Better to Retake Courses?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hi! I'm basically a student who left a 4-year institute due to financial difficulties and will be attending SMC starting this summer. I have completed one year of coursework at my previous institute, which is why I cannot transfer directly. All the details can be found here: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/902162-need-advice-situation.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/902162-need-advice-situation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My first semester grades were superb, but my second semester grades faltered due to my circumstances. I was wondering if it's better to retake the courses that I had taken during my second semester and did poorly in or if I should simply take novel courses and do well in them. Thanks for your advice!</p>

<p>Also, I forgot to ask but what exactly is UCB/UCLA's Biology 1A/1AL/1B (in UCLA: Life Sci 2/3/4)? At my school, I was required to take a semester course called "Biology II" which was a basic overview of cell and molecular biology. Afterwards, in their sophomore years, BMB majors start taking specific semester courses on genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry. I'm guessing these are equivalent, but I am not too sure. UCLA/UCB uses a quarter system, so these courses seem shorter (I may be wrong). I'm hoping 1A/1AL/1B (LS 2/3/4) are not the equivalents to stand-alone cell biology, genetics, or biochemistry courses.</p>

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<p>Shameless bump. :)</p>

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<p>that kind of depends, i guess…
you’ve got to find out if SMC offers courses that are considered equivalent, by the UC to which you want to transfer, to the courses you originally failed / got a D in. if it does, retake them to show that it was the circumstance and not your inability to comprehend the material that led to your grade. if it doesn’t, you can always take courses with the titles similar to those you failed, but, from what i found out in my own ventures, it won’t have the same effect.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your answer!</p>

<p>I guess I’ll go into a bit of more detail.</p>

<hr>

<p>Here are my grades that I received while at my former university. I will put them in parenthesis to make them easier to see (since my school used a +/- system). </p>

<p>Semester 1:
Multi-Variable Calculus (Math 225) - (A)
Intermediate-Level General Chemistry (Chemistry 109) - (A-)
Introductory Archaeology (Archaeology 100) - (B+)
Writing II (Writing 100) - (B+)</p>

<p>Notes:
~I took archaeology to satisfy a humanities requirement.
~My first semester writing course is the 2nd course in a three-course writing sequence required for all students. I skipped the first one by taking an evaluation exam.
~My university has three levels of general chemistry. I took the intermediate level course, which places in between the other 2 available.</p>

<p>Semester 2:
Differential Equations (Math 226) - (C+)
Graduate-Level Linear Algebra (Math 442) - (C)
Intermediate-Level General Chemistry (Chemistry 110) - (B+)
Biology II (Biology 108) - (C)
Writing III (Writing 150) - (C+)</p>

<p>Notes:
~Basically my second semester was horrible.
~I switched from an undergraduate students’ linear algebra course to a graduate students’ linear algebra course because it was a bit too easy. I guess I couldn’t handle it with all my issues during my second semester.
~Chemistry 110 is a continuation of Chemistry 109.
~Biology II covered mostly cells, genetics, animals, plants, evolution, etc. It seems equivalent to the lower division requirements needed to transfer to UCLA/UCB.
~Writing 150 was the third and last required writing course at my university.</p>

<hr>

<p>I was majoring in BMB (biochemistry and molecular biology) and pure mathematics at my former institution, but it seems I can’t afford to squeeze in mathematics while trying to transfer. I’m aiming for BMB at UC Berkeley. However, due to money issues, I think aiming for biochemistry or molecular, cell, and developmental biology at UCLA would be better. All 3 majors at the two institutions basically have the same major prerequisites.</p>

<p>Former APs that I have taken are (I forgot some scores, so I’ll say pass or not passed for the ones that I forgot):</p>

<p>Calculus BC - 5
Chemistry - 5
Microeconomics - Failed
English Language and Composition - 4
U.S. Government - 4
U.S. History - 4
World History - 3
Physics C: Mechanics - 4
Physics C: Electricity - Failed (Wish I knew multiple integrals back then ;D)
Statistics - 5</p>

<hr>

<p>With the information above and using ASSIST, it turns out that the only courses I need to take at SMC are organic chemistry courses (21/22/24), biochemistry (31), physics (either 21/22/23 or 8/9), and two art/humanities courses. This amounts to 8 or 9 courses depending on whether I decide to take the easier physics sequence or the more difficult sequence (I think I’ll take 21/22/23 because I want to refresh my memory of detailed physics).</p>

<p>However, in my case, is it not better to retake all the courses that I obtained C’s in during my second semester of school? Or should I simply quickly take these 9 courses that I am lacking and apply this fall of 2010? Would an explanation of my situation and obvious improvement by this fall allow them to turn a blindeye to my horrible second semester? Sorry, I’m new to transfers and such, so I don’t know what to do. I’m guessing in general I should take other courses for a year and apply in 2011, but I don’t think there are that many science courses that interest me at SMC either.</p>

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<p>oh, dude… you can’t retake classes in which your received C’s.
you’re stuck with them.
and yes, definitely address what ever was going on during that semester in your essays.
you should be fine.</p>

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<p>Hmm I heard people with D’s and F’s retake them to replace grades, but I was thinking perhaps I can retake the courses just to show that I can receive a higher grade? How exactly does it work? Like they’ll prevent me from even taking the class again (or perhaps if I did, it won’t replace but it’ll just show two grades?)? I don’t mind not replacing the previous grade but I want to find some way to show them that I can do the course work.</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply by the way. So do you suggest that I apply this fall?</p>

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<p>no… you can’t.</p>

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<p>Oh well… so I guess the best thing to do is to just take other courses to boost my GPA? Do you guys suggest I apply this fall? I’m wondering if I’ll even have the slightest chance with a low GPA unless they really consider my situation.</p>

<p>Also, enjoy: [YouTube</a> - ???](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvCUfB8hxtI]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvCUfB8hxtI)</p>

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<p>Another shameless bump… sorry.</p>

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<p>You should definitely apply. Don’t wait until your GPA improves. You can always reapply, but you can never go back in time.</p>

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<p>Go on [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to see what classes you need and which classes are equivalent</p>

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<p>Contrary to what CC and HONOR will tell you, there’s nothing wrong with having Cs on your transcript.</p>

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<p>rollerbldes: Good thinking! I’m just worried because of my low-to-be-GPA. However, I guess my financial situation and a possible upward trend (I say possible since I won’t predict the future) will hopefully convince UCLA (I hope).</p>

<p>foothilltransfer: I don’t think ASSIST has a section for my private out-of-state university (or I don’t know which section in ASSIST can tell me). I do know what courses I need though.</p>

<p>wwlink: I hope for the sake of admissions, that’s true. :D</p>

<p>So I guess the general consensus is that instead of retaking courses where I got C’s to prove that I’m a decent student, I should be taking novel courses instead and show that I can complete new coursework and obtain A’s.</p>

<p>More feedback and/or advice would be loved! <3</p>