why are retaking courses a red flag for MD

[gmcguitar4]

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Why are they considered a red flag on your app? Is there a certain amount of retakes that they let slide?

I have retaken 4 courses and plan on retaking 1 more. Had tragedy in my immediate family during college while taking these courses and had to withdraw from school that semester and just wanted to show schools that I overcame what happened and can handle the courses no problem. I got A's in all the retakes.

 

[doobydoob]

Why are they considered a red flag on your app? Is there a certain amount of retakes that they let slide?

I have retaken 4 courses and plan on retaking 1 more. Had tragedy in my immediate family during college while taking these courses and had to withdraw from school that semester and just wanted to show schools that I overcame what happened and can handle the courses no problem. I got A's in all the retakes.

Thats fine, in your case, your retakes are more than justified, just don't be like one of kids that are "Oh I retook it cuz I was lazy, and I retook it again cuz I got even lazier".

 

[WorldChanger36]

Retakes are not a red flag. Bad grades are. Retaking classes with poor grades will help not hurt you.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Did you withdraw with fails in those classes? If you withdrew with W's then you are fine. Just be able to explain why you had to withdraw. If you withdrew with F's then you will have trouble getting into any M.D. school.

 

[sector9]

Why are they considered a red flag on your app? Is there a certain amount of retakes that they let slide?

I have retaken 4 courses and plan on retaking 1 more. Had tragedy in my immediate family during college while taking these courses and had to withdraw from school that semester and just wanted to show schools that I overcame what happened and can handle the courses no problem. I got A's in all the retakes.

Who said that retakes are a red flag on an allopathic app?

 

[gmcguitar4]

Did you withdraw with fails in those classes? If you withdrew with W's then you are fine. Just be able to explain why you had to withdraw. If you withdrew with F's then you will have trouble getting into any M.D. school.

I didin't explain well..I withdrew with Incompletes on my record, but was able to finish the course work over the following semester on top of the courses i registered for that semester. So I eventually received grades for those. But courses before and after incident were not so good. I received C's and B's. Only retaking C's.

I have heard many people say in the past on these forums that retakes are red flags though. That is why I ask now, why would it be a red flag, especially if you ace the course on a retake.

 

[gettheleadout]

I didin't explain well..I withdrew with Incompletes on my record, but was able to finish the course work over the following semester on top of the courses i registered for that semester. So I eventually received grades for those. But courses before and after incident were not so good. I received C's and B's. Only retaking C's.

I have heard many people say in the past on these forums that retakes are red flags though. That is why I ask now, why would it be a red flag, especially if you ace the course on a retake.

It's only a risk at all in the sense that it's doubly negative if you retake and don't do better (better = A, regardless of your grade the first time around.) Retaking in itself isn't going to be a red flag, and retaking for A's isn't going to look bad.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Only retaking C's.

Because most people retake because they got C's, D's, or F's in a class. I don't think having a retake itself is bad, but the C's are. There is always debate about if retaking a class and getting an A in it actually helps for M.D. applicants. (Note: getting anything less than an A would be bad for M.D. applicants.) On one had, you showed the adcom you could do the class and get a good grade. On the other hand, you should be getting an A in a retake; you have seen all of the material once before. Not sure myself.

There is no question a retake helps you if going the D.O. route.

 

[rmnanon]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe M.D. schools average the two grades if you have taken the course twice (even if your university does grade replacements).

OP: I smell a great personal statement topic! There's nothing wrong with explaining that you went through a devastating tragedy during college and (perhaps if this is the case) this helped to develop you into the person you are today. Your application readers will put 2 and 2 together...

 

[sector9]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe M.D. schools average the two grades if you have taken the course twice (even if your university does grade replacements).

Some people get confused when you say "average the two grades" because they think that it means a C then a A in a 3 credit class becomes a B with a weight of 3 credits. This isn't true.

The true answer is that all of your grades are used to create your GPA. If you want to think of it in terms of "averaging" then you would say that the grade for the above example becomes a B worth 6 credits

You're right about the grade replacement. Even if your school does grade replacement, AMCAS doesn't

 

[rmnanon]

Some people get confused when you say "average the two grades" because they think that it means a C then a A in a 3 credit class becomes a B with a weight of 3 credits. This isn't true.

The true answer is that all of your grades are used to create your GPA. If you want to think of it in terms of "averaging" then you would say that the grade for the above example becomes a B worth 6 credits

You're right about the grade replacement. Even if your school does grade replacement, AMCAS doesn't

Ah, I see, thanks for clarifying 🙂.

That said, don't rely on your school's cumulative GPA, as it could be somewhat inflated in comparison to your AMCAS GPA. This would only apply if your school replaces grades.

 

[gmcguitar4]

OP: I smell a great personal statement topic! There's nothing wrong with explaining that you went through a devastating tragedy during college and (perhaps if this is the case) this helped to develop you into the person you are today. Your application readers will put 2 and 2 together...

Already wrote it with that tied in. It is not the main topic of the essay but it contributes. I knew it affected me but I tried to avoid any sympathy by not going into too much detail in what happened.


So the retakes with A's looks good in that it shows I did well in these courses after not doing well the first time. But the original grades themselves still should not have been that low so that does not look good. In regards to the material, there was about 4-5 years time in between me taking them so the material is not exactly fresh.

 

[rmnanon]

Already wrote it with that tied in. It is not the main topic of the essay but it contributes. I knew it affected me but I tried to avoid any sympathy by not going into too much detail in what happened.


So the retakes with A's looks good in that it shows I did well in these courses after not doing well the first time. But the original grades themselves still should not have been that low so that does not look good. In regards to the material, there was about 4-5 years time in between me taking them so the material is not exactly fresh.

Good call on avoiding sympathy. I wouldn't lose sleep over this. I'm no AdCom member, but given the time lapse and your story, I'd say you don't need to worry about it. It's not like you had to retake the classes because you were out getting toasted every night during college...you have a legit reason. 👍

 

[LizzyM]

The issue is not the retakes but why did this applicant have such a lousy term? Without begging for pity, it is a good idea to explain enough that the readers understand that you were not too busy enjoying yourself, or so poor at time management, that you did poorly in school.

 

[tiedyeddog]

In regards to the material, there was about 4-5 years time in between me taking them so the material is not exactly fresh.

That's a whole different case, sounds like you did the right thing.