Is it worth retaking this course?

[jeremmed77]

First let me give you some information about myself. I am currently a freshmen in college who is planning on getting an undergraduate degree in Physics. During my junior/senior years at high school i took two years worth of college courses. The problem is that I got a D in an upper level English class. This brought my grade point average down from a 3.8 to a 3.6.

I know that if I retake the course, the new grade will replace the older one. However, I do not know if graduate schools will replace the new grade with the old grade or not when they look at my application. For instance, I know that medical/pharmacy schools only average the two grades out. Do grad schools do this too? I also would like to hear your opinion on whether you think it is worth retaking it or not. Do grad schools care about your non-science classes?Any help would be great, thanks.

 

[Maz88]

gard school definitely care about what other courses you take.
in fact, they view English as an important course.
see here in Canada, they would be able to see that you took the course twice however, if there were some major improvement ( so for example if you went from a D to a B or even an A) then for sure they will consider you to be a really good candidate because it shows commitment and dedication.
word of advise, use the schooling system that your area has to your own advantage. what i mean for that, you seem to me like a pretty smart guy, you don't want one course to sop you from getting to where you want to be. so do anything to get the mark that you need. so if there are night schools available then take that, it might be a bit easier then day school. or summer school would be fine as well. and if worse comes to worst then go to private school.
so good luck to you and hope what i said helps :)
( i need some advise for myself. lol I am starting to apply to universities soon:S)

 

[Phyisab****]

I would make sure retaking the course will have the effect you think it will. And by that, I mean ask at least two different people know what they're talking about and make sure they agree.

I failed freshmen chemistry, then took it again and got an A. But I still have a nice big 0.00 bringing my GPA down.

 

[negru]

If you're talking about physics grad school, no will care about your english class. They don't care for anything other than physics/math. Does it even appear on your college transcript though, if you took it in high school?

Of all the things you can do to boost your chances for grad school retaking the class is probably worst possible choice. Not going to say it won't increase your chances (by 0.001% probably), but there are many better things to spend your time on.

 

[Phyisab****]

Of all the things you can do to boost your chances for grad school retaking the class is probably worst possible choice. Not going to say it won't increase your chances (by 0.001% probably), but there are many better things to spend your time on.

You're right it doesn't make sense that the grade would affect his average if he took it in high school. But he did say that it brought his GPA from 3.8 to 3.6. In that case it would have an impact on grad school applications. 3.8 looks way better than a 3.6.

 

[jeremmed77]

I failed freshmen chemistry, then took it again and got an A. But I still have a nice big 0.00 bringing my GPA down.

That is what I am trying to avoid. I want to know if graduate schools will let me replace the grade if I retake it. From your experience, it sounds like they may not completely get rid of the worse grade. Like I said before, Pharmacy schools average the two grades out, but I want to know what physics grad schools generally do.

You're right it doesn't make sense that the grade would affect his average if he took it in high school. But he did say that it brought his GPA from 3.8 to 3.6. In that case it would have an impact on grad school applications. 3.8 looks way better than a 3.6.

I went to college when I was in my Junior/Senior year of high school in order to get ahead start. That is why it is recorded on my undergraduate gpa. The problem is that this course will cost me three/four hundred dollars, so if it does not matter too much on grad school admission, I would prefer not to take it. I do know that it has had an enormous impact on my gpa. Does anyone else have an opinion on this?