How bad is a C grade?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
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<p>Hi, I'm an undergraduate in ucsd. </p>

<p>Okay... so in general, how bad is a C grade on overall GPA? I've heard from others that it brings down GPAs by a lot, like if you have a 3.8 a C would bring you down to a 3.0, and it's really hard to get it back up. </p>

<p>And then also I hear from others that if you're struggling, it's just better to fail the class and then retake it and get a better grade to replace that D or F, than to end up with a C. To what extent is that true? Is that even true? I would think that failing a class, but then repeating it for a better grade would still have its repercussions somewhere in your transcript or GPA, and then graduate schools you're trying to get into would see that and go, "what is wrong with this person" or something. </p>

<p>Personally for me, I'm currently struggling in a class that I had already dropped with a W last quarter. So... wouldn't it still look REALLY bad if I had a W and then a D/F for the same class, and then retake it again for an A/B? Oh... and it's a major requirement class... I'm human bio major and the class I'm struggling in is Physics... gah... </p>

<p>Thanks for helping in advance. :)</p>

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<p>Here’s how grades work in UCSD: [Grading</a> System](<a href=“http://blink.ucsd.edu/instructors/academic-info/grades/system.html]Grading”>Grading System)</p>

<p>You can also use the GPA calculator in your tritonlink account to calculate how the grade affects your overall GPA. </p>

<p>Also, what physics are you taking? If you’re taking physics 1 (since you’re a bio major), you don’t have to worry TOO much about getting a C because physics 1 lecture classes are only worth 3 credits so getting a C is not a total GPA killer as long as you do well in all of your other classes. Personally, I don’t think it would be wise to fail the class and repeat it for a better grade because as you said, there would be repercussions down the line.
One last thing, from personal experience, your final grade for physics really depends on how you do on the final (unless your professor doesn’t follow the 60% quizzes, 40% final, ~10% extra credit system) because quizzes are only out of 8/9 points so there’s not a lot of room for variation in scores but the final does since its out of 20-30 questions so usually the curve for the class depends on the final so study hard for the final and you’ll be fine :)</p>

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<p>Oh my gosh, thank you so much for the reply! It’s so helpful. :slight_smile: Yes, I’m currently taking Physics 1A, and the grading system is 60% quizzes, 40% final, but only 5% clicker. There are more points for the quizzes this time though :frowning: as there are about 12-15 questions on each… I got an avg score on the first, am dropping the second since I missed it, and then the third one I did 2 std dev below avg :frowning: so I guess for me I have to do REALLY well on the last quiz and final, right? Hopefully my overall grade ends up being a solid C or higher then! And thank you so much again for replying to my post!!! ^_^</p>

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<p>Are you considering pre-med? If so, I actually disagree with apollo. A C will murder your BCPM gpa. If you’re confident you can get A’s in the rest of your science classes adcoms might let it slip. If not, I suggest you take the W. At the very least bust your *ss and get a B-. </p>

<p>C’s look bad for grad school as well, but as long as you can achieve a 3.5 science gpa and get some good publications grad schools might be willing to overlook that. I will likely rule you out of some top grad schools, though.</p>