Retaking Classes in College for a better GPA - worth it? Input requested

[Oxide]

So here is the deal. I got a 2.9 GPA right now and have a year left of college.

I have 7 "C"s in my history, but do have a choice to retake these classes for a better grade. The new grades will go to the offical transcript.

Now, assuming I dont mind staying longer in college and am in no rush to graduate - is it worth it for me to spend couple of semesters to retake these classes and end up at 3.2-3.3 range when graduating.

Couple of things. I want to go to Grad school only if I am certain about what I want to do with the rest of my life. Right now I am not positive that International Business is where I see myself.

I want to go to a good grad school OR get a substantial scholarship in order to go to school in Boston or Austin, TX.


Additional focus - I've read in Forbes that the only colleges that really matter are the top 10-20. The rest are not worth the insane amounts of money that you pay. In YOUR EXPERIENCE, does the 35k/year price tag justify the grad schools? Have you gotten a great job out of a great school because of the name, have you gotten a bad job graduating from a private school? Share please.

 

[Deep Dish]

I have 7 "C"s in my history, but do have a choice to retake these classes for a better grade. The new grades will go to the offical transcript.

You may want to check into how many classes you can re-take. The university I attended capped the lifetime maximum at two and from what I can gather other universities are the same. Especially at the larger schools, it's considered by the universities as a tremendous waste of resources to liberally dish out grade forgiveness. They, of course, want their students to take their classes seriously the first time around and actually graduate in a timely fashion.

Also, since I have yet to attend grad school, I don't feel I'm in a position to say anything about that, except to say that often students attend grad school for free and that's even without scholarships. Major companies often will cover the grad school tab for their employees and it's automatic for people employed with the school (and free for their families as well). Just today I was thinking about grad school and it'd be free for me since I work for the government. If you want to go for international business, working for a big company sounds like it would go hand-in-hand.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Ask a couple grad schools how they calculate gpa. I think for law school the lsac has their own gpa calculation method where they don't recognize grades for re-taken courses. Double-check with grad schools about whether they penalize you at all for the re-take.

 

[Oxide]

Awesome suggestions from both of you, thank you.

So do you guys recommend working first for 1-2 years with a company and then going to grad school or just jumping straight in and look for an employer?

I am fairly positive my university is all about the money so they don't limit you.

 

[Bible_Belt]

The business world is largely about contacts and networking. If you can get a job at a company for whom you would like to work for a long time, you can make contacts there to help you get a better job when you leave grad school. But if you can get into a top grad school, you don't need to work full-time right now. You can get work experience with internships while in school. I'd let the decision hinge on whether you are satisfied with the quality of grad school that would admit you right now. If you do work for a couple of years, you can use that time to take review courses and practice tests for the admissions exam to grad school.

 

[whistler]

Regarding GPA. Being below a 3 looks pretty bad. Also, many graduate admissions committees weight exams (GRE, etc) much more than GPA. So, if you can kick butt on the exam, you might make up for your GPA and the difference between 2.9 and 3.2 won't be as important.

Check out the average entrance GPAs and exam scores for the programs you're interested in. They might be posted online.

 

[JohnJones]

I agree on the LSAT. I re-took some classes and had some transfer credits in college, so my GPA as my college calculated it was like 3.7 but the LSDAS GPA was more like 3.0... You just can't get away from it.

Some law schools (most, actually) put a lot more weight on the LSAT than GPA (LSDAS I think publishes the formulas that most of them use). If you can get above 164 or so, you will probably be okay with decent law schools.

As far as jobs from law school go, most of the best jobs/job opportunities get apportioned based on your first year grades (assuming you want a big firm with a big paycheck -- in most markets they pay summer associates somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000/week, or higher). You get a summer job for after your 2nd year of law school and then assuming that goes well (which is largely dictated by the market -- if things are busy, most firms want to give you the job) you get an offer for a permanent job after graduation.

For law school, at least at the "higher" levels, college grades don't mean that much once you get into law school. Law school grades, though, follow you for years.

 

[Road Demon]

What program are you applying too...is it international business?

I know MBA's are only worthwhile if you attend a top tier school.

How about some independent study, ie research is your field of interest? Give you something to talk about and write about. Gets you a really good letter of recomendation. That really helps if you were looking into say science grad school.

I agree the GRE/MCAT/LSAT are critical for someone like you...If you can nail them, they you should be fine as long as get that magical 3.0.

You do have 2 semesters to take advanced courses to show a greater level of compenency than those earlier courses you took and got a C in. You just need to get a A or B+ in those 300-400 level courses. You can also take some easy blow off courses the increase your overall GPA. You might run into problems is they just calculate a special GPA for your field that does not include the easy and GPA padding electives.


How schools deal with re-taking of class are different from school to school, and even different with sub colleges...

Your old 2.0 and the new retaken 4.0 might just be avg'd together? That is very common.

Normally if you get a F or D, you can retake the class, the bad grades stays on the transcript, but is not calculated in the GPA.

Again, someone else made a point that you may only be able to retake 2 classes...

talk to a dean @ your school.

j

 

[Bible_Belt]

best 30 mba programs of 2006:

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/10/bschools/index_01.htm

http://www.ft.com/businesseducation/mba

 

[Oxide]

Well I would like to go to a good school largely because of good connections and professors who actually teach concepts from the real world and not just read the book.

So. Assuming 3.3 GPA when graduating.
A list of accomplishments like Pres of the Marketing club/finance club
Good score on the GMAT's.


Can I get in a top 50, do I want to spend the money to get in the top 50, how long should I wait before going back to school?

 

[Adone]

You guys should come over to Italy. The best and most expensive University over here is 15K/year for 5 years... which is probably lower than the cheapest colleges of yours

My university is on of the best and I spend "just" 1500K/year

 

[Oxide]

That is a terrific idea. How do I move there and find a good school where classes are taught in english?

 

[DrMetallica]

You guys should come over to Italy. The best and most expensive University over here is 15K/year for 5 years... which is probably lower than the cheapest colleges of yours

My university is on of the best and I spend "just" 1500K/year

Ireland beats Italy again. Tuition for EU citizens at Irish universities is free.

 

[Centaurion]

Well, university here is free except for a 80USD semester fee.

So yeah, we /pwn you all!

 

[Bible_Belt]

Centaurian, do you think that is part of what makes your academic competition more difficult?

btw for comparison law school and graduate business school in the US average about $20k/yr.

 

[Oxide]

Well we can retake as much as we want but must be above 67% completion rate - so I cant do this too much.

Who else thinks employers do not care about completion rate and only look at the GPA? I do.

 

[Centaurion]

Centaurian, do you think that is part of what makes your academic competition more difficult?

To be honest, the impression I have is that it is much more competitive in the States as you guys have to complete an undergraduate study with a pretty high gpa, take other tests and have some extra curriculum activities in order to get accepted into law school. Over here admission into law school (or any other course for that matter) is based on your gpa from high school. However I believe that the grading in HS here is more strict than in the States and the entry requirments for law and medicine is pretty high so you have to be in the top percentile to get accepted.