chances math phd program

[wickerbasket]

I go to a top ten college where I have a 3.7+ gpa and solid letters of recommendation. My biggest concern is that I have three withdrawals in a single quarter. Will this keep me out of top ten graduate programs? I have heard that one or two can be overlooked without an explanation.

[TakeruK]

I think this should be okay. 3 withdrawals in one quarter is actually better than 3 withdrawals over 3 quarters. The former suggests that a one-time event happened in that quarter that caused you to drop your classes. The latter suggests a pattern of over committing or backing out of prior commitments. If you think it's relevant, you can address the reason for the withdrawals in the SOP but you might not even have to. It's not like they are going to see the 3 W's and put you in the reject pile automatically! Definitely still worth it to apply.