Advice on Grade Replacement

Started by ThisisReality
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ThisisReality said:
and will be embarrassing retaking classes with other freshmen and sophomores as a senior.
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How is that embarrassing? this is a higher education system not high school, no one really cares what year you're in. Do the second option as it has more potential to raise your GPA higher.
 
I took Chem II, Physics II, and Organic Chem II all in the same semester at the age of 25 (none re-takes, just taking my pre-med reqs), and most people just thought I was like 21 or 22, and didn't really care. They thought it was cool that I already had a degree and was getting ready to apply to med schools. Don't feel embarrassed. I was definitely not the oldest one in my classes.
 
ThisisReality said:
So... Undergrad has been atrocious for me. I did not care enough and did not have good study habits.
Things are a lot better, but I have a lot of responsibilities in regards to my extracurricular and leadership positions. So, adjusting when you do not have a good base is hard.

Currently I have: cGPA 3.21, non-sGPA 3.69, sGPA 2.8

I am in my senior year right now, I am hoping to apply next summer. I still need to take my MCAT this summer too.

Right now I am taking a lot of classes related to my major, Neuroscience, and hope to increase my sGPA to a 3.1 if I get relatively straight As. So, I will definitely need to kick butt.

Here comes the advice part.

I haven't considered DO until recently, so I never considered/knew about the grade replacement. I would have definitely taken advantage of that and retaken classes earlier; however, I only have this semester and next, spring semester, to do well and prove to admissions I can handle medical school before I apply.

I can either:

A. Continue with my original plan of taking biochemistry (because of the new MCAT), and continue with finishing my major (more Neuroscience classes). This will hopefully boost my sGPA to about a ~3.2, and I will be continuing with my major.

B. Retake Bio 2 and Chem 2 (which I got C+'s in), and take biochemistry. This will hopefully boost my GPA to a ~3.44, a significantly higher increase, but of course it will be a big pain in the butt retaking classes I took my freshman year, and will be embarrassing retaking classes with other freshmen and sophomores as a senior.

Let me know what you all think!

Thank you.
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I'm basically in the same boat and our stats are almost the same, what a coincidence lol.
I'm planning on finishing up my semester by taking my Bio-major pre-reqs and then devoting an extra semester/ Summer retaking lower courses I didn't do so hot in.
Also no one is going to care about your age, my friend was in her late 20s when I meet her in a Sophmore level class.
After the semester of grade fixing I'm going to take my MCAT and apply the following cycle, while volunteering on the side in the meantime.
There's a lot of work in the future to fix your GPA and by now you should know your strengths, if you can manage those upper courses while retaking those classes (AND getting a higher grade) do it, otherwise don't cram it into one semester and risk doing more damage to your GPA.
Good Luck OP.
 
How did you do in O-Chem? Biochem is pretty challenging if you're not good with gen chem and o-chem. definitely not an easy class, I'm taking it now and only about 10% of the class got an A on the first test.

I think Plan B would lead to a better score on the MCAT, not just a GPA boost. Plus, I think that GPA boost will make your life so much less stressful when it comes to applying. Not that you can't get in with a 3.2, but I think in general you'll have a lot more interviews lined up with a 3.4.
 
If you have decided to apply DO then do your retakes. You'll be in a much more comfortable place applying with a 3.4. No one will know/care that you are a bit older or doing a retake. Even if they did setting yourself up for a stronger app is worth a little bit of embarrassment
 
Definitely re-take your classes if you are able. You need to prove to admissions committees that you are able to handle the medical school coursework.

As an aside, I think you should get over the idea that taking courses with people younger than you is "embarassing." There are a lot of people who return to school later in life, who are I'm sure much older than you, taking courses with people sometimes 10 years younger than them (myself included). It's really all in your head. Think about what your goals are, and do what you need to get there. No one in your class will care that you're a senior.
 
wcu2015 said:
How did you do in O-Chem? Biochem is pretty challenging if you're not good with gen chem and o-chem. definitely not an easy class, I'm taking it now and only about 10% of the class got an A on the first test.

I think Plan B would lead to a better score on the MCAT, not just a GPA boost. Plus, I think that GPA boost will make your life so much less stressful when it comes to applying. Not that you can't get in with a 3.2, but I think in general you'll have a lot more interviews lined up with a 3.4.
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I got a C's in both OChem I & II, but that was with minimal studying and poor time management on my part.
 
Thank you to everyone who has replied! Your advice was very helpful. I definitely feel silly for putting what others think as a factor in my decision. I am very involved on campus and was just afraid of being judged by others, as well as by my professors, but I need to get over that and focus on getting into medical school. I've just been feeling very down lately.

I met with my Pre-Med advisor today and I talked to her about all of this. She suggested to not retake the courses Bio 2 and Chem 2 from my freshman year because:

1. I run the risk of not doing well in these courses, which would screw me especially since I've taken OChem and upper level biology courses like Human Phys.
2. Adcoms are going to look at my transcript and will see that my C+'s are from my freshmen and sophomore year.
3. Adcoms will see that I got straight A's on my upper level science courses, even if I end up with a ~3.25 sGPA.

Let me know what you guys think about this!

I am fairly confident I will get A's on the upper level neuroscience courses I am planning on taking next semester, and will definitely bust my ass to get that A in biochemistry. This will be a little bit of an "easier" schedule to me and allow me to focus on studying for my MCAT.

Or, if I retake the Bio 2 and Chem 2, I would definitely need to study harder than my upper level neuroscience courses, as well as bust my ass off studying biochemistry. Thus, making it alittle harder to study for my MCAT at the same time. BUT, the outcome and reward would be a sGPA of around ~3.44.
 
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