will not absorb it. As for our office, we cannot evaluate the quality of courses at other institutions, and we will not be able to have comments from your instructor placed in your prehealth file. You are best served by taking prehealth requirements at NYU during the academic year.