Honestly, do re-taken prerequisites hurt your application?

[Coach Hoski]

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So I had a pretty mediocre/bad GPA ~2.75 from undergrad. That includes about 12 cr. of retakes. Since graduating, I've taken 19 more credits with a good GPA in those, but 8 more cr. of retakes.
I was pretty immature in undergrad, especially early on. I noticed one school I applied to specifically stated that they look down on many retaken classes. I know that having to repeat classes is not exactly a great thing, but does it at least show the level of commitment? I mean, if I was getting much better grades as I got older, wouldn't that be a sign of newfound aptitude, maturity, and work ethic? I guess I don't know any other way to go about trying to improve myself.
It's hard to imagine that schools wouldn't be at least somewhat understanding to someone who got some bad grades as a friggin teenager!
This is a pretty frustrating process. Thanks for reading my rant

 

[xMerryx]

I'm not in the program yet and I haven't gone to my first interview yet, so I'm not the most experienced student. However, I will assume that things like that will be answered by the interviews. For example, a professor who gave me a LOR asked to see my grades and asked me a couple of questions about why I got certain grades, so after reading your post, I remembered that and thought that maybe that is one of the reasons schools list interviews as the application process. I just think if committees have two students with more or less the same stats and one has some/many repeated courses and the other student has few/none repeated-courses, the interview could help the admission committee decide if these factors really reflect the student's qualities. Again, I'm just assuming.

 

[callmecrazy]

If you've already gotten a bad grade in prereq you have two choices, retake or nothing. Those grades are permanently on your transcript, so I think the best thing you can do is show how you have changed. Will retakes help? Maybe, but given the circumstances, I don't think they will set up back at all either. Also consider that an applicant that failed a class last semester and is retaking it right now may be looked at much differently than an applicant that failed a class 5 or more years ago.

It sounds like you are nontrad, so it may help to focus on what else you have done outside of school that makes you a good PT candidate. Focus essay opportunities on the person you are today, rather than the student you were in the past. Use the same strategies in interviews too. Having been out of school since '06, the one interview I attended made absolutely no mention of my undergrad education. As long as you can show you've made progress and change since your grade struggles, I think you will be fine. Good luck!