Retaking maths

[Gloves]

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When I originally took the calculus sequence (I took A, B, C not even the 2 semester sequence) I got a B+, C, and B- respectively. My background in math was bad, and my teachers didn't speak english very well. But excuses aside, I didn't do as well as I could have and it's my fault.

I was thinking that in the current summer I could mend the big ball of hurt that those 3 did to my GPA by retaking 2/3 over summer. Do you think I should do it?

Also do you think if I took the 2 2-semester ones how would it work for my BCPM GPA? The original one I took was a 3 semester sequence while schools also offer 2 semester ones.

I'm positive I could do better and get A-/A's at least in the first two (differentiation and integration). I neglected the amount of work that learning calculus entails.

 

[DrMagic]

When I originally took the calculus sequence (I took A, B, C not even the 2 semester sequence) I got a B+, C, and B- respectively. My background in math was bad, and my teachers didn't speak english very well. But excuses aside, I didn't do as well as I could have and it's my fault.

I was thinking that in the current summer I could mend the big ball of hurt that those 3 did to my GPA by retaking 2/3 over summer. Do you think I should do it?

Also do you think if I took the 2 2-semester ones how would it work for my BCPM GPA? The original one I took was a 3 semester sequence while schools also offer 2 semester ones.

I'm positive I could do better and get A-/A's at least in the first two (differentiation and integration). I neglected the amount of work that learning calculus entails.

If you are applying to osteopathic schools predominately then the course retakes could raise your GPA by a significant magnitude. However if you are mainly applying to allopathic medical schools I wouldn't bother, because mathematics courses are not the main parts of your application that I would think would raise significant red flags. If you have a relatively good GPA, and feel comfortable that retaking the math courses would polish off the last blemishes on your profile, then go ahead and do it. If your interviewers say what happened in math, it would be nice if you did retake the courses and ace them so you could have a response. If you have a profile where you are trying to get your GPA much higher to be competitive, I would focus on science courses and obtaining a high MCAT. Let me reiterate what I said before, if applying to osteopathic, changing a B- and a C to A grades could raise your GPA .1, .2 or more depending on the case with the grade replacement. I read a story about an old doctor who got a D in calculus who was taking an online course when he was like 50 just to prove he could get a good grade in the course.

 

[wristbandMD]

From what I've heard on SDN, don't retake anything above a C-.

With that being said...how much could it possibly raise your GPA? Assume you retake the first two and get an A- in both, would be significant enough to validate retaking the courses? (Also, from what I understand amcas averages retakes instead of completely throwing them away. Don't quote me, but I've definitely heard that mentioned on SDN.)

 

[Richardh]

it's always nice to retake courses and make improvments 🙂 i would retake the classes to help my overall gpa.

but i would only do so if calculus was the only class that i was having trouble. if for instance my organic chemistry classes were C- grades, i would retake them. as mentioned already, its much more helpful to improve science related courses' gpa 👍

(btw i don't know if your school will let you retake a class where you got a B+ and B-?)