Retaking Courses: Alot of C's in Prerequisites

[SwimnWithBeluga]

Hello. So I have a whole lot of C's in prereq courses..specifically general chem,organic chem, and biochem...How does re-taking all of these look? My problem with chemistry started with a horrible teacher in gen. chem I, whom also taught gen chem II and didn't prepare me at all for organic chem where I got destroyed. I plan on re-taking them at a community college with a professor whom students wrote good reviews about.

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[tpad40]

Different schools will react differently but I say go for it. But get an A!! It will look a whole lot worse to reatek it and sitll get a bad grade. A lot of people suggest trying to find a slightly different/more advanced course on the same subject matter. Also, you may want to not retake gen chem and just focus on the orgo/biochem, I think those grades are typically the most closely examined!

I personally retook orgo and *loved* it second time around, had an incredible teacher (which really helped)! I would suggest, if at all possible financially/time/etc, to take it at as reputable a school that you can find. I got a lot of mixed feedback about this, so I'll be interested to hear what other people think. Some peopled STRONGLY advised me not to take it at a CC but instead through a big name school summer program. Others thought that taking it at a CC was totally fine, as long as I rocked it!

Good luck!!

 

[StayingHopeful]

I plan on re-taking them at a community college with a professor whom students wrote good reviews about.

Make sure to check with the schools you are planning on applying to because some schools require that all or most of the core sciences are taken at a non-CC

 

[philomycus]

Check on your schools and your personal situation.

I had a C in chem I, C+ in chem II, C+ in orgo I, C in orgo II, and B- in biochem.

Last year when I didn't get in, one school said don't bother retaking them- too many to retake and once they average the lower with the higher, it wouldn't significantly change my GPA.

Another school said to retake them all. I'm a non-trad full time employeed applicant. I can't retake them all, and even if I did, it would take me 2 years; not practical.

Contact your schools of interest- afterall, they know what they want, we're here just guessing.

 

[GellaBella]

I agree with the others. You need to check with the schools you are interested in about where you can re-take courses. I need to take a writing course and a statistics course to fulfill my pre-reqs for many schools. Some vet schools I've contacted have said that as long as my undergraduate grades (I'm also non-trad) were rock solid, taking those courses at a community college wouldn't matter but if my undergrad grades were shaky at all especially in pre-reqs, I would need to take the classes at an accredited 4 year institution. Since you've gotten many C's in many pre-reqs, I'd say it would be best for you to re-take the courses at a university. But again, contact the schools you're interested in to find out for sure

 

[IvyLynx]

You can retake a class you made a C in? We can only retake C- and below.

I agree with everyone above, but also, how are you going to do in your other pre-reqs? Maybe it'll balance out. A couple Cs won't kill you (and a few probably won't either).

 

[david594]

A couple Cs won't kill you (and a few probably won't either).

Yeah, but this is 5 C's in what are largely the hardest of the pre-reqs.

Beyond just the numbers game of GPA's and GRE's, the other thing you really want your grades to do is prove to the Adcoms that you can be successful.

How were the rest of your grades? Is an Ad-com going to look at your application and walk away thinking "This applicant will have no issues handling a very heavy course load" or are they going to think "Well, he struggled through most of undergrad and will struggle in vet school too."

I think this is why many vet schools will look at the last 45 credits GPA. Give consideration to students who may have had a rough start, but were able to demonstrate their ability to succeed. Even if their early grades pull their cumulative GPA down.

 

[jglovicz]

I would suggest that you retake your prereqs for a number of reasons. The disclaimer is that even if you get As it really will not increase your GPA (at least not if you are earning a degree and have ~140 credits). First, you want to show your admissions committee that although you don't have a stellar GPA, you have learned from your mistakes and now you have the opportunity to show that you can apply yourself and get As in orgo and biochem (I agree with other posts that retaking gen chem may not show much, as it's an intro level course). Also, one reason it is so hard to get in is because the adcom wants to be sure that you have an academic background consistent with a student who will succeed/complete their DVM. You want to show that you ARE a student that will succeed in vet school. Good Luck!

 

[bmichs75DVM]

I also concur, talk to your schools of interest to see what they recommend. As for retaking courses, I would focus on Organic chem most of all. If you could bring up those grades from C’s to B’s, it will greatly improve your chances of getting into vet school. After that, it would be up to you as whether to retake Biochem, a B- isn’t the end of the world, but take Biochem 2 and try to get a good grade, this will show that you applied yourself well to the class. As for Gen chem, don’t waste your time. Just try to focus on Organic and Biochem and some of your other pre-reqs.