The Science GPA struggle

[Metabolizmo]

I was wondering if any of you would advise against retaking science classes that I scored a C or below in? Or should I just take some other science classes instead to try and bring up my GPA?

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[hardy]

"Frisch Gezapftes Bier schmeckt immer noch am Besten"

I would not agree though. If given the choice between budweiser from the tap and a good Warsteiner from the bottle, I would definitely say the Warsteiner is better.

So... what was the topic?

 

[AxlxA]

retake ur class, that way it clears the C away.

 

[Avalanche21]

retake ur class, that way it clears the C away.

You still have to report the old grade to AMCAS though, even if you retake it

 

[DrBowtie]

retake ur class, that way it clears the C away.

Only for D.O.

 

[Phil Anthropist]

The above two posts are correct.

The AACOMAS (osteopathic application) only factors in the most recent grade if you retake, but this is not true for AMCAS.

Some medical schools that require that you receive a grade of C or better in the prerequisite science courses. For this reason, it would be a good idea to retake courses if you received a grade of C- or lower.

 

[fateema368]

The above two posts are correct.

The AACOMAS (osteopathic application) only factors in the most recent grade if you retake, but this is not true for AMCAS.

Some medical schools that require that you receive a grade of C or better in the prerequisite science courses. For this reason, it would be a good idea to retake courses if you received a grade of C- or lower.

Sorry, I didn't understand-does that mean the AMCAS does not factor in the old grade? I kinda have the same problem.

 

[Ron Mexico]

i was told that they still can see that you retook the class, but the new grade is used in determining your gpa. so if you take it again and get an A, it will show but they'll be able to see that you did retake it

 

[Turkeyman]

i was told that they still can see that you retook the class, but the new grade is used in determining your gpa. so if you take it again and get an A, it will show but they'll be able to see that you did retake it

For AMCAS, both grades end up being used in GPA calculation.

 

[jc11011]

For AMCAS, both grades end up being used in GPA calculation.

Absolutely correct.

 

[jammin06]

unfortunate, but true....I took Cal III and Diff E in high school (got C's in both) but then retook them in college and got an A and a B. AMCAS used all 4 grades. It wrecked my gpa though, because for my high school years, my AMCAS GPA was a 2.0..

 

[Phil Anthropist]

Sorry, I didn't understand-does that mean the AMCAS does not factor in the old grade? I kinda have the same problem.

As previous posters have mentioned, both grades count for AMCAS.

Examples:

For the AMCAS / US allopathic / MD application

Biology I, 4 credits, F, 0.0, Fall 2004
Biology I, 4 credits, A, 4.0, Fall 2005

You essentially have:
Biology I, 8 credits, C, 2.0 because both grades count

For the AACOMAS / US osteopathic / DO application

Biology I, 4 credits, F, 0.0, Fall 2004
Biology I, 4 credits, A, 4.0, Fall 2005

You essentially have:
Biology I, 4 credits, A, 4.0 because only your most recent grade counts (regardless if the grade is higher or lower than the previous one)

The previous grade of F is not factored into your AACOMAS GPA, but the DO adcoms can see your previous grades.

i was told that they still can see that you retook the class, but the new grade is used in determining your gpa.

Not for the AMCAS application...

For AMCAS, both grades end up being used in GPA calculation.

Absolutely correct.

unfortunate, but true

Correct

 

[crazy_cavalier]

I was wondering if any of you would advise against retaking science classes that I scored a C or below in? Or should I just take some other science classes instead to try and bring up my GPA?

personally i don't think it's worth it to retake. even if you assume, granted, that you get an A the second time around, you only bring it up to a B. does that really make such a big difference? i don't know...

generally, i would think that taking an upper-level class and doing well in that would be better. example: C in intro bio, then A in genetics / microbio. however, I do caution that this advice may be ill-informed; I spoke to an advisor and he said that low grades in the intro material is less forgiven than low grades in the upper-echelon classes. also, if you had a weak foundation in the intro material you are likely to be unsuccessful in the harder upper-level classes. so i guess, in that respect, you ought to retake.

it's up to you, but if you decide to retake, definitely get the A.

