Retaking courses in undergrad?
Hi everyone.
I will be senior this fall at a non-target and I have a very poor GPA of 3.1. Obviously I plan to study like hell and get all A's in my remaining courses (which would get me to 3.3), but do you think I should retake some older courses that I got C's in? Retaking some of the courses that I did poorly in would boost my GPA; but do employers/ graduate schools look down on someone who's retaking a bunch of easy classes from sophomore year? Is it better to just stick with what I have or should I retake some of the courses?
Thanks.
I'm assuming you wouldn't push out your graduation date to do this and have spare time in your current schedule. Are there any important electives you haven't taken that are relevant to your career? If so, take those first. If you've taken everything relevant/new that you can, then I don't see a problem retaking a few older courses to boost your GPA (assuming you will definitely get an A!).
Agree with Sojourner. Don't retake irrelevant soph level classes to improve GPA unless you can fit it in with your current schedule. If you have the pre-req's then look into taking some upper division career relevant courses and get A's in them. I imagine grad schools/employers would be more impressed with difficult upper division A's than lower BS retake A's...you can always do well on GMAT and write great essays to offset your lower level class performance...plus if you don't get A's in your soph retakes you will feel like a total dumbshit
Be careful with repeating classes
1) some schools will take the average of the two grades and use that as your final grade. So getting a C the first time and then an A the second means you'd have a B on your GPA. In which case, is it really even worth all that extra effort and money?? 2) my college advisement center said that many grad schools will do exactly what I just described above when they're evaluating your application, so you may list a 3.7, for example, but they'll consider you as having a 3.5 for application purposes (just throwing numbers outta my head there).
If you know your school doesn't do the averaging method, and you have some seriously bad grades like a D or F then you might seriously consider it. If a C is the worst you did then I say it's not worth the time and money. You'd be better off focusing on other things to increase your competitiveness
Retake a class? (Originally Posted: 01/27/2014)
Hi folks. I got a C+ in an introductory Microeconomics class because I slept through half of an exam. I didn't struggle with the material, just a rookie mistake of trying to cram every single thing and sacrificing sleep the night before.
I have the option to retake this class this semester, and take introductory Macroeconomics for summer, but summer classes cost 5 grand, and I question whether spending that much for a single mistake is worth it. To stay on track with my major though, I need to take both Micro and Macro before next semester starts. If I don't retake Micro, I can just stick with Macro this semester and not take any summer courses.
The nice thing is if I get a higher grade on the retake (which I'm very certain I will), it replaces the old grade. It still shows up in my transcript as retaken, but the prospect of an increased GPA is really tempting. I did the calculations, and if I were to get an A/A- in it, it would increase from 3.5 to 3.6. That seems pretty marginal, but my major GPA would skyrocket from 2.5 to 3.2 (I haven't taken that many major-related courses yet, as I'm a sophomore). 3.2 is still pretty pathetic, but it sure as hell beats a 2.5.
How important is the major GPA as compared to your cumulative? If I work my butt off and get good grades the rest of the semesters in undergrad, will that mitigate that one C+?
I don't think it's worth it man. Your cumulative is already higher than your major so there's no reason to list the major GPA. Plus keep in mind that taking a summer class (usually) means giving up precious work experience. What year are you? I would be focusing my efforts on the job search rather than a marginal increase in GPA if I were you.
I'm a sophomore with 3 internship experiences under my belt. None of them were amazing like analyst at GS or anything like that, but I think having that many right now kiiiinda makes up for the GPA? I'm willing to sacrifice work exp, or just do something part time for the summer. Besides, summer classes usually take a month or so only, and I'd still have 2 more months to do something, though that might be thinking very optimistically. Do people assume if I don't list my major GPA, that it's below 3.0?
I think if you work hard each semester you can essentially dilute that C+ so it will be insignificant to your overall undergrad GPA. That said, if I was in your shoes I would retake the course. Main reason being is that it's a pretty straight forward course that you can easily get an A in and boost your GPA--courses down the road won't be such easy layups for a guaranteed A.
If its Intro to Micro I'd guess you're a lower-level student still? So freshman/sophomore? If thats the case, then a term of summer school could be pretty beneficial. Gives you the chance to fix your freshman year fuck ups and get ahead of the curve a bit. On the other hand, if you're a junior/senior your time could better be spent at an internship somewhere.
Your school might have an option to retake a course during the regular terms to replace the grade, that could also be an option if you think you could take on the course load. You could also see if your school offers online courses, and if you could retake it through that portal.
Yup, sophomore. Freshman year I was fine (3.7 cumulative) so it gave me a bit of a cushion for my sophomore screwup. The tricky thing is the rest of my schedule is filled with classes that I need for my major as well, so I don't think retaking Micro AND taking Macro at the same term would be viable, if that's what you meant. How important is an internship during your sophomore summer?
What is your current GPA and what is your marginal utility of wealth?
If you're paying private school tuition, I think a 3.6 vs. 3.5 is worth it for $5K.
If a 3.3 GPA at your school is as marketable as a 4.0 GPA in-state (I'm being conservative here- it may be less marketable), you opted to pay a ~$70K premium over in-state tuition thus far. So that means that a 0.1 boost in GPA is worth $10k.
Your school may give you less of a marketing boost. That would imply that you're willing to spend even more on opportunities.
I'd figure out what options you have this summer. If you don't have anything else lined up, I'd take a class at summer school and boost your GPA. The real expense here is going to be the opportunity cost of staying on campus and taking a class vs. going out and working and lining up experience and credentials for a BB internship next summer.
