<p>If you get a F in the class, but get an A the second time around. will this alarm the graduate school? Does an F kill your chances at graduate school, even if you retake?</p>
<p>I guess it depends on when it occurred...</p>
<p>I dont understand how people get F's. If you know you might get an F, why don't you just take a "W"?</p>
<p>I think they would want a good reason how you got that F. I mean unless you never showed up for class, got 20s/30s of 100s on the exams, and there's no extra credits or paper assignment that count toward the grade it's really hard to get an F. I don't know about your school but my school an F equivalent a 59 and below.</p>
<p>Of course it will raise a red flag, you'll have to explain why you got an F.</p>
<p>Many professors reserve "F" for academy dishonesty reason. Unless you want adcom to assume the worst, you need to address it somewhere in your application. On a separate note, recruiters often will ask you during interview.</p>
<p>In my school, professors hand out Fs left and right, espcially to freshmen. I remember in my chem class as a freshman, 30% of the class got Fs.... It was even worse in my physics class.</p>
<p>Fs can easily happen where all your grade basically depends on 2 tests, 1 of which would be a final worth 50% of your grade.</p>
<p>Also ^</p>
<p>...if you obtain full financial aid and if the professor only gives a mid term and a final, then you kinda have to sit through the whole class and stuff. Is that not a rule for grants and things? Like, you have to take six classes a semester? </p>
<p>I would think that if you have tried really hard, regardless of the situation, and earned a "F" in a class, then you need to take it over for a higher mark. Then, when you are at an interview for graduate school, you explain the situation and emphasize the fact that you were tenacious and did not give up on things at all. I mean, do not make it the focus of everything, but you can bring it up for a moment, eh?</p>
<p>I, personally, cannot afford to earn a "F", because I attend University on a full academic scholarship.</p>
<p>But, if you try really hard and earn a "F", I reckon it is your moral obligation to try even harder the second time around. Don't y'all reckon it would be worse to let the "F" stand?! I figure that would be worse.</p>
<p>Now, boomer, you have basically cross posted your inquiry. Do you want to go into detail with anything? It is only February.</p>
<p>There's no way you're going to be able to spin this other than the obvious way: you were really lazy the first time, and then you battened down the hatches and nailed it. Don't explain it, just let your record speak for itself. Grad schools aren't looking for past perfection, they're looking for future potential. You can play the "school was boring until I got serious" card, but only if you're brilliant elsewhere on your application.</p>
<p>one more thing, if you're talking about an F in Organic Chemistry as compared to an F in Intro to Philosophy or other liberal arts....then there's a difference. (Since you didn't mention F in what)</p>