First semester 3.0-3.3: Is retaking Calc worth it?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>So I'm a first semester freshman at a public university and I just finished the first day of finals - realistically I'm getting a 3.0, it's possible for me to get a 3.3 if I 100% one or two of my upcoming exams. Possible, not probable. My current courses look like this:</p>

<p>PHIL100: 3 credits, B to A-
PHIL170: 3 credits, anywhere from a C- to a B+ is possible now
PSYC334: 3 credits, A-
MATH140: 4 credits, B- to a B
Freshman Course: 1 credit, B</p>

<p>None of these are really Pre-med courses (except Math140 I believe)? I'm starting my Bio and Chem sequences next semester (got a 4 on AP Bio, so placed out of first semester of Bio). I didn't get into any of premed courses for first semester because this school is pretty big and the sections were all full up. I'm more of a science student, so not taking any hard science whatsoever this semester has been weird. I was also medicated for ADD in high school, but decided to try being unmedicated in college. I thought it was working pretty well until exams started - oops, I'm definitely starting up again next semester and asking for extended time testing, as well as help for time management and study skills.</p>

<p>PHIL170 is going to be my worst grade, but it's basically an elective - I don't know if that helps?</p>

<p>My next semester currently looks like:</p>

<p>PSYC200 (3 credits)
PSYC221 (3 credits)
CHEM131 (3 credits)
CHEM132 (1 credit)
BSCI106 (4 credits)</p>

<p>My school has freshman forgiveness which basically allows me to retake any course from my first semester without the first attempt being calculated into my GPA. To my knowledge, Math140 is the only course I've taken so far that'll be in my science GPA. Is retaking it worth it? This course ate up most of my time this semester and I still didn't get the grade I wanted; my classmates are saying that they're intentionally trying to fail most of the kids because they don't have enough math teachers to handle the number of students.</p>

<p>Also, are my chances at medical school seriously injured by this? (It's a mostly humanities and social science semester, so that's why I'm hoping it isn't.)</p>

<p>Any other pieces of advice you'd like to give me would be very welcome as well.</p>

2

<p>Unless you are already on file with the disability office as having a current, documented disability, it will be really extraordinary for you to receive extended test time. IOW, don’t count on extra time unless you know for fact you will be eligible to get it.</p>

<p>(FYI, receiving extra time for the MCAT is very difficult to qualify for. It’s even more difficult to get any sort of accommodations for USMLE exams.)</p>

<p>Academic forgiveness doesn’t work for pre-meds. AMCAS requires you to report every grade in every college class you’ve ever taken–even if your college permits grade replacement and/or academic forgiveness. ALL grades will be used to calculate your GPA and sGPA. </p>

<p>W/r/t your math grade–it’s probably better to just move forward rather than re-taking the class.</p>

<p>While less than ideal, your semester hasn’t tanked your chances at med school. You have 5-7 more semesters to do GPA repair.</p>

3

<p>I doubt that getting a B in a class is going to severely hinder your chances for med school. College academics is very different from high school. A lot of A students in high school don’t always perform as well as they would like in college, and that’s ok. I’m sure that med schools will also consider this.
It seems pretty unnecessary to retake a B. Just leave it and just work harder in future classes to bring up your GPA.</p>

4

<p>It’s unnecessary to retake anything C or higher. No one is impressed by As the 2nd time around, but people are impressed with As in other courses. Additionally, as WOWMom said, the bad grade is factored into your AMCAS GPA regardless of what your UG does so it’s not like the redo wipes away the bad grade anyway. The only reason to retake a C- or lower is because grades that low do not fulfill the requirements for medical school.</p>

5

<p>“The only reason to retake a C- or lower is because grades that low do not fulfill the requirements for medical school.”</p>

<p>I have a C- in Psychology. Now that some medical schools are starting to make Psychology a requirement, does this mean I have to retake this course?</p>

6

<p>If you apply to a medical school which requires psychology as a pre-requisite for admission, then yes.</p>

7

<p>To OP, you go to University of Maryland, don’t you? I go there too, and I’m also pre-med. I just had a pretty difficult first semester as well. I’m sure we will both be able to recover. Why didn’t you take MATH130?</p>

8

<p>Finalized grades came out today and I ended up pulling a 3.1! I have:</p>

<p>MATH140 (4 credits): C
PHIL100 (3 credits): A-
PHIL170 (3 credits): B+
PSYC334 (3 credits): A-
Freshman in University (1 credit): B+</p>

<p>@Yellowdog99: Yep, I go to UMD. I was told to sign up for MATH140 at orientation because that’s the Math my placement test got me into - I didn’t know I was allowed to take MATH130 instead. :frowning: I got a notoriously incompetent professor for MATH140 and earned the exact median grade of the class when I bombed the final.</p>

<p>@everyone else: Thanks for the clarification! I’ve realized that I need to get my stuff in order, so I went to the Academic Advising office and made a bunch of appointments for next semester (to figure out better time management, more efficient studying, etc). I am pretty sure that I will be able to get accommodation because my disability is documented, but if I don’t, I am much more motivated for next semester than last semester and that typically has a large impact on my grades.</p>

9

<p>Yeah, just try harder next semester. Are you going to take MATH131? And are you a life science major? My schedule this past semester was MATH130, BSCI106, CHEM131, CHEM132, and ENGL289B. I got like a 3.3, and I’m scared about my chances for medical/veterinary school. College is a lot harder than I expected it to be, and I thought I studied a lot! Whenever I wasn’t in class, I was in the library. I guess my studying wasn’t efficient or something; that’s going to have to change next semester, especially with organic chem and BSCI207. I think you will be able to fix your study methods and pull your GPA up.</p>

10

<p>And I placed into MATH140 as well, but I just wanted to take 130 since it is easier and not as theoretical</p>

11

<p>@Yellodog99 I go to University of Maryland as well but I’m a year ahead of you. I’ve already taken both organic chems and BSCI207 and I have to say that 207 is probably the hardest class I’ve taken in college so far. My advice for those classes is to go to GSS. I owe my A in Orgo I to my GSS leader who was amazing. I didn’t go to the 207 one and I got a B in the class when I feel I could’ve gotten an A with more help. GSS is a great resource and I can’t recommend it enough. </p>

<p>If you or @xng2017 have any questions about classes feel free to PM me. I’d be happy to help.</p>