Retaking C courses

[barracuda_vd]

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Would it make a big difference if I retake courses that I previously received C's in, or would I be better off enrolling in upper level science courses (C- abnormal psychology, C physiological psychology, C statistics, and C experimental design)? I am planning to retake two of these courses over the summer, one in fall, and one in spring. I was a psychology major but decided it was not for me and decided to go pre-med. I currently have an overall GPA 3.2 and BCP GPA of 3.4ish. I recently picked up biology as a second major and improved considerably.

Thank you,

 

[Spankete87]

Would it make a big difference if I retake courses that I previously received C's in, or would I be better off enrolling in upper level science courses (C- abnormal psychology, C physiological psychology, C statistics, and C experimental design)? I am planning to retake two of these courses over the summer, one in fall, and one in spring. I was a psychology major but decided it was not for me and decided to go pre-med. I currently have an overall GPA 3.2 and BCP GPA of 3.4ish. I recently picked up biology as a second major and improved considerably.

Thank you,

I don't think that med schools will care much about C's in psyc classes - I'd just enroll in upper level science courses - esp if you're getting good grades in those courses. That's what's really going to matter in the end anyway. I had pretty close to an F in a gym class that I took as an undergrad. Every interviewer took the liberty to make fun of me about the bad grade. It didn't seem to matter much though - I was admitted to 3/3 schools I interviewed at without retaking it. 🙂

And if you're really intent on retaking any of those classes, I'd retake stats first and then physiological psyc and then either abnormal or experimental design. Stats will be important for reading/doing research in the future and physiological psyc might help for neuro stuff in med school.

 

[FutureDocDO]

Would it make a big difference if I retake courses that I previously received C's in, or would I be better off enrolling in upper level science courses (C- abnormal psychology, C physiological psychology, C statistics, and C experimental design)? I am planning to retake two of these courses over the summer, one in fall, and one in spring. I was a psychology major but decided it was not for me and decided to go pre-med. I currently have an overall GPA 3.2 and BCP GPA of 3.4ish. I recently picked up biology as a second major and improved considerably.

Thank you,

I would retake it even though they're not the required sciences you need for entrance into medical schools. It can raise your GPA considerably compared to taking upper science classes. Admissions care the most, before the interview, about what numbers you have. Plus, the higher your GPA is the not so high MCAT you'll need for an acceptance, generally.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Would it make a big difference if I retake courses that I previously received C's in, or would I be better off enrolling in upper level science courses (C- abnormal psychology, C physiological psychology, C statistics, and C experimental design)? I am planning to retake two of these courses over the summer, one in fall, and one in spring. I was a psychology major but decided it was not for me and decided to go pre-med. I currently have an overall GPA 3.2 and BCP GPA of 3.4ish. I recently picked up biology as a second major and improved considerably.

Thank you,

You do not need to retake C's for DO schools.

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

I had a C in psych 100, yeah thats right. There was no way in hell i was retaking that ****.

 

[barracuda_vd]

Thanks

 

[theunc31]

I would also say that there is no need to retake these courses. It will look much better if you take the upper level sciences courses, assuming that you do well in them, of course. I had a C in Bio 100 on my transcript from freshman year, but aced all of my upper level courses and I got jokes from interviewers about it at a couple of schools. Just do well in the rest of your courses, and you should be fine.

Good luck!

 

[PlasticMan]

You do not need to retake C's for DO schools.

However, there may be more benefit retaking them for a DO school even moreso than an allopathic school! If I'm not mistaken, the osteo application service replaces retaken courses with the newer grade whilst AMCAS just averages them. So getting a few A's in place of those C's would improve your GPA on the osteo applicaiton quite nicely if I'm not mistaken.

 

[OSUdoc08]

However, there may be more benefit retaking them for a DO school even moreso than an allopathic school! If I'm not mistaken, the osteo application service replaces retaken courses with the newer grade whilst AMCAS just averages them. So getting a few A's in place of those C's would improve your GPA on the osteo applicaiton quite nicely if I'm not mistaken.

Yup. However, my comment was more aimed at the fact that DO schools emphasize GPA less than MD schools.

 

[thirdunity]

All good to know. I am considering that I will apply to both MD and DO schools. It sounds like I could actually have a shot at DO.

 

[xTinaBna]

Would it make a big difference if I retake courses that I previously received C's in, or would I be better off enrolling in upper level science courses (C- abnormal psychology, C physiological psychology, C statistics, and C experimental design)? I am planning to retake two of these courses over the summer, one in fall, and one in spring. I was a psychology major but decided it was not for me and decided to go pre-med. I currently have an overall GPA 3.2 and BCP GPA of 3.4ish. I recently picked up biology as a second major and improved considerably.

Thank you,

hi!
well i definitely can give you advice because i was/am in your situation. In my undergraduate school, i had my share of C's, C-, even my very first D. Those grades were first in intro science classes yet i continued to take upperlevel classes and and still got some C's. After graduating i got serious, enrolled in a post bacc program and pretty much re-took every pre-med class i had previously did. I did really well in that post bacc program and since it was an undergrad program, my undergrad cumulative and science gpa went up significantly (imagine adding about 30 credits of A's to your gpa). Anyway, my advice to you is that if it is not inconvenient to retake those classes, please do retake them. schools would love to see improvement in a course, even if its unrelated to the pre-med curriculum. I'm glad to see that you are retaking at least those two courses. if possible, definitely retake the class you have the c- in. Remember, dont get discouraged by C's (i know i have). There is always room for improvement and as long as you can show med schools that you are a capable and competent student, you are sure to succeed. =) best of luck!

 

[barracuda_vd]

The courses were senior level, excluding statistics. The only class I had trouble in was abnormal, the other courses resulted in C's, because I didn’t go to class, didn't study, didn't do homework, or the combination of the three.