Retaking AP courses

[speckledfrenzy92]

Hi everyone I'm loving this forum, so much great info! But I have a question that I've haven't seen covered yet...

I received my AA from my community college and am on track to start at a University this spring. I am really concerned about my current GPA and my ability to raise it to a competitive level as it is.

I was very ambitious in high school and got 4s and 5s on my AP tests, which allowed me to be credited out of English, Psych, & Humanities. So, my GPA is based on my college level math and science courses, for the most part. When I started CC, I slacked off and didn't work as hard as I should have, so my GPA is around a 2.6-2.8. I'm really worried that I won't be able to recover from this without getting the credit points from the "easy" classes I've already tested out of.

I guess my question is...if possible, would you retake some or all of these classes to boost your cumulative GPA or would you keep the AP scores as is and focus on getting high grades in the last 2 years of coursework?

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[battie]

I also took a bunch of AP credits and ended up coming into college with 28 credits from AP. I retook only one class worth (chem) because I want confident in those skills at all.

My concern would be good the schools view that now. It's not like you're retaking a class that you got a C in to bump up the grade. They would see you taking these classes two years after you've been granted them, which might be (not 100% sure) a red flag. Personally, I would focus on getting As in all your upper divisions. Take 15-16 credits a semester and nail those classes.

 

[Jess Monster]

After two more years of classes, will 3 or 4 easy A's in low level non-sciences actually inflate your GPA enough to be competitive for vet school? You might want to do the math to find that answer. I personally would work on cultivating the motivation and discipline needed to do well in more advanced science and math courses. That seems to be where you're lacking. Retaking these courses seems like such a short-sighted, temporary fix to your GPA deficiencies.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Hi everyone I'm loving this forum, so much great info! But I have a question that I've haven't seen covered yet...

I received my AA from my community college and am on track to start at a University this spring. I am really concerned about my current GPA and my ability to raise it to a competitive level as it is.

I was very ambitious in high school and got 4s and 5s on my AP tests, which allowed me to be credited out of English, Psych, & Humanities. So, my GPA is based on my college level math and science courses, for the most part. When I started CC, I slacked off and didn't work as hard as I should have, so my GPA is around a 2.6-2.8. I'm really worried that I won't be able to recover from this without getting the credit points from the "easy" classes I've already tested out of.

I guess my question is...if possible, would you retake some or all of these classes to boost your cumulative GPA or would you keep the AP scores as is and focus on getting high grades in the last 2 years of coursework?

I had the same thought when I was in undergrad (I tested out of gen bio, all English/lit/writing courses, and some humanities). There's pros and cons to it. Obviously, retaking these courses will cost you some money. There is the chance that they will bring up your GPA though (assuming you get on track and start acing these courses). However, improved grades on these new courses will not make up for poor scores in pre-req courses. You can 4.0 a writing class 100 times, but that won't change the fact that your science GPA is low if that makes sense.

Without knowing what AP classes you've taken or what classes make up your current GPA now, it's harder to give more specific advice. All I can really say is that if you have pre-reqs in that 2.6 GPA, you may need to retake those no matter what. Veterinary schools will not accept any pre-reqs with below a C (2.0). If there are courses that you've gotten a C or below in, I'd retake those first, work your butt off, and see where that gets you.

 

[Minnerbelle]

My concern would be good the schools view that now.

I don't think anyone thinks that deeply about ap credit. It's just kinda there. I don't think anyone will bat an eye if they were retaken in college.

I essentially had to retake all my ap courses in undergrad because my college did not allow you to place out of most intro classes. No one cared

 

[speckledfrenzy92]

Thanks for all of your input. I know that it wouldn't make a huge difference, but I thought it was worth asking about. My biggest struggle is with math. I failed Trig, Pre-Calc, and Calc the first times I took them, and then got a B in Pre-Calc and a C in Trig on the second attempt. I'm currently taking Calc again and have an A at the moment and am doing everything I can to keep it! I've had A's across the board in Bio 1 & 2, and A's and B's in Chem, so I'm hoping I can maintain that A/B science average. I'm just really worried that my poor math grades will make my science GPA too low, and I was thinking that retaking these classes could boost my cumulative a little higher than it is.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Thanks for all of your input. I know that it wouldn't make a huge difference, but I thought it was worth asking about. My biggest struggle is with math. I failed Trig, Pre-Calc, and Calc the first times I took them, and then got a B in Pre-Calc and a C in Trig on the second attempt. I'm currently taking Calc again and have an A at the moment and am doing everything I can to keep it! I've had A's across the board in Bio 1 & 2, and A's and B's in Chem, so I'm hoping I can maintain that A/B science average. I'm just really worried that my poor math grades will make my science GPA too low, and I was thinking that retaking these classes could boost my cumulative a little higher than it is.

