D+ in Gen Chem I

Hi. I need some advice. So, first semester of freshman year I was really struggling and I got a D+ in General Chemistry I. I am on track to get a B+ in Gen Chem II. My adviser suggested that I retake the course over the summer, but my university does not have financial aid for summer courses, so I would not be able to afford it. I was thinking of enrolling at a different institution over the summer to retake it, but people have said that it will look worse. I don’t know what to do.

It will look worse, but, realistically, what other choice do you have?

Take the course at college near your home (4 year college preferred), ace it. If you don’t ace it the second time through, then it looks really, really bad and it will be held against you when reviewing your application.

Do you also need to repeat the gen chem 1 lab?

Thank you for your reply! And no I got an A- in lab @WayOutWestMom

Is there any way that you can re-take the course in your current Univ. during the regular season? It will look odd to the adcomms if you take it in other places in the summer. Avoid those uncertainties as much as you can. Based on your GPA trend, you will need to have a GAP year to apply med school for sure, if you are still thinking to apply med school during your third year in college, you should not.

BTW a D- requires a re-take, AMCAS rules.

At my university, previously passed courses must be repeated within a year in order for the most recent grade to replace the first one. It would be difficult for me to take Gen Chem within that time frame because of the course load and I do not want to be behind on major requirements. That is why the summer term is my only option.

Luckily for you you don’t have to worry about that one year limit because both grades will be part of your GPA for medical school admissions regardless of your school’s policies. If you could easily fit it in junior year then you have no issue.

you post in premed column, do you plan to go to Med school?
what kind of school you are now at? you need to maintain at least 3.5 all sci course GPA. How’s your Calculus, Physics and Bio grade? if you are at 2nd tier state univ, med school may expect 3.8GPA.

Yes I plan to apply to medical school, that is why I posted this thread here. The university I attend ranks 14th nationally. I have an A- in Calc, I am taking Bio next semester, and Physics junior year.

I urge you to retake the Chem I class in your own Univ. What your school will replace after retake does not matter, AMCAS will take your D- and every other class you ever had at college level to come up a GPA for med school consideration. It will especially look bad if you try to retake that class in a local, no name school in the summer and it is the ONLY class you are taking. Med school will think you are trying to pad the gpa by take an easy way out.

Your retake of Chem I must ended with A, otherwise, your wish for med school will be dashed, given the GPA trend you have up to now. Your goal is to have 3.7 cGPA and 3.5 sGPA at the end, if not, you need to have a plan B very quickly.

Thank you for your reply. The only obstacle would be tuition, but when considering what you said it is the better option.

OP - you need to find out what your university transcript policy regarding what you said below. If your university only shows the recent re-take grade (assuming you will do better than D+) on the “external” transcript (ie, the transcript sent to AMCAS), then your best choice is re-take at your current university within a year. It will actually save your GPA from that D+. Talk to your pre-health office to confirm the transcript policy too.

Here is the policy. Sorry, I forgot to include it earlier.
“The most recent grade in a course replaces the previous grade in determining credit, computing the grade point average, and verifying the completion of degree requirements and progress toward the degree.”
“No matter the outcome of the repeat, all grades earned are shown on the transcript. Students are cautioned that while repeating for grade replacement a course previously passed may improve their cumulative grade point average, it may also lead to a problem in meeting hours requirements.”

@Andorvw

It doesn’t matter what the school’s transcript policy is or whether both or just one grade appears on the student’s transcript, AMCAS requires ALL grades (both original and retaken) be reported on the AMCAS application. Both grade will be included when computing GPAs.

The student will sign an affidavit when completing their AMCAS that all information they enter is truthful and accurate.

see pp. 4-5 https://apps.aamc.org/amcas/guide/2019_AMCAS_applicant_guide.pdf

To add to the insult, AOA, the govern body for DO schools has abolished the grade replacement policy two years ago, now they are in line with AMCAS GPA policy as stated by WOWM above.

In my mind, if you can get in a med school, DO schools are most likely, given the D in Chem and Bs in the other prereq.