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Heyo all!
So I'm a student applying this summer, and I had pretty solid cumulative and science GPAs, but this semester I decided to take Physics II. I decided to do it because it was my last prereq, and there are one or two schools who want prereqs finished by January of matriculation year, AND I did well in Physics I, so what could go wrong??
Now I flubbed the first exam, and I'm thinking I might be looking at a B or worse, which, while not a terrible grade, would drag my sGPA from 3.65 --> 3.59, and my cGPA from 3.79 --> 3.76. The former especially seems like a very significant change - of course I already bought the MSAR and neurotically went through it, and it would put me in the bottom 10-25% of many of the schools I want to apply to!
Buuut, at the beginning of the semester, I placed a removable pass/fail designation on the class. This means that if I leave it on, it will not affect my GPA unless I fail, and it'll just say "P" on the transcript. Now, I know that you have to take prereqs for a grade, so it might look fishy - but if I forgo applying to the one or two schools that want everything finished early, can I just leave it as a pass/fail so my sGPA doesn't tank, and then retake Physics II in second semester of senior year if I've got to for the school I'm attending if I get in? This would be the only pass/fail on my application, and the last med school prereq I have left to do.
Would love to hear if anyone's done this before, or any other advice!!
TL;DR Can you take a prereq with a pass/fail designation so it doesn't botch your sGPA, then retake it in senior year??
So I'm a student applying this summer, and I had pretty solid cumulative and science GPAs, but this semester I decided to take Physics II. I decided to do it because it was my last prereq, and there are one or two schools who want prereqs finished by January of matriculation year, AND I did well in Physics I, so what could go wrong??
Now I flubbed the first exam, and I'm thinking I might be looking at a B or worse, which, while not a terrible grade, would drag my sGPA from 3.65 --> 3.59, and my cGPA from 3.79 --> 3.76. The former especially seems like a very significant change - of course I already bought the MSAR and neurotically went through it, and it would put me in the bottom 10-25% of many of the schools I want to apply to!
Buuut, at the beginning of the semester, I placed a removable pass/fail designation on the class. This means that if I leave it on, it will not affect my GPA unless I fail, and it'll just say "P" on the transcript. Now, I know that you have to take prereqs for a grade, so it might look fishy - but if I forgo applying to the one or two schools that want everything finished early, can I just leave it as a pass/fail so my sGPA doesn't tank, and then retake Physics II in second semester of senior year if I've got to for the school I'm attending if I get in? This would be the only pass/fail on my application, and the last med school prereq I have left to do.
Would love to hear if anyone's done this before, or any other advice!!
TL;DR Can you take a prereq with a pass/fail designation so it doesn't botch your sGPA, then retake it in senior year??
