Help with Classes and prereqs!

[mushk1n]

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Hello everyone, I'm new to SD so please be nice :]!
Anyhow, this is basically my situation:
I am a 3rd year psychobiology student @ UCLA.
My current overall gpa is about a 2.8 and I have about 4 more upperdivs to take and 16 elective credits (which is roughly 4 classes). I have finished most of the pre-reqs for pharm school except for about ~6.
So as of now, I am utterly confused on what path I should take. The most obvious one is that I should really focus on my remaining classes to graduate from here with above a 3.0 GPA.
The big issue that I am having is whether I should retake my classes I got C's in (3 life science classes and 3 chemistry classes) here at UCLA or whether I should retake them at a JC [so I can have some time to finish my pre-reqs here at UCLA].

I'm sorry if this message does not make much sense, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

All the best,
Confused Student :[

 

[eightonesix]

I go to UC Davis up north and our school policy says that you cannot retake a class unless you got a D/F. I dont know if that pertains to the entire UC system in general but you should look into that, considering you might have no option but to retake at a CC.

Most definitely though, you might want to consider bettering that C esp in a chem course.

 

[jkong]

I'm from UCSD and I talked to my college advisor about retaking classes last quarter (Dec 08).

I heard about the same thing (you cant retake classes unless its D/F).

I asked her about that and here's what she said:

Lower div classes she suggests taking them at a community college.
Upper div classes can be retaken at UCSD. Our enrollment system, WebReg, doesn't restrict you from enrolling in the class, it just sets off the red-flag.

I haven't tried retaking my upperdiv classes yet.

 

[diastole]

The first thing you should do is to make sure you ace your remaining classes. If you can finish out with mostly As, that will make you look much better. Next, try to take advantage of your time left at UCLA. Volunteer, do research, get some kind of leadership position. Make the rest of your application stronger. Prioritize the first two and then worry about the retakes. I don't think you can retake those classes there but I attended years ago so things might have changed. Finally, make sure you cheer hard at the USC-UCLA football game. I'm getting tired of those losses to the Trojans.

 

[fhx06]

The first thing you should do is to make sure you ace your remaining classes. If you can finish out with mostly As, that will make you look much better. Next, try to take advantage of your time left at UCLA. Volunteer, do research, get some kind of leadership position. Make the rest of your application stronger. Prioritize the first two and then worry about the retakes. I don't think you can retake those classes there but I attended years ago so things might have changed. Finally, make sure you cheer hard at the USC-UCLA football game. I'm getting tired of those losses to the Trojans.

Like this person said, at this point you also want to build up a strong reference base in order to boost your image a bit. Trust me... you do not want a random professor writing your essay because they may give a generic reference rather than an in-depth, commanding one. A med school friend of mine had a letter written by his biology professor stating that he was "a perfect candidate for dental school."

diastole: I think USC should've gotten into the national championship game, or at least into the discussion... and I'm a Gator.