Retake coursework? (Originally Posted: 12/08/2015)
Currently in undergrad and spent my first two years at community college. Under petty circumstances, I got a D and an F in two Humanities courses. I received A's in almost all my other coursework, so they sort of off-set these poor marks, but my community college GPA is at an /average/ 3.38. B-school is definitely on my timeline for sometime in the future, but I was wondering how badly you guys think these poor grades would affect admission? I'm currently a Financial Math major with a ~3.7 GPA. Assuming I can maintain a GPA around there and can score a 750 on the GMAT (according to practice tests), do you think adcomms would look past the bad marks?
I can retake the two classes and raise my GPA to at least 3.50 (if I get B's in both) and, at most, 3.67 (if I get A's in both). But that, of course, costs time and money; so I rather not have to retake them if it doesn't hold that much weight in admission decisions.
All advice is much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Still hoping for some insight.
Should I retake a class I got a D in? (Originally Posted: 12/09/2012)
In terms of b-school admissions. I got a D in one of my undergrad econ class . My GPA is pretty solid around a 3.6. Did well on GMAT. Good EC's. Should I retake this class (pretty sure I can get a A or B if I tried) next semester? Its my last semester senior year so I really rather not if I can still get into a top 10 b-school. How much do you guys think it will help if I retook the class? Besides the D, I have two C's and then all A's. Thanks!
Doesnt make any different, you still got a D Also imagine you get a B, it wont look good at all for a second take! So dont
I'd retake it. Don't know if it will matter though.
Retake it, might as well.
I think you should retake it. Try to study the material before the class too, especially if it's technical.
Retake
thanks guys for the comments.....it will really make that much of a diff? anyone have personal experience or know how top 10 b-school admissions counselors view this? I think i will have at least four years of great job experience, and I should get good recs...but ya i guess for top 10, these little things count huh? I would have to overload to take this and i was really hoping for my last semester to be less busy.
No need to retake especially if the "D" was earlier on in your academic career (freshman or Sophomore) years. This is even moreso true if you have completed a higher level of any economics or econ related courses. However, you appear to still be in school and without significant work experience. That will be your major handicap as most top B schools want at least a year of work experience. If admitted, the majority of top schools will probably ask you to defer your admissions while you gain some work experience.
Retaking a class? (Originally Posted: 12/28/2011)
Got a B- in Introductory Macroeconomics because I messed up an exam. I know the material quite well, I just froze up on one exam. Have done well all of my other economics classes and I'm taking Intermediate Macroeconomics next year - will make sure that I don't mess up in the same way. Next semester I have the option of retaking Intro Macro (though both will show up on my transcript) - the professor is better and I will certainly get a better grade in it. However, at that point, I would already have heard back from investment banks and whatnot. Should I retake the class or take something else that's useful instead, since I will already be hearing back from internships and whatnot at that point (since there's nothing I can do - FYI, I have a 3.7 GPA and I go to one of HYPS with good connections...so hopefully not all is lost here).
Please let me know!
Your background is solid and you will have already heard back, so there is no reason to take the course again. Take a harder macro course and do well.
Ah okay. You think it'll be alright? Macro is a pretty important topic.
Also - how closely do these banks look at transcripts?
Yet another example of a moron with a good gpa. You'll work in IB don't worry
If you told them the same thing you just told us, I don't think that they would find retaking the class valuable. If you already understand the material well, which is important, taking the class again has an opportunity cost of taking a class of actual relevance to your career or of interest to you. Taking the class again makes you seem superficial.
Banks don't look at transcripts in considering your candidacy (in the US at least). They just look at them in the background check process to confirm your Major/GPA after you've already been given an offer.
Retake classes? (Originally Posted: 06/15/2010)
So I'm a rising senior at a top 50 business school, finance and econ major, great ECs, 3.3 gpa. During my career, I have gotten 3 C's, all in easy classes (intermediate macro, financial planning and intro anthropology) all due to skipping class for drinking and girls. I am definitely retaking one this summer and have room in my schedule to retake another of the three in the spring 2011. Getting As in these two will take my GPA to 3.446, and when that's combined with two 3.7s, will give me a graduating GPA of 3.54 (could be higher if I do better than 3.7). I don't necessarily have a preference in finance, would be really happy with a job in IB, trading, research or consulting, as long as I'm not stuck in wealth management in Buffalo.
Do people here think it's worth it to retake these classes?
Other things to consider are that I will only be able to retake one in the summer, so for fall recruiting, my GPA will be 3.37 (round to 3.4). I won't see the full benefits of the higher GPA until May 2011. Still worth it? Worth it to have a class twice on my transcript? Would really appreciate anyone's opinions on the relative value of retaking these classes, thanks a lot.
Not only do you look like a pussy by getting weak grades in weak classes but you hurt yourself more by retaking them. This will have adcoms at bschool screaming out "sabres has a mangina" Take some difficult courses and do well.
Does retaking the class wipe off your C, or do they just average it out with the new class and make it a B?
If the former, retaking it might be helpful for recruiting. If the latter, this is a no-brainer - do what dispet says, and take a higher level course and get an A.
^agreed with unqwerty
How well are repeated course grades perceived as? (Originally Posted: 06/20/2008)
I would like to work at an IB, front office position. The reason why I am pursuing a CA designation (CPA for the Americans) is because my grades are average (usually above course average). Since the economy is not doing too well and I will be graduating (1 year), I plan to obtain my CA (2.5 years), complete my MBA (1 year), then enter the industry as an associate.
Ultimately, I would like to avoid that route however my grades are only average, with average work experience (nothing industry related). I am wondering how will recruiters perceive repeated courses? My university will not replace the grade unlike some institutions. Would it be worth while to repeat courses to upgrade some of my B- into an A- or am I just wasting my time and money (each course is $1000)?
You're wasting your money. Banks care what your GPA is on your resume, not what grades you got in specific courses. They won't look at your transcript until you get the position, if at all. Focus on other aspects of your resume.
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