I am currently a junior in high school. my school offers a program for students to take courses online as well. i have 3.75 gpa, but i want to try and get into an ivy league school or a very competitive one like MIT, georgetown, UC berkeley, etc. I am thinking about retaking some of the courses that i did poorly on online over the summer. from what i know on my schools transcripts they don’t show your previous grade, but i think they do show that you retook the course. will college admissions officers look down on it or would it send them a red flag if i retook some of my classes instead of getting a perfect grade the first time around?
Retaking a course implies that you failed or otherwise did poorly the first time.
If you failed a class, or got a D in it, retaking makes sense. Otherwise it is a waste of your time. You have other things to do this summer, like get a job to help pay for college or an internship to learn more about a profession you are interested in.
my mom won’t let me get a job because she rather i focus on school related things, but this summer i am doing girls state, participating in act prep, and doing a program related to the field i want to go into. i feel like i can still manage to take 2 online classes while i do these things. although i didn’t fail them i really want to get into a good school and i feel like my gpa isn’t good enough.
Don’t retake a C or a B. That looks like grade-grubbing. Your summer looks pretty full. If you feel you need to take a class, take a new one that you think you would enjoy, that you can dedicate enough time to to get an A, and that is relevant to your longer-range goals.
Most schools do not allow retakes for Bs or Cs, and with a 3.7 it doesn’t look like you have many Ds or Fs.
If you did not get an D or F in any of these classes, it would be a waste of time along with looking bad for top schools. Top schools expect applicants to have good grades the first time in taking any HS course.
Most HS transcripts will show your current grade for the class and if you retake the class, it will show the repeat grade but I would double check with your counselor to confirm.
Move on and find other areas on your application that will make you shine. There are so many great colleges that would love to have a 3.75 GPA applicant so do not just focus on these few highly competitive schools.