Repeating previously passed courses for higher gpa

iStudent

Hey guys,

What are you thoughts on repeating courses that you've passed, with a grade that you could definitely improve on a second try. I.e. the course doesn't necessarily have to be a bare minimum pass, but a course that you could most likely improve on heavily the second time around. Do you think it's worth the time, money and effort to work through courses that you've completed just to achieve a higher gpa? I'm just curious to hear everyone's opinions on this. What if you're paying for your own education (savings/working/loans), would you still consider repeating certain courses for a higher grade?

I've considered retaking courses from first year many times, but I know that student loan does not pay for retakes and even if they did I'd have to pay it back regardless. I'm just not sure if I could justify spending a couple hundred dollars per course just to get a better mark.

112233

I've retaken 6 courses lol, its worth it if you don't have that many credits. By the time you have 90+ credits your gpa gets pretty diluted and improving a single class only has a small effect. I have an f in a class and ~100 credits and it doesn't have that much of an effect on me.

ryan

Personally I don't think it is worth it unless you need a specific grade in the course or you need at least a certain GPA. For something. If you just want to get your GPA up I think it would be more productive to focus on doing better in future courses and picking electives you can do well in. I feel like people sometimes overstate the importance of ones GPA. As long as it is high enough it generally doesn't matter exactly how high it is (unless you have graduate school aspirations)

iStudent

Hm yea I guess it would be better to focus on future courses instead. I dont really care about my current gpa, but i care about the gpa ill grad with, if a few courses wont mean much in the long run then i suppose its pointless to repeat courses

BeAnBeAn

I'm all about the money and school is expensive as fuck. So $500+, fuck that.

And I agree with Ryan. Too much emphasis is put on GPA rather than the speed at which people are getting the credits in and graduating. Still difficult to graduate in 4 years nowadays but yeah. credits>GPA unless you have plans for graduate school, to maintain (or get) scholarships and stuff like that. But it's all about balance.

BeAnBeAn

Like I know motherfuckers in the real-world don't give a shit about your GPA like you'll never see someone put that on his/her resume unless it's like 4.0. It's more about the major, degree type and graduating fast when it comes to school type things. I only care about my GPA strictly for scholarships and OCD of doing well. Mostly the latter.

iStudent

Yea, I get what you mean. I'm actually considering repeating courses because I'm unsure about grad school, so I keep thinking I should repeat some courses and get my gpa up (in case) I want to do further studies. At the same time, if I don't end up doing a masters it's a complete waste of time and money repeating courses

BeAnBeAn

Use that time and money in doing more meaningful things like volunteering.

KingdomOfJoy

GPA is more important when applying to grad school than volunteering.

BeAnBeAn

True. but you have the upper-hand when you're a couple point something off GPA than another person in like med school or law school and have a ton of shit done in your uni career.

iStudent

Yea, I feel the same way about this semester :/ Gpa most likely going to drop. Also, I was thinking if I redo some courses I could (hopefully) graduate with distinction but it's just a word on degree and doesnt really much so i duno

iStudent

@BeAnBeAn Well I was thinking of doing a MSc in computer science if i do a masters degree. It seems like MSc looks for mostly GPA and work experience in the industry for candidates who did their degree a long time ago (also GRE exam for some schools). I'm not sure if volunteer work would actually help (although I haven't look into it closely enough so I wouldn't really know)

dwill

@iStudent I've thought about this also. I'm graduating in a couple of sems and I'm thinking about repeating an upper division cmpt course that I got a C in. From what I've heard, in terms of GPA most grad schools only look at your last 2 years and more importantly the courses in your major. If you do have aspirations of going to grad school and you can fit an important repeat in nicely without taking too much effort away from your other courses I say go for it. If it's just purely for graduating with a higher gpa and nothing else, repeating previously passed courses isn't really important.

iStudent

@dwill Well if that's true that grad schools care more about courses in my major (or even last 2 years) then I think I'd be fine without repeating any course. My lowest gpas are from first 2 terms at sfu. I think I'll have to wait and see how much difference one or two courses could make on my CGPA once im near graduation.

112233

By last two years they mean upper division courses, bit it totally depends on the school and program.

iStudent

Yea I assumed UD courses

112233

Haha ok good. Didn't want people going around thinking there was some loophole.. You never know with some people.

iStudent

Yea haha, it would be awesome if you could just take any easy course you wanted to in last 2 years and just get into any school

iStudent

@lakerfanatic Software Systems, essentially same as comp sci

BeAnBeAn

That's a good major. Your username suits your major.

iStudent

Haha :D thanks

iStudent

No, we need b-sci from outside the major

BeAnBeAn

Yeah like for us crim we need B-Soc outside our department.