Retake or not?

[meddreamer1234]

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[Pagan FutureDoc]

It should only be an issue to schools that require a calculus, or if you don't have a year of college level math with acceptable grades

 

[meddreamer1234]

It should only be an issue to schools that require a calculus, or if you don't have a year of college level math with acceptable grades

I agree, dont retake now. You may want to reconsider during your glide year for schools that might require it

Would adcoms care abt it if it's not the school's prerequisite, b/c it still shows up on primary app and belongs to a science course? I mean is it still important to adcoms at all?

 

[meddreamer1234]

And if I retake, would they take both grades? for ex: that course is 3 credits, so would it now become 6 credits totally or still 3 credits for the 1st time and 0 credit for the 2nd time?

 

[DiscusKeeper]

Calculus is a class that will be included in your science GPA (Bio, chem, physics, & math classes all count). Science GPA & MCAT score are what classes look at first. You will be shooting yourself in the foot if you let a D be factored into your science GPA. I highly recommend retaking at some point before you apply.

I would recommend recalculating your science GPA with Calculus being a higher grade and see how much of a difference it will make if you retake it. Also, make sure retaking it will replace your grade (some schools don't for some reason).

 

[meddreamer1234]

Hi, so if I retake a course, will AMCAS count it as a separate course, or replace the original course, or take the average between the two?

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

If it's not one of their prereqs then they won't care any more than they would for it being any non prereq science class. The hit to your sGPA it causes will be the biggest issue.

MD schools will look at both times you take the class for GPA purposes....DO schools use grade replacement.

 

[Lost In Transcription]

Calculus is a class that will be included in your science GPA (Bio, chem, physics, & math classes all count). Science GPA & MCAT score are what classes look at first. You will be shooting yourself in the foot if you let a D be factored into your science GPA. I highly recommend retaking at some point before you apply.

I would recommend recalculating your science GPA with Calculus being a higher grade and see how much of a difference it will make if you retake it. Also, make sure retaking it will replace your grade (some schools don't for some reason).

Hi, so if I retake a course, will AMCAS count it as a separate course, or replace the original course, or take the average between the two?

Even if you retake, the D will still be calculated in your AMCAS science GPA. So why retake?

 

[wysdoc]

Even if you retake, the D will still be calculated in your AMCAS science GPA. So why retake?

The only reason to retake is if a medical school requires a C or better in all prerequisite classes. OP might want to search the schools he/she wants to apply to and see if Calculus is required or not, some schools may only require college level math such as Statistics-

 

[Lost In Transcription]

The only reason to retake is if a medical school requires a C or better in all prerequisite classes. OP might want to search the schools he/she wants to apply to and see if Calculus is required or not, some schools may only require college level math such as Statistics-

Great point. Agreed!

 

[wysdoc]

Hi, so if I retake a course, will AMCAS count it as a separate course, or replace the original course, or take the average between the two?

AMCAS would see it as the average of the two grades, but DO schools could permit you to replace the D with a better grade.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Calculus is a class that will be included in your science GPA (Bio, chem, physics, & math classes all count). Science GPA & MCAT score are what classes look at first. You will be shooting yourself in the foot if you let a D be factored into your science GPA. I highly recommend retaking at some point before you apply.

I would recommend recalculating your science GPA with Calculus being a higher grade and see how much of a difference it will make if you retake it. Also, make sure retaking it will replace your grade (some schools don't for some reason).

It will be calculated in the sGPA regardless of a retake. An additional A will always be nice. Doesn't matter what STEM class it comes from.

 

[meddreamer1234]

If it's not one of their prereqs then they won't care any more than they would for it being any non prereq science class. The hit to your sGPA it causes will be the biggest issue.

MD schools will look at both times you take the class for GPA purposes....DO schools use grade replacement.

AMCAS would see it as the average of the two grades, but DO schools could permit you to replace the D with a better grade.

Wait...If AMCAS sees it as the average of two grades, so if I retake and get a B, would it still be better than a D alone? Cuz the B will pull my D up to the average of C?

 

[Lawpy]

Wait...If AMCAS sees it as the average of two grades, so if I retake and get a B, would it still be better than a D alone? Cuz the B will pull my D up to the average of C?

Did you miss gonnif's post

As general rule, is it not advisable to retake any course for MD admission unless absolutely required

the question isnt the simple calculation of how the GPA will be calculated (both courses will be counted). Rather is how will retaking affect your others courses and how will it be seen by adcoms.

For latter question, if you retake a course, it an A is the expected grade for the second time around. Anything less would be below par. In other words, you cannot "impress" with a retake but you risk hurting yourself even more. Additionally, both takes of the course will be counted towards your GPA. For the former question on how this will affect you other grades, you didnt do well the first time in Calculus. In order to do well now, it may impact your time, energy, and focus, and thus your grades, all of which will impact your GPA. Indeed, a retake of Calc will be no different than taking any other course to improve your GPA. Wouldnt you impress an adcom more by say taking some advance bio course that you actually like and may do well in instead of retaking a freshman course that you cant impress anyone in?

So, do not, repeat, do not retake Calculus. If you need it for a specific school requirement, consider doing so during your glide/application year.

 

[meddreamer1234]

Did you miss gonnif's post

Sorry that I really missed a point here. So both grades will be calculated, but will they take the credit hours of both (maybe a total of 6), or just take the credit hours of that course once?
Cuz in my institution, they dont take the credit hours for the retake, so they would calculate the average gpa of that course first (so if I retake, it could be a C for the average), then calculate the overall gpa later, so the C instead of D will contribute toward my overall gpa