Hey guys, just a quick question. I'm trying to raise my prereq gpa as high as possible before this upcoming cycle. I got a A- in Stats, is it worth retaking? My prereq gpa will probably range from 3.0-3.6 depending on the school...(stupid ptcas prereq gpa counts all the classes i got Cs in even though I repeated all of them)
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retaking a stats class
- Thread starter ptdude66
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I don't think retaking an A- is worth it. The time and money investment isn't worth the chance of upping your grade marginally. In that time you would probably be better suited strengthening other parts of your application (GRE, more observation hours) or even work more or something. You repeated your courses that you did bad in. I think you should leave the retakes at that. If you got a B I could see it being passable if you REALLY want to gain an edge, but an A- really doesn't qualify in my eyes.
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I don't see how an A- could be worth retaking. The increase in GPA would be minuscule, especially if your school averages your second try with the first try. If you spent the same amount of time preparing for the GRE that an A takes in a math course you'd probably improve your GRE score a decent amount.
Changing a grade from an A- to an A by retaking a whole class is way more effort than it's worth. And your PTCAS pre-req GPA doesn't matter too much, each school will calculate a pre-req GPA that they will use in their ranking of applicants, based on their specific pre-reqs.
You need to find out what each school's grade replacement policies are regarding retakes. If you are in a position of applying to schools where you will have a pre-req GPA of 3.6 you really don't need any further retakes. If the rest of your application is solid a 3.6 will work.
If there are schools where you will have a 3.0, your chances would be slim. Do your research and narrow down your list of target schools to the ones where your GPA will be the highest in their calculation. Applying to well-selected schools will be a lot more time and cost-efficient than retaking classes will be, especially retaking an A-. You should be able to do the math and see what kind of effect this would have on your GPA (and you will find that the effect is likely only a couple hundreths of a point). Excel is your friend, my friend.
You need to find out what each school's grade replacement policies are regarding retakes. If you are in a position of applying to schools where you will have a pre-req GPA of 3.6 you really don't need any further retakes. If the rest of your application is solid a 3.6 will work.
If there are schools where you will have a 3.0, your chances would be slim. Do your research and narrow down your list of target schools to the ones where your GPA will be the highest in their calculation. Applying to well-selected schools will be a lot more time and cost-efficient than retaking classes will be, especially retaking an A-. You should be able to do the math and see what kind of effect this would have on your GPA (and you will find that the effect is likely only a couple hundreths of a point). Excel is your friend, my friend.
YES EXCEL HAS DEFINITELY BECOME MY FRIEND! Believe me, I've spent hours doing calculations about GPA. But yea i'll def do my research and stuff. Thanks again!Changing a grade from an A- to an A by retaking a whole class is way more effort than it's worth. And your PTCAS pre-req GPA doesn't matter too much, each school will calculate a pre-req GPA that they will use in their ranking of applicants, based on their specific pre-reqs.
You need to find out what each school's grade replacement policies are regarding retakes. If you are in a position of applying to schools where you will have a pre-req GPA of 3.6 you really don't need any further retakes. If the rest of your application is solid a 3.6 will work.
If there are schools where you will have a 3.0, your chances would be slim. Do your research and narrow down your list of target schools to the ones where your GPA will be the highest in their calculation. Applying to well-selected schools will be a lot more time and cost-efficient than retaking classes will be, especially retaking an A-. You should be able to do the math and see what kind of effect this would have on your GPA (and you will find that the effect is likely only a couple hundreths of a point). Excel is your friend, my friend.
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I wouldn't retake an A-. Does this mean you have an A in every other pre req class (even on a retake)? I have a hard time believing you would still be sitting at just a 3.0 for some schools? Retake any C's first, then Bs. Don't bother with an A-.
I've retaken some classes, and received a few Bs, but mostly A's. For schools such as Western U who only use the repeated course, my GPA is around a 3.6 or 3.7. For the ptcas gpa however, every grade gets factored in, so my GPA is like 3.1 for that. But like DesertPT said, the PTCAS gpa doesn't matter too much.I wouldn't retake an A-. Does this mean you have an A in every other pre req class (even on a retake)? I have a hard time believing you would still be sitting at just a 3.0 for some schools? Retake any C's first, then Bs. Don't bother with an A-.
But like DesertPT said, the PTCAS gpa doesn't matter too much.
PTCAS pre-req GPA doesn't matter too much because it may or may not be the same as the pre-req GPA each school calculates for you. PTCAS cGPA, however, is almost certainly the GPA the school will use when evaluating you.
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If you have Bs on retakes you should focus on retaking those before retaking an A-....that was my point. The A- is lowest priority.
