Retaking Courses? Better or worse

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the considerations and implications of retaking university courses, particularly in the context of preparing for medical school applications. Participants explore the motivations for retaking courses and the potential impact on academic records and future opportunities.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses uncertainty about whether retaking courses is advisable and how it may affect medical school applications.
  • Another participant outlines several reasons for retaking a course, including the need for a degree requirement, low grades, deterioration of knowledge, and poor course quality.
  • A participant shares personal feelings about not having done justice to a course and questions their foundational knowledge for advanced classes, while also considering the potential GPA boost from retaking the course.
  • One reply suggests that retaking a single course may have a minimal impact on overall transcripts and emphasizes the possibility of improving grades through hard work. They also recommend reviewing previous material independently before deciding to retake the course.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying opinions on the necessity and implications of retaking courses, with no clear consensus on whether it is beneficial or detrimental to academic and professional prospects.

Contextual Notes

Participants do not specify the course in question, and there is a lack of clarity regarding the long-term effects of retaking courses on graduate school applications.

jessdoan
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So, I have been having a rough two years at my university right now. Over the summer I have been playing with the idea of retaking some courses. Is this advisable? Will this reflect poorly on me if I intend to apply to med school?
 
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What are the reasons for retaking a course? What should be those reasons?
  • Need course for degree objective
  • Credit in course was below average (less than C)
  • Skill and Knowledge of course has deteriorated over time
  • Course taken and credit received but course as done was of bad quality
Those, I believe, are the only reasons to reenroll in a course. MIGHT be one more reason, such as, you did not learn from it well but received a grade of C or better anyway; and so you NEED the course to LEARN because you previously did not learn from it.
 
@symbolipoint so I feel like I didn’t do this course justice. Credit was given but I am debating if I know enough about this course as a foundation for my harder classes that will build on this knowledge. Furthermore, this class will be needed for me to continue in my career.

But if I am completely honest a part of me is weighing the gpa boost this would be to potential graduate schools towards this decision as well.
 
If your decision is to figure what to do for ONE single course, then this might be a very small, possibly insignificant affect upon others who will analyze your transcripts later. You could certainly increase your grade average since you should expect that with HARD work, you should be able to earn one grade number higher than what you earned the first time (or more than one grade number).

You did not tell what the course is which you need to improve your learning. There may be two things you might want to do.
  • Determine or identify which previous material you needed to know in order to study your course of present concern.
  • Study that previous material and the current course of concern ON YOUR OWN, before possibly re-enrolling in the course which you officially want to improve.
 

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