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Retaking Courses and How To Do So


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Hi all,

 

First time posting! I searched all recent forums for my questions but I didn't find any. In any case, I apologize if this has already been answered in an older thread I may have missed.

 

I know that CASPA does not "cancel" the original course grade and instead both the original and new grades will be shown. That being said one should weigh into consideration how important retaking the course is.

 

1. Am I correct in thinking the core classes required (e.g. gen chem, cell bio, etc.) should be retaken if one originally received a C? How important is this (do C's really look disappointing)?

 

2. If I originally received a C in Gen Chem 1C (which is the 3rd course in the series) will I have to take a similar 3rd in series course? This is a little difficult because most of the community colleges around me are on a semester system, rather than a quarter system like the university that I received the C at. Would I be able to take a Gen Chem 2nd series from community college in order to show the board members that I am understanding the same material?

 

RANDOM QUESTION

3. This is just a scenario I was wondering about: Since CASPA asks for all transcripts, will I be questioned if I got a W in a random course like "Beginning Guitar"? Say I got the W because I willingly dropped the class because I didn't have time for it.

 

Thanks all!

 

 

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RANDOM QUESTION

3. This is just a scenario I was wondering about: Since CASPA asks for all transcripts, will I be questioned if I got a W in a random course like "Beginning Guitar"? Say I got the W because I willingly dropped the class because I didn't have time for it.

 

Thanks all!

 

I would think not.

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First of all, welcome. 

 

 

1. Am I correct in thinking the core classes required (e.g. gen chem, cell bio, etc.) should be retaken if one originally received a C? How important is this (do C's really look disappointing)?

 

2. If I originally received a C in Gen Chem 1C (which is the 3rd course in the series) will I have to take a similar 3rd in series course? This is a little difficult because most of the community colleges around me are on a semester system, rather than a quarter system like the university that I received the C at. Would I be able to take a Gen Chem 2nd series from community college in order to show the board members that I am understanding the same material?

 

 

#1: My impression is that the overall sGPA matters much, much more than a grade in any particular course. For instance, if you got a C in Gen Chem I, but have As in every other class, your sGPA could still be stellar and it probably won't hurt you. It's hard to raise a GPA since CASPA doesn't allow for grade forgiveness, but it seems like that would be the biggest reason to retake a course. Of course, individual programs may vary on their opinions here, so it might be best to check with them. Also, keep in mind that many programs will calculate their own version of your GPA...if they require one semester of general chemistry, they might calculate your sGPA off of the highest grade you have in a related class. (for example, you got a C in chem 1, but an A in chem 2, they use the chem 2 grade)

 

As far as #2 goes, some programs take a dim view of taking a class at a university and then retaking it at a CC to improve your grade. It sort of implies that you couldn't handle the university-level course and took the "easy way" at the CC. I'm not agreeing with it, just saying that I've specifically heard that from at least one PA program.

 

I agree with above for #3...you might just want to have a reason handy in case somebody asked you about it. I would think that "I needed more time for shadowing or pre-PA coursework" would be perfectly sufficient. 

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Hi all,

 

First time posting! I searched all recent forums for my questions but I didn't find any. In any case, I apologize if this has already been answered in an older thread I may have missed.

 

I know that CASPA does not "cancel" the original course grade and instead both the original and new grades will be shown. That being said one should weigh into consideration how important retaking the course is.

 

1. Am I correct in thinking the core classes required (e.g. gen chem, cell bio, etc.) should be retaken if one originally received a C? How important is this (do C's really look disappointing)?

 

 

 

 

I would take a close look at the programs you're interested in.  Many programs require a minimum of a B grade in all core science classes.  You may find that you need to re-take any C's to be eligible.  

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Check this out. If you click this link to the CASPA FAQ for transcript entry, you can scroll down to the part where it says transcript review and it says this about repeating courses:

 

Repeated Classes

Courses retaken at the same school for a higher grade are considered “Repeated.” Withdrawn courses, courses taken at different schools, or courses taken repeatedly but not retaken for a better grade (i.e. school band, gym courses, etc.) are NOT considered repeated. If you have repeated a course, select “yes” and then check off each attempt at the class to mark it as “Repeated.”

 

It says only courses retaken at the same school count as repeated classes. Now I was confused about that because I had retaken 2 courses at a different school than where I originally took them but I guess they don't count as repeated courses, unless I'm misunderstanding. So if you are going to retake the course, take it at the same school where you took it the first time. Of course, you can retake the classes and not have them count as repeats too. I'm not sure what adcoms think of that, if anything.

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