<p>This may be a tough question to answer (ie different for everyone), but at what point does it become a good idea to retake a course?</p>
<p>sophomore, GPA ~3.85 , looks like i might get ~ C+ in organic 1 (havent gone to class yet this semester)</p>
<p>From the general wisdom I've gathered here on CC:
1) It's probably not worth retaking a class unless you do really poorly (ie, a D). If you retake a class and get an "A", those reading your transcript will think "of course he got an A, he took it twice". If you retake and do not get an "A", they will think "he took it twice and still didn't get an A?"</p>
<p>From the general wisdom I've gathered in my own experience:
2) You may want to try going to class. Professors don't bite (usually).</p>
<p>so a B in one try looks better than a C and an A retaking? and how much does one bad grade matter?</p>
<p>Depends whether it's a science class like organic. If you got a C in there rather than a C in say Western Civilization in Modern Times I think it's much worse. Take advantage of dropping out early in the semester if it looks to be tough, the first quiz grades are very low etc.</p>
<p>I wish I had a crystal ball to predict the future because my D was in your shoes last year, EXCEPT that she went to class.</p>
<p>She finished Orgo I with a C+ and an A in the lab. We were concerned that if she took Orgo II in the spring, she would continue to do poorly, because you build on concepts learned in the first course.</p>
<p>She retook Orgo I in the first summer session and took Orgo II and lab in the second summer session at her school. So all grades come from the same school. She got As in both.</p>
<p>I haven't seen her transcript, so I don't know how the repeat course shows up.</p>
<p>Can't say if this will get her into med school or not. That's still in the future.</p>
<p>A single C will not keep you out of medical school...even 2 or 3. It should be readily apparent that fewer is better, but the occasional slip up is not the end of the world.</p>
<p>Now if you're one of those people who are more concerned about being a "graduate of X Top 10 Medical school" rather than being a physician...yeah, it's a bigger deal, but certainly not a deal breaker.</p>
<p>Gold has correctly stated the no-win situation retaking puts you. There is zero advantage to be gained. </p>
<p>In LWMD's D's situation, I'm surprised that the school allowed the retake. All the universities that I'm familiar with won't let you retake a course if you would have received a P when taking the class Pass/No Pass (which would mean a C- or lower). I do understand the worry about further difficulty in sequenced classes, but I'm not sure that I would have pushed for the retake.</p>