<p>I took CS61A my first semester last year without thinking too clearly so I ended up getting a NP. I have only myself to blame and not the course since I screwed up so horribly with my scheduling + other classes. I'm currently pursuing another major that has nothing to do with CS.</p>
<p>I ended up doing much better my 2nd semester. So my question is should I retake CS61A by any means? I am not planning to major in CS61A at all. I'll be taking it for P/NP again since I'm positive that I will not pull anything better than a C (the course was a wake up call for me, so I ended up doing so much better my 2nd semester). I really don't feel like retaking CS61A since it'll be like relearning everything again since I totally slacked off the 1st time I took it. On top of that, I'm already taking 14 units so my main goal in CS61A would just to get a P and be done with it. However, I feel so horrible about not giving it my 100% effort and just pass with a bare minimum grade for a P... Seeing that there are so many people wanting to get into the class, I feel a bit horrible just retaking the course again for P/NP...</p>
<p>I don't have any plans to apply to grad schools as of this moment, but that might change in the next few years. I know a NP automatically counts as an F (0.0 to your GPA). Would retaking it for a P even matters? It'll still be an F. All it'll show is that I went back to retake a course that I have failed in. </p>
<p>Any recommendation would really help. Sorry for this long post...</p>
<p>By “grad school”, do you mean PhD program in an academic subject not related to CS, or professional school like law or medical school?</p>
<p>In the first case, it is less likely to matter. In the case of law and MD medical school, all attempts are counted, so that passing a repeated course will not prevent the original NP grade from being part of your GPA for law and MD medical school admissions calculation.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply ucb. I am not intending to apply for med or law school. I’ll most likely be applying for Econ or MBA in the far future after I have worked for several years. With that in mind, what you recommend? Also, does only med and law school that count NP as an automatic F? What is the normal standard for handling NP at normal grad school? Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>It does appear from their web sites that both economics PhD and MBA admissions at Berkeley are holistic, and will certainly see the NP whether you repeat the course or not (since all attempts are recorded on the transcript). You may want to check various graduate and professional program web sites to see how others look at your courses and grades. Or ask the departments directly what they would rather see here.</p>
<p><a href=“http://econ.berkeley.edu/grad/admissions/profile[/url]”>Ph.D. in Economics Graduate Admissions Profile | Department of Economics;
[Admissions</a> Criteria, MBA Program, Berkeley-Haas](<a href=“http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/admissions/index.html]Admissions”>Admissions | Full-Time MBA | Berkeley Haas)</p>
<p>If CS 61A is not needed for your major, as a prerequisite for other courses you want to take, or for an MFE or other program that may consider CS skills, then it seems like a low value proposition to repeat it as opposed to taking some other course (especially additional advanced math, statistics, and math-heavy economics courses to prepare for an economics PhD program, if that is your interest).</p>