Take pre-reqs before retaking "C" grade classes?

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snipza

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I am just wondering what you all think about taking the medical school pre-requisite courses BEFORE retaking classes I received a "C" in (Econ, Hist, Stat, College Algebra, Acctg).

I am only interested in DO. With my current GPA (2.75 - graduating in 3 quarters - have been maintaining 3.5+ since starting at university) it is my only option.

If you were in my shoes, which would you do first, and why? Do you have any advice for me on how I should proceed?

*I plan to take the majority of my courses at a community college*
*I just don't have the money, or financial aid, to afford to take them all at a university*

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Best case scenario, what could you bring your sGPA up to without the retakes?

If it's 3.5+, I'd finish the pre-reqs because if your science GPA is good enough, it won't matter as much what your cGPA is.

Get the science GPA into a good range and then you can consider retaking the C's. Also, find out where your MCAT is before retaking. It's very possible to get in with C's and even D's on your transcript. So long as the final numbers (sGPA and MCAT) are in your favor, you may not need to waste money on retakes at all (especially if the C's are only in econ, history, stat, algebra and accounting.)
 
I have taken zero hard science classes in college (bio, chem, phys, etc.). Those lower grades were received in subjects other than the sciences.

I'm assuming that this puts me in a better position as far as having a good sGPA? My thought process is that I'd be starting with a "clean slate" as far as my sGPA goes, since I've never taken those courses before.

Are math courses calculated into sGPA?

Thanks for the advice.

Also, I'm hoping to be right at 3.0 cGPA by the time I graduate this December. I'm hoping that as long as their is a 3.X and not a 2.X on my transcript, that my cGPA will matter less if I do well on the MCAT and have a good sGPA.
 
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Take all of the premed courses and courses for your major first. Your first priority should to stay on track to complete your degree. Fit in retakes when you have the time (i.e. summers, towards the end of undergrad).
 
Sorry for bombing the thread but I am also looking into DO but wondering if I should re-take most of the classes (even the ones that I took years ago that are non-science). I have time at the end of my undergrad to retake 5 courses (3 Cs, 2 Fs). It will boost my GPA for DO since it replaces but I need to know if they see some of those 5 courses being non-science such as "Learning Frameworks" being one of them, is that a red flag since it's obvious I'm trying to boost my GPA? It's not obvious in the bad way if I was retaking Chemistry II for an A because it is a prereq but since this is some freshman course from CC it just looks bad. Thoughts?
 
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