Repeating Courses?

[tc002]

Hi there everyone. I'm new to SDN and I am currently a transfer student at UCR.

I was wondering what everyone's opinions are on repeating a course when it comes time to applying for pharmacy schools. Would that jeopardize my chances of being accepted to a pharmacy school?

For those who managed to get accepted into pharmacy school with repeating classes, please share your experience if possible.

Thanks!

PS: I'll probably be finishing my bachelor's degree next year in spring of 2015 hopefully. So far, I have not taken my PCATs yet, but my CC GPA is a 2.998 cumulative and 2.84 science from CC.

Also, even though I transferred to UCR as a CC student, would a pharmacy application factor grades from all schools even though all of my CC credits transferred to UCR?

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[TechthenpharmD]

Depends on the school but, I applied to five schools and only one asked about my repeats others didn't even mention it. My advice is to have a good explanation and if you do repeat make sure to do significantly better the second time. Good luck!

 

[KidPharmD]

Repeats are only bad if you do the same/worse the second time. Either the pharmacy school will dock you for having to repeat it, or will dock you for the lower GPA that class caused. It is usually a wash to most adcoms. Now, it can really benefit you if you have one class where you did poorly and you believe you can really bring it up. Say, retaking a class where you got a D and getting an A. It might not be such a good sign if you had to retake more than two classes.

As for transferring, the pharmacy school will most likely calculate a cumulative GPA from both your undergraduate schools unless your new school also transfers your grades into your GPA.

 

[88888888]

Repeat only if you get C- lower, unless the school accepts C-'s. I repeated a class 4 times before passing it and I'm in pharmacy school. Grades don't matter much, if I can get in with below 3.0, you can too. It's pretty difficult trying to raise your GPA after you have so many units.

I would spend time on other stuff on your app such as extracurriculars, pharmacy experience, and doing super on the PCAT, which is a pretty easy test.

I've spoken to a couple residency directors while in pharmacy school, they don't really look at GPA. They look more into extracurriculars and work experience, etc... It only concerns them if you have below a 3.0 possibly, or 4.0.

 

[tc002]

Thank you everyone for your input. It is nice to hear from you guys who have gone through the process. I'm going to try and make a 4.0 hopefully this quarter.

 

[Lagunatic]

I got my B.S. from UCR and I have a similar story as yours. I had a 2.9 GPA after my first year with two F's. After retaking those classes and stepping up my motivation, I graduated with a 3.8 Science GPA and 3.5 Overall GPA. Now I am second year pharmacy student in San Francisco. If you have any questions let me know.

 

[tc002]

I got my B.S. from UCR and I have a similar story as yours. I had a 2.9 GPA after my first year with two F's. After retaking those classes and stepping up my motivation, I graduated with a 3.8 Science GPA and 3.5 Overall GPA. Now I am second year pharmacy student in San Francisco. If you have any questions let me know.

Thank you for your input. Nice to see a fellow alumni doing well!

 

[pharamacy_yo]

Repeat only if you get C- lower, unless the school accepts C-'s. I repeated a class 4 times before passing it and I'm in pharmacy school. Grades don't matter much, if I can get in with below 3.0, you can too. It's pretty difficult trying to raise your GPA after you have so many units.

I would spend time on other stuff on your app such as extracurriculars, pharmacy experience, and doing super on the PCAT, which is a pretty easy test.

I've spoken to a couple residency directors while in pharmacy school, they don't really look at GPA. They look more into extracurriculars and work experience, etc... It only concerns them if you have below a 3.0 possibly, or 4.0.

The first time around, I got a D in Chemistry 2, which was the 2nd class of 3 classes in the series. The second time around, I was doing really well with an average of 85% in the same class walking into the final. I have no idea how, but the curve said I ended up getting a D again. Now, I plan on taking that class at a community college since my school doesn't allow you to repeat a class you have taken twice. I also had to repeat 2 other classes but I got B+s in both of those. This is really scaring me, and this is the primary reason I am so scared to apply to pharmacy schools.

 

[88888888]

The first time around, I got a D in Chemistry 2, which was the 2nd class of 3 classes in the series. The second time around, I was doing really well with an average of 85% in the same class walking into the final. I have no idea how, but the curve said I ended up getting a D again. Now, I plan on taking that class at a community college since my school doesn't allow you to repeat a class you have taken twice. I also had to repeat 2 other classes but I got B+s in both of those. This is really scaring me, and this is the primary reason I am so scared to apply to pharmacy schools.

Don't be scared. Do good on the PCAT and it'll be fine.

I got a D in 2nd part of gen chem and retook biochem 3 times before passing with a C. C- in Microbio and anatomy as well. I didn't have any difficult circumstances either. I just scored well on the PCAT and had lots of extracurriculars.

 

[oldstock]

The first time around, I got a D in Chemistry 2, which was the 2nd class of 3 classes in the series. The second time around, I was doing really well with an average of 85% in the same class walking into the final. I have no idea how, but the curve said I ended up getting a D again. Now, I plan on taking that class at a community college since my school doesn't allow you to repeat a class you have taken twice. I also had to repeat 2 other classes but I got B+s in both of those.

did you ever find why you got the D again in 2nd attempt (e.g. talked to the professor), esp. when you were determined to get a better grade and had an avg of 85 before the final ??

Assume the final was worth 50% of your whole grade, to get a D, your avg after the final would have been like 50-60% to take all that 85% to avg down to that level. You got ~40% on the final ?? Rarely I had a final which was worth 50% (only few times when there were only exams, 1 mid-term and 1 final). Usually the finals I had were worth less than 50%, and you would have really bombed your final for that D for the class.

But then again, if I did that bad, I would already know for myself what I did wrong and there should be no surprise there like "the curve said I ended up getting a D again."

so you need to know for yourself what you did wrong there and do not repeat it.

This is really scaring me, and this is the primary reason I am so scared to apply to pharmacy schools.

What was done was already done. You need to move forward.

Retake the course you failed and get a good grades for them. Then study and take the PCAT to see where you stand and apply to pharmacy schools. That is the only way to find out.

 

[pharamacy_yo]

Thank you for your advice. And yes it was a complete surprise, because with both midterms I had a high B. I was really shocked, but the TA said it was due to the curve I couldn't question them either.

 

[oldstock]

Thank you for your advice. And yes it was a complete surprise, because with both midterms I had a high B. I was really shocked, but the TA said it was due to the curve I couldn't question them either.

I would go to professors and ask for a review of your final exam and your grade for the whole class. I would not let it go if I think I did well on the final and got that 85% avg before the final. That was so close to an A !!

 

[pharamacy_yo]

Yeah that was why I was so surprised. However, it has been 2 years and both the TA and the professor were (not to be rude) but they were absolute JERKS. The professor seemed to pride himself in the number of students he failed.

 

[oldstock]

Yeah that was why I was so surprised. However, it has been 2 years and both the TA and the professor were (not to be rude) but they were absolute JERKS. The professor seemed to pride himself in the number of students he failed.

I can relate as I had some really bad professors and TAs before. But, if it had been me back then, I would have fought all the way to find out what really happened there and would not have let it go until I knew everything that had happened on my finals and to my final grade. Even if I had had to go to the department chair or the dean, I would have.

But it has been 2 yrs. You cannot go back there now. But, IMHO you still own to yourself to figure out or guess what you did wrong there so that you will not repeat it.

GL