Awesome job for improving!!! In that case, my new piece of advice: Look to apply to schools that replace grades with your newest attempt (as opposed to averaging them). That way, your failing grades are essentially ignored. Having the upward trend (which it seems like you do) will help demonstrate to schools that you're capable of handling a heavy academic load, especially when it comes to the upper level science courses. Keep working hard, you'll do great

Also, I don't think any schools specifically require trig as a pre-req. Double check with the schools your interested in. If no one requires it, I wouldn't worry about repeating that course again.

 

[LyraGardenia]

I went into undergrad with 52 credits from AP classes, and while it was great in some ways (I didn't have to take any math, English, or history in college), in retrospect I kind of wish I'd had those lower-level classes in undergrad in order to boost my GPAs. But like others said, if they're not pre-reqs or science classes, I don't know how much good it would do you. I would also make sure that your undergrad institution will allow you to retake the courses, given you've already successfully earned credit for them. My freshman year of undergrad I looked into taking gen chem I even though I had AP credit for it, so that I'd be more prepared for gen chem II, and IIRC my school had a rule against that. (It didn't end up being necessary, I got an A in chem II just fine. O-chem, on the other hand...)

 

[battie]

I went into undergrad with 52 credits from AP classes

And I thought my number was high! Was this semester or quarter system?! If this is semester, you went in as almost a junior!? Kudos!

 

[LyraGardenia]

And I thought my number was high! Was this semester or quarter system?! If this is semester, you went in as almost a junior!? Kudos!

Semester. Thanks! I took 10 AP classes over my last three years of high school. Not all of them were applicable to my degree, for instance I have some random Latin electives credits in there. Also I think my school was a bit generous with how they awarded credit. I got a 3 on the AP Calc BC exam, and they gave me credit for both Calc I and II, which added up to 10 credit hours??? I still took four years to finish undergrad, because taking some interesting/fun classes was much better than trying to cram everything into three years, and I had a scholarship that covered four years of tuition.

 

[Caiter92]

Semester. Thanks! I took 10 AP classes over my last three years of high school. Not all of them were applicable to my degree, for instance I have some random Latin electives credits in there. Also I think my school was a bit generous with how they awarded credit. I got a 3 on the AP Calc BC exam, and they gave me credit for both Calc I and II, which added up to 10 credit hours??? I still took four years to finish undergrad, because taking some interesting/fun classes was much better than trying to cram everything into three years, and I had a scholarship that covered four years of tuition.

Woah! You're school was super generous. We only got AP credit for 4 or 5, and generally only for one class, except for a few were a 5 would give you credit for more. AP Calc AB gave credit for the first two quarters of calc with a 5, only one with a 4, and non below. They didn't give any credit for any score of BC. I think AP Physics and Chem were the only ones who gave you credit for the whole series, but you had to get a 5. They gave you nothing if you were lower. One of my friends was so pissed she got a 4 in AP Physics because of this

 

[pinkpuppy9]

I just like hearing about all of the different AP classes that exist. My tiny high school only had Euro/US, bio, calc (not sure which), psych, and Lit. I think we had AP chem for a year, but then the school realized the chem prof was hopelessly underqualified for it.

 

[battie]

Semester. Thanks! I took 10 AP classes over my last three years of high school. Not all of them were applicable to my degree, for instance I have some random Latin electives credits in there. Also I think my school was a bit generous with how they awarded credit. I got a 3 on the AP Calc BC exam, and they gave me credit for both Calc I and II, which added up to 10 credit hours??? I still took four years to finish undergrad, because taking some interesting/fun classes was much better than trying to cram everything into three years, and I had a scholarship that covered four years of tuition.

