Are there any Universities or Undergraduate Programs that are very selective with their GPA requirements or don't accept C letter grades?

My freshman year of CC was 2019-20, I ended with a 2.8 GPA. I wasn’t focused. We had a lot of issues going on at home and it reflected on my grades. My GPA is currently sitting at a 3.39, but retaking these classes would bring me closer to a 3.8.

I thought everything would be fine, and I’d just retake the classes but the school rejected my request, saying I needed a valid reason.

The reasons being:

  1. If a program I’m applying for only accepts B’s and above, or has a specific minimum GPA requirement that I don’t meet.
  2. I was dealing with medical issues that hindered my performance.
  3. Change of licensure standards (industry indicates I need to retake a course)
  4. Significant lapse of time (school I’m applying to only recognizes classes taken within the past 36 months)

August 2019 hits the 3-year mark. So #4 is a promising choice. But I’m struggling to find a program that doesn’t accept classes from 3 years out. Most colleges I’ve searched up cap at 5 or 7 years… anyone know any that cap at 3?

I could also go with #1 but I haven’t been able to find any schools or programs that explicitly mention they don’t allow C’s…

Lehigh University is one school that mentions ‘A grade of “C-” will not transfer under any circumstances.’ But my CC doesn’t use the plus or minus grading system and each grade shows up as a plain “C”.

Colleges that you may want to transfer to may not necessarily apply grade replacement when calculating your GPA for transfer admission.

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My school says they replace the grade. So I assumed that meant there would be no indication of a retake on the transcript at all. Is that not the case?

Grade replacement for GPA calculation does not necessarily mean that the previous attempt disappears from the record. Colleges that you may apply to transfer to may also require all attempts for each course to be reported.

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For something so important it is best to not assume and ask your advisor and/or the school’s registrar.

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