Quote:
Originally Posted by opto2
I am in my third year of undergrad and I haven't done so great in my science courses and it's made me worried for the future when I start applying to Optometry schools. Here are my grades:
general bio 1-C
general chem 1-C
physics 1-C
physics 2-A
organic chem-B
and then I took general bio 2 and chem 2 in the same semester and got D's, but I retook general bio 2 and got a C and general chem 2 at a community college and got an A.
As you can see, I didn't do that great in the most important classes. I struggle with time management and just now started improving my study habits. I was thinking of taking a year off and finishing up the last three pre-reqs (micro,biochem,calc) and also retake all the courses above in which I didn't get an A in (besides ochem). Do you think this is a wise idea? Do you think it is worth it and that Optometry schools will accept the newest grades? I am also graduating in May 2013, so I will have to re-take those courses the summer after graduation; will my new grades still be replaced with my old ones, or will it be a completely separate GPA? My university does not allow students to retake a course if you have received a C or better, but I want to talk to someone about it (hopefully they understand) so that I can retake the classes and boost up my science GPA. I am really worried that I won't be accepted because of my terrible GPA, so I feel like since I am realizing now and thinking of taking this step, I will probably save time in the end so that I won't have to go back and do my masters and re-apply. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
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You definitely need to retake the classes you mentioned. Time management is suuuper important in opt school, because you will be taking a lot more classes than you are now. So it's good to hear that you feel like you've learned some lessons - just make sure you are ready for that even bigger commitment in grad school!
When you retake courses at the same institution, the newest score (whether better or worse) replaces the older score. If you do not take the class at the same school, but end up going somewhere else, then I know one score doesn't replace the other. I *think* they are both averaged into your GPA. So a C at your current college and an A at another school would average to a B....I think that's how that works. In any case, that's still better than having a C average.
You might call the admissions offices where you want to apply, because many of them have admissions counselors that can really help you with these questions and help you understand what the school expects from you in order to consider you for admissions. I know SCO and SCCO are two schools that do lots of counseling. I am sure there are lots of others out there, but those were 2 of the 5 that I applied to that I felt really provided lots of guidance to prospective students.
Good luck!