So retaken courses only count now if taken at same university?

[TheoryOfEverything]

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EDIT: The AACOMAS representative was incorrect, after asking her to confirm with a supervisor she retracted her initial statement.

Just got off the phone with AACOMAS rep, she said course retakes only count if retaken at same school, and need identical prefixes.

This was very surprising. I hope she is wrong.

 

[Major]

No she is wrong. You can retake a course at a different school. The credits have to match or be greater for the retake (newer class).

And the course has to a be similar. Like, Gen Chem 1 will not replace Ochem 1...

 

[TheoryOfEverything]

She was adamant that they must be the same school same prefix.

I certainly hope she is wrong. This is something I would expect all employees to be on the same page about. I'm trying to contact a supervisor.

 

[Goro]

Wrongo!!!

Just got off the phone with AACOMAS rep, she said course retakes only count if retaken at same school, and need identical prefixes.

This was very surprising. I hope she is wrong.

 

[TheoryOfEverything]

Wrongo!!!

Ok so after calling back, I got the same person, asked to speak with a supervisor. Was put on hold for awhile, and she returned telling me I was originally correct, which I assumed was the case. She went on to say that the credits taken as the retake don't have to be as many as the original course. AKA a 3 credit course could replace a 4 credit course. I know this hasn't been the case in the past, so I'm very confused. My question was with regard to splitting my original combined 4 credit lecture lab, so that my non-combined 3 credit lec 1 credit lab could replace it.

I'm becoming very frustrated with AACOMAS service reps, I have gotten tons of contradicting information from them. I wish they all were equally informed.

 

[futuredoc331]

Ok so after calling back, I got the same person, asked to speak with a supervisor. Was put on hold for awhile, and she returned telling me I was originally correct, which I assumed was the case. She went on to say that the credits taken as the retake don't have to be as many as the original course. AKA a 3 credit course could replace a 4 credit course. I know this hasn't been the case in the past, so I'm very confused. My question was with regard to splitting my original combined 4 credit lecture lab, so that my non-combined 3 credit lec 1 credit lab could replace it.

I'm becoming very frustrated with AACOMAS service reps, I have gotten tons of contradicting information from them. I wish they all were equally informed.

Guidance has always been that the courses need to be the same level (undergrad/grad), the same or greater credit hours, and the content must be similar. There has been no announcement regarding a change to this policy. I'm willing to bet you talked to a new trainee or something.

 

[Solving4gravity]

Yeah she must have just started or something. Unless something has changed from last year, I know for a fact a lower credit course will not replace a higher credit course. I first took calculus at a community college where it was 5 credits (not sure why it was so many) and then took calculus again at a 4 year university where it was 4 credits. I told them the two classes were equivalent, even in transfer equivalency guides, but it was still a no go simply because of the credit differential. Sucked because I got an F in first one and an A in the second...

 

[metoo]

When I first saw the title of your thread I was like my dreams of becoming a doctor are over. I have a million retakes that are not from the same university. Thank goodness she was wrong!

 

[futuredoc331]

Yeah she must have just started or something. Unless something has changed from last year, I know for a fact a lower credit course will not replace a higher credit course. I first took calculus at a community college where it was 5 credits (not sure why it was so many) and then took calculus again at a 4 year university where it was 4 credits. I told them the two classes were equivalent, even in transfer equivalency guides, but it was still a no go simply because of the credit differential. Sucked because I got an F in first one and an A in the second...

Do they contact you to get more information about classes that aren't obvious replacements? I have a class that was a Social Sciences class called "Social, Political, and Economic Systems". It covered various topics in those categories. I have another class that was from the history department that covered social, political, and economic issues during the 20th century called "Values and Conflicts of the 20th century". When i was inputting my transcripts I realized that they are pretty similar and I'm going to try to replace the first with the second. Do they ask for the descriptions or is there a place to put them once I finalize my trancript entries?

 

[TheoryOfEverything]

Yeah sorry for scaring you guys, I too was surprised.

Another fun story, I ended up calling them again because I decided I wanted to speak directly to a supervisor to get things straitened out with certainty. A different woman answered, and so I had to explain the situation again. She was extremely adamant about repeats having to be from the same institution even after I told her that I literally just spoke with a woman who originally said the same thing, then said I was right after asking her supervisor. She refused to believe me and said that she helped write the instructions, and said I couldn't speak with a supervisor because they don't take phone calls... Bizarre.

With regard to your question, @Allen18328 , the first woman after being corrected was telling me how they do things based on the "honor system" meaning that they will not verify if the courses are essentially the same or not, they will just take your word for it. Take this with an entire bag of salt though, I assume she is wrong.

 

[Solving4gravity]

Do they contact you to get more information about classes that aren't obvious replacements? I have a class that was a Social Sciences class called "Social, Political, and Economic Systems". It covered various topics in those categories. I have another class that was from the history department that covered social, political, and economic issues during the 20th century called "Values and Conflicts of the 20th century". When i was inputting my transcripts I realized that they are pretty similar and I'm going to try to replace the first with the second. Do they ask for the descriptions or is there a place to put them once I finalize my trancript entries?

From what I remember while doing it, there isn't a place for written descriptions. You select from a list of course types (biology, biochem, gen chem, etc.) If you think theres a chance that it can be counted as a retake, theres no real harm in trying as long as it's within reason. Just designate it as a repeat and they will either accept it or change it upon verification. They didn't ever contact me or anything, they just made their changes upon verification.

 

[reaperx58]

She refused to believe me and said that she helped write the instructions, and said I couldn't speak with a supervisor because they don't take phone calls... Bizarre.
.

Not all that bizarre at all unfortunately, I VERY briefly worked at a company that outsourced as a customer service call center for several large companies (AT&T for example) and one of the first things they train you to do is convince the customer they don't need to speak to a supervisor. If they demand to speak to one we handed the call off to the guy at the next cubicle so he could pretend to be a supervisor.

Edit: That being said, I have no idea if that's how AACOMAS' call center is run, this is more just a comment on customer service in general.

 

[Foreveryours91]

You are confusing the heck out of me right now. Thought the rule was: It could be from any school, just that the credit has be the same or higher, and the course content must be the same/similar. For example, you could take Gen. Bio from a state school and replace that grade from a Gen Bio class from a Community college. Obviously with different schools the course number will be different.

EDIT: It's def. allowed to mark as repeat even if it is from different institutions. The application from aacomas says: If you repeated a course, mark the first attempt and each additional attempt at the same or a different institution as “Repeated”. Do not mark withdrawn attempts as a repeated course. Make sure you have entered 0.00 credits for the initial attempts. Only the final attempt should receive full credit value.

As long as it's the same or more credits and similar coursework, you are good to go.

 

[The_Sunny_Doc]

The courses can be from a different university. Can confirm.

Retake on, OP!