<p>Hello.
I'm a freshman who's taking 4 freshman intro courses. I started my first semester at university very badly, and I'm doing poorly on 2 of my courses. Since my university is in trisemester system and the first semester is almost over, it's too late to buckle down to start recovering from my past mistakes and test marks. It's unfortunate that I finally figured out how to do well in university only after the first semester was almost over.
To maintain my CGPA above 3.5, I'm considering retaking them next semester.
How badly do top grad schools like MIT and Harvard look at your 3~4 repeated freshmen intro courses on your record, even if you got good grades after retaking them?
Please give me accurate facts about how repeated courses are viewed by prestigious grad schools.
Thank you.</p>
<p>How bad is bad? If you flat out get a D or F, by all means retake. If you're getting like a C or B-, then just try and get some sort of A on the next course in series. As long as you feel you understand the material it's a waste if time retaking. Grad adcoms will understand 1st semster jitters.</p>