Help with "Retaking courses" to increase uGPA

[robinhood10]

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hello everyone, Im hoping to get some answers about how the whole "retaking classes" work to help my uGPA. Reason I'm confused is that people tell me that I can retake classes and take additional classes to increase my uGPA even though I have already graduated. I totally understand that I can retake classes but my graduating GPA is still gonna be the same.

Now, how does taking or retaking classes help my uGPA, if on my transcript its gonna have my graduating GPA? Also how would retaking classes by calculated into my transcript, because as we know ones we graduate we have to retake classes at another institution (unless you failed at the school you graduated from). Thanks.

 

[DrMidlife]

You have no "graduating GPA" in a med school application. No GPA on any transcript counts. Doesn't matter at all.

You report all your coursework and the app service (AMCAS) calculates the GPA. All undergrad work, including postbac, gets averaged together. Grad work is completely separate. But any med school can do anything it likes to look at how your grades break down.

If you retake a class, both the old grade and the new grade are included in GPA calculations for MD schools. For DO schools, just the new good grade is included.

You can't actually repair a GPA, because of math and the definition of average.

If you have a low GPA and you want to get into med school, get into the low GPA thread in this forum (the one with almost 500k views) and do lots and lots of reading. Educate yourself.

Best of luck to you.

 

[kkw002]

hello everyone, Im hoping to get some answers about how the whole "retaking classes" work to help my uGPA. Reason I'm confused is that people tell me that I can retake classes and take additional classes to increase my uGPA even though I have already graduated. I totally understand that I can retake classes but my graduating GPA is still gonna be the same.

Now, how does taking or retaking classes help my uGPA, if on my transcript its gonna have my graduating GPA? Also how would retaking classes by calculated into my transcript, because as we know ones we graduate we have to retake classes at another institution (unless you failed at the school you graduated from). Thanks.

Retaking classes will not change your uGPA from the school you graduated from. But if you are applying to medical school, you have to apply through a centralized application system, either AMCAS for allopathic schools (MD) or AACOMAS for osteopathic schools. When you enter your grades in, you can also input classes that you have retaken. For AMCAS, they will average your original grade and the retake grade. For AACOMAS, they will just take the latest grade for the class that you retook, which means if you got a D the first time and got an A the second time, they will only count the A (but the D will still show up on the application). And obviously if you had a C the first time but got a D the second time, they will count the D and not the C. So make sure you can do better when you decide to retake classes. Always aim for the A during retakes but improvement can be viewed positively if you couldn't get the A.

As long as the class you are retaking has the same or more units than your original class, then it can be considered as a retake and it does not matter if you retake the class at another institution. However, it is usually better (but not necessary) to do the retake at a 4-year university compared to community college. Hope this helps.