I took 10 between junior and senior year, and one my sophomore year, so 11 total. Granted, I didn't pass two (Calc BC and Spanish Lang). My undergrad also did not give me credit for the Studio Art I took twice (losers). So I got credit for Lit, Lang, USH, WH, Chem, Gov, and Bio. I only really got out of taking Gov, English and history classes as I retook chem and the bio class was irrelevant. If I'd been smart, I would have replaced Calc with Stats and Spanish with Psych to get out a couple of classes and reduced a couple of credit loads. At this point, only one other person has taken as many AP classes as me at my high school, and he is currently at Purdue getting all of his degrees for FREE up till he gets his doctorate. It's ridiculous. He's the kid that got 5s on everything and will be head of NASA and I'll tell my kids, "I went to high school with him!" So I feel for most people, AP credits aren't as huge of a deal as they make them out to be unless your that kid from my high school.

Same on the four year thing. Not a lot of kids get to take the combo of classes I did. But it also probably wasn't a great plan to take as many credits, either. Hindsight's 20/20.

 

[LyraGardenia]

Woah! You're school was super generous. We only got AP credit for 4 or 5, and generally only for one class, except for a few were a 5 would give you credit for more. AP Calc AB gave credit for the first two quarters of calc with a 5, only one with a 4, and non below. They didn't give any credit for any score of BC. I think AP Physics and Chem were the only ones who gave you credit for the whole series, but you had to get a 5. They gave you nothing if you were lower. One of my friends was so pissed she got a 4 in AP Physics because of this

It's possible I'm misremembering and I got a 4 in Calc, but I have no idea where to look it up now. It seemed to really vary with the department as far as what they gave credit for, for example I know I got a 5 in AP Bio but only got credit for Bio I.

I just like hearing about all of the different AP classes that exist. My tiny high school only had Euro/US, bio, calc (not sure which), psych, and Lit. I think we had AP chem for a year, but then the school realized the chem prof was hopelessly underqualified for it.

I went to a really big high school (around 750 people in my graduating class), so we offered the majority of them. We had one guy who decided to teach himself Italian and Japanese in order to take the AP tests, since we didn't offer those classes. I can't remember if he passed the tests or not, but I know he graduated both high school and undergrad a year early. Not sure what he's up to now, I think I unfriended him on Facebook a while back because he was a Mitt Romney supporter...

 

[Jess Monster]

I just like hearing about all of the different AP classes that exist. My tiny high school only had Euro/US, bio, calc (not sure which), psych, and Lit. I think we had AP chem for a year, but then the school realized the chem prof was hopelessly underqualified for it.

Same. My high school only have three AP courses and I only took AP English (no desire to take AP Psych or AP Calculus). I took lots of other "advanced" courses but they weren't associated with the AP tests.

 

[Caiter92]

It's possible I'm misremembering and I got a 4 in Calc, but I have no idea where to look it up now. It seemed to really vary with the department as far as what they gave credit for, for example I know I got a 5 in AP Bio but only got credit for Bio I.
.

My school was just a poop about accepting AP credits they had talked about even not allowing them anymore to wave classes, only as elective credits. Thankfully that didn't happen and hasn't yet as far as I know.

 

[Minnerbelle]

My school was just a poop about accepting AP credits they had talked about even not allowing them anymore to wave classes, only as elective credits. Thankfully that didn't happen and hasn't yet as far as I know.

My school was so snooty, not only would they not accept AP credit for calculus I took sophomore year in high school, they also pooh poohed the linear algebra and multi variable calculus course I took at Stanford and got a solid A in the summer after... There were some technical issues with credits and whatnot... but I wasn't even given the opportunity to test out or anything. Instead they gave me the privilege of taking the intensive intro calculus course reserved for people who had already passed ap calc. Which was made to be purposefully difficult as we had a grade deflation policy where the class average had to be 3.33 or below... When everyone in the class excelled in a course with the same content prior, that meant almost everyone got an A-, B+, or B. Which sucked for those of us whose grades mattered. Man, vet school sucked. But undergrad sucked way worse. Even a decade later, I still have recurring nightmares about undergrad.