 

[jon stewart]

As previous posters have mentioned, both grades count for AMCAS.

Examples:

For the AMCAS / US allopathic / MD application

Biology I, 4 credits, F, 0.0, Fall 2004
Biology I, 4 credits, A, 4.0, Fall 2005

You essentially have:
Biology I, 8 credits, C, 2.0 because both grades count

For the AACOMAS / US osteopathic / DO application

Biology I, 4 credits, F, 0.0, Fall 2004
Biology I, 4 credits, A, 4.0, Fall 2005

You essentially have:
Biology I, 4 credits, A, 4.0 because only your most recent grade counts (regardless if the grade is higher or lower than the previous one)

The previous grade of F is not factored into your AACOMAS GPA, but the DO adcoms can see your previous grades.

Not for the AMCAS application...


Correct

what happens if u retake the class at a different college, and its worth a different amount of credits the second time you take it?

 

[fateema368]

what happens if u retake the class at a different college, and its worth a different amount of credits the second time you take it?

They'll still factor in both, not sure how though, I think you can just combine the two scores giving the one with more credits more weight in the final total, but they only use a certane number of credits to calculate the final scores {i think} so you can't just buffer your gpa by retaking the class over and over. I looked into some old threads and could bearly sleep last night, yuck, I hate this.

Does it help if the bad grade is non science, is it easier to buffer with excess credits then?

 

[SailCrazy]

what happens if u retake the class at a different college, and its worth a different amount of credits the second time you take it?

AMCAS still treats them as separate classes, so it doesn't make a difference. AACOMAS will take the later class - assuming it makes it through audit as the same class.

I had a situation where at my 1st school, Chem lecture and chem lab were separate classes, but at my 2nd school they were combined... The credits didn't match exactly either. I called AACOMAS. They said to mark each of the 1st classes (lecture and lab) as "repeat 01" and the combined class ant school #2 as "final repeat 01."

 

[Ron Mexico]

ok i think i understand now. for example, i get a C in a bio class, if i repeat it and get an A, then my gpa would avg. out to a 3.0, right? so that woouldnt my gpa be the same if i took a different bio elective and got an A, because my overall gpa in either case would show 2 classes, for 6 credits each with an avg of 3.0?

 

[crys20]

jammin, your stats are pretty similar to mine, huh. i'm starting to feel not so confident at the MD schools...how you feeling? was processed on 6/29 like you also!

 

[SailCrazy]

ok i think i understand now. for example, i get a C in a bio class, if i repeat it and get an A, then my gpa would avg. out to a 3.0, right? so that woouldnt my gpa be the same if i took a different bio elective and got an A, because my overall gpa in either case would show 2 classes, for 6 credits each with an avg of 3.0?

I'm not sure I understand the "so that woouldnt my gpa be the same" part of your reply, but I think you get it...
whether you repeat the class or take a different bio elective, the same grade in the second class (be it a repeat or a new class) will effect your GPA in the same fashion...

 

[Bob_Johansson]

I'm not sure I understand the "so that woouldnt my gpa be the same" part of your reply, but I think you get it...
whether you repeat the class or take a different bio elective, the same grade in the second class (be it a repeat or a new class) will effect your GPA in the same fashion...

so then does it even make sense to repeat a course?

 

[SailCrazy]

so then does it even make sense to repeat a course?

If you're going to apply Osteopathic it does because they will count only the last repetition of a course.

Also, as has been pointed out many times in previous discussions on this topic, it might not be wise to assume that someone will get an A in the higher level course if they tried unsuccessully to earn an A in the intro course!

If you're pre-MCAT it also might not be a bad idea to repeat a basic course and to develop a very strong foundation.

I'm sure there are other reasons too, but those are some off the top of my head...