Importance of study abroad grades

[ReInventor]

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Potentially neurotic thread here. I am studying abroad at a Dutch university where your entire grade for a class is dependent on the final exam alone.

I just received a grade for one of my tests, and I earned a B+ (technically a 7 here, but my US university will be putting it on a supplemental transcript as a B+). Obviously not a bad grade, but I have the option of re-taking the test and trying to earn an A. Is this worth the effort at all? I would have to study a lot. Or, because it is a) a study abroad grade and b) not really a bad grade at all (just lower than my typical grades), would this be a waste of time?

I imagine one B+ is not that important, but since I have the opportunity to try and get an A I guess I just want reassurance that it is okay to accept the B+ and not spend my precious study abroad time studying for another test....what would you do in this situation?

 

[glasshalfMD]

Take the B+. Enjoy the rest of your time abroad, not worrying about studying for a re-take. 👍

 

[Tappinfool66]

One B+ is definitely not something to worry about. But, are you talking about just retaking the exam? Or actually retaking the class?

If you are allowed to just retake the exam and try for a higher score, I would consider it. How does it work? If you do poorly on the exam the second time, is that your new grade? Or do you get to keep the B+?

 

[Sloo0]

Hey I studied abroad at Maastricht in the Netherlands so I know exactly what youre going through.




The fact of the matter is that those classes count towards your GPA, so of course they are just as important as if you took a class at your home university.

When I was there I purposefully treated the experience as a learning experience to see how much I could learn about myself living alone in a foreign country and tried not to treat it like a Spring Break or Mardi Gras like a lot of my program-mates did.

Dont get me wrong, I traveled to a bunch of countries and ended up going out to Pubs many nights, but I made damn sure that I did as well as I could in those classes because I knew they would carry over to my GPA and ultimately impact my medical school app.



The difference between a B+ and an A are pretty large, and I dont know exactly which school you are studying at but the Dutch academics are pretty relaxed and I remember the exams being pretty easy. Plus I think the classes were worth a ton of units (like 6). I know you can apply to reduce the units that a certain course was worth at the end of the program, I had to do that because the UC system caps you at a certain # of units before graduation and I was going over the limit, ended up having to reduce some 6 unit A's to 3/4 unit A's.




Anyways, I would definitely re-take it. If you got a B+ you probably were just deficient in a couple concepts that would push you over the edge for an A and I doubt it would require you to sit in your room like a monk for the next few days covering that material. You cant be that lazy can you? 😉

 

[HAV000]

I definitely would retake it. What do you have to lose unless you think you might do worse the second time around..but what would happen in that case j/w

 

[KickStart]

take the b+. Enjoy the rest of your time abroad, not worrying about studying for a re-take. 👍

qft.