Where to Re-Take a Class?

[Alienman52]

So I'm currently a Freshman majoring in biochemistry and doing reasonably well for my major (3.2 gpa) however my mathematics professor had the highest drop-out rate of any professor within the math department last semester. Although I finished calculus in high school with an A, I received a C last semester because of unreasonably difficult testing schemes. If I could retake the class and get an A, it would raise my GPA a whole lot.

Not entirely sure if my school allows for retakes, so my question is:
Where should I retake the class? If I retake the class at a local community college will medical schools look negatively upon the A? Should I try to take it at a another college/university that is maybe half decent as my college? (I attend a highly selective college where SAT cutoff's are around 1900-1950.) Obviously osteopathic schools won't look down upon the grade so much, but how about Allopathic schools? My Advisor stated that they do look down upon re-takes at a lower level institution.

Thanks in advance.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dramatrauma]

Allopathic schools are a whole different ballgame. For instance, retakes do not serve as grade replacements; rather, the grades are averaged. A C in your first take plus the retake A average out to a B. And yes, competitive allopathic schools do look down at retakes done at a lower level. Your best bet would be to retake the same course at your current institution.

 

[DoctorKrieger]

One C in your freshman year isn't going to make much, if any, difference in the long run even for allo schools (except maybe the top tiers). AACOMAS doesn't include math courses in the science gpa, but I don't know about AMCAS. And for future reference, your advisor likely has no idea what they're talking about.

 

[Alienman52]

Haha you're right Krieger; he's a nice guy but he's not too familiarized with the application process.

 

[medickdb]

Man, universities should just hire seasoned SDNers as their premed advisors.

 

[dramatrauma]

The competitive allos, as per adcoms at UCSF and USC, genuinely do care about where the courses are taken. Obviously, midde/lower tiered and DO schools, not so much.

Have other competitive allopathic schools stated otherwise?

 

[st2205]

Put your energy elsewhere. You're a freshman. With a much smaller fraction of the effort it would take to re-take the class, you coul be significantly raising your grade in other core courses. That's where you'll get the most bang for your buck.