Does Retaking A Class Change Your Grade
Most people wonder if they can retake their classes all the time. Retaking classes is time consuming, expensive, and generally a pain in the hip ex-tensors. However, in some cases it is exactly what needs to happen to get you over the bar and into PA program. Knowing which courses to retake and when is key to getting you into PA school and sooner, rather than later.
The first thing you need to be clear about is that retaking classes has a minimal effect on your GPA, because retaken classes do not replace your low grades, they average in with them. Your low grade will not be dropped but the retaken class grade will be added to it and averaged.
Why Should You Retake Classes At All?
You should retake classes for GPA school to prove that you can do well in them, plain and simple.
This is particularly true if you have done poorly in a required course, or, heaven forbid, a required science course. GPA school admissions committees need to know that you have mastered the basic science material on which the GPA school curriculum relies. If you get a poor grade in an important class, they will wonder if you can handle that kind of material and if you will have the foundation on which to build.
Which Classes To Retake For P.A School
It does not make much sense to retake everything you did poorly in, unless you did poorly in everything. If that is the case,
1) You should take some time off
2) Decide if becoming a PA is really for you
3) Look into getting another bachelor’s degree. Speak with an academic counselor.
So what do you retake? Since 3.0 is considered a functional minimum GPA for getting into PA school it makes sense to start with those courses that you got less than a B in. Deciding which courses to retake can be challenging. Here is a recommended hierarchy
- Retake any required science course. Courses like anatomy, physiology, microbiology, general, or organic chemistry are considered foundational. You must master these to do well in PA school. For this reason, they are your first priority.
- Retake any non-required science course that was over one unit. If you failed a 1-unit course on bird behavior, do not bother retaking it. However, if you failed a 3-unit course on evolution, health, etc., retake it to prove you can succeed in it.
- Retake any English composition course. If you are a foreign student and English is your weak area, this should be your step #1.
- Retake other courses only if they seem relevant to medicine and/or communication (speech, literature, etc.)
If Retaking Your GPA Classes, Do It Right
- There is not much sense in retaking a course for a mediocre grade – doing so will raise your GPA even less. In addition, if you do poorly on a course the second time you take it, you will reinforce the idea that you cannot handle that material. So do yourself a favor and work hard on any class you retake.
- To maximize the chance of doing well, retake courses that you struggled with one at a time. Past performance is the best predictor of future performance, so if you know, for example, that organic chemistry was a bugger for you the first time, do not put anything else on your plate the second time around.
- You do not need to retake classes at the same institution. In most cases, PA schools rarely care where you took a course. If you can choose a better instructor or a better program, do it; the point is to do well at the course.
- PA schools do not want to see that you have done well in some science course; they want to see that you can handle the courses on which their curriculum rests. What is the point of spending two or more years on a degree in Nutrition if you haven’t proven you have absorbed General Chemistry? Going for such a degree is a major detour from your goal. Taking new courses is more interesting, but you should focus on your goals. If it’s to become a PA, you need to get past the prerequisite material.
Retaking classes is unavoidable if you have a few courses in which you really underperformed. Retaking them will give you confidence in yourself, and it will give admissions committees the same.