<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I took Precalculus and Calculus 1 at a community college in my senior year of HIGH SCHOOL and neglected the class and got a C in it. :(</p>
<p>I had it transferred over to my current college, but it won't count in my school's GPA. Will this look extremely bad to medical schools? I am going to have to take Calculus 2 anyway, so would that replace it?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>No. Grade replacement is not allowed for allopathic medical school admissions. (Not to mention precalc/ calc 1 is complete different class than Calc 2 so grade replacement isn’t even an option.)</p>
<p>Although the C won’t be counted in your GPA at your new college, it will be included in your cumulative and science GPA calculations for med school admissions.</p>
<p>All courses taken at a college (even at a CC during high school) will be included in your GPA calculations when applying for med school admission. Them’s the rules…</p>
<p>I meant, will it be okay since I will be taking Calculus 2 anyway? Will they look at it badly?</p>
<p>Most medical schools only require 1 semester of calc. The C is a negative. But, OTOH, you won’t get props or special notice for acing Calc 2. Improvement is expected. </p>
<p>What will matter is if you demonstrate a continuing area of academic weakness. Two Cs in college level math, for example. That they will care about.</p>
<p>The good news is you have plenty of time to improve your sGPA by earning high grades to dilute the C.</p>
<p>What would happen if I took the course over again?</p>
<p>It will hurt your cummulative GPA and be an even bigger drag on your science GPA. Calculus is also a prerequisite for some medical schools and they do not usually want to see anything lower than a B in those courses. When I was applying to medical school I do not believe that any required any kind of college level Math course. Since I received my BS in Astronomy before going to medical school I had a good background in Calculus but never was called upon to use it in medical school (US Allopathic), Residency (Nuclear Medicine) or as a practicing physician. This was a number of years ago so things may be different now. I do not think they will hold a C in Calculus against you like they would a C in General Biology.</p>
<p>what is factored into Science GPA?</p>
<p>math, bio, chem, and physics courses?</p>
<p>Any biology, chemistry, physics and math courses you take are calculated into your sGPA.</p>
<p>~~~~</p>
<p>questioner, you cannot replace the grade not matter how many times you take the class. The original C plus whatever grade you earn in the re-take all get averaged into your cum and sGPA. </p>
<p>The danger with a re-take is you’re caught in a double-bind. If you re-take and earn an A, the attitude is “of course, he got an A, it’s the second time he’s taken the class.” If you re-take and earn anything less than an A, then the attitude becomes “why didn’t he get an A if it’s the second time around?”</p>
<p>
I heard of similar experiences from several sources.
DS once mentioned that a professor (likely teaching physiology) likes to teach the subject in a math/physics formula derivation way as is taught by the BME department. He personally likes it as he thinks it is more precise and therefore enjoyable in this way of exposure. But he said many med school students are not particularly fond of this way. (Why would I spend more time unnecessarily to learn it in this way if it will not be tested in STEP-1 in this way? It looks like the “premed mentality”, i.e., a concern about the grade efficiency – in this case, STEP-1 grade, not school’s grade, does not die out in the preclinical years at least.)</p>
<p>With this said, if a premed majors in physical science or engineering, math is still very important. This is because med schools select the students based on what grades they receive in their UG courses, independent of whether the contents of the courses are of any use in med school or not. They just want to pick up the best of the best from all kinds of majors (who happen to be competent in “prereq science classes” at least.)</p>
<p>1 C will not kill you. Just don’t do it again, don’t retake the class unless neglected it means you didn’t actually learn anything you won’t be able to do well in Calc 2 without retaking it.</p>