Do I need to retake courses? Suggestion needed!

[MegicLF]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and really want some suggestions in my coursework.

Here's a little of my background: 

I am a Math and Econ double major junior and want to pursue a Ph.D. in Economics after graduation, but also open to the option of going to a master program before the Ph.D. program. 

I transferred from a state flag to a top 15 private school in this academic year. And I find the peer pool is much more competitive than previous one and it's hard to perform well consistently to obtain an A. At my first two years, my overall GPA is around 3.94. But last semester I had 6 courses and got 3.61. I also got a B in undergraduate-level math analysis class. This semester, the situation is getting worse. I have 5 courses and 1-credit research course. Since I am trying to do a Computer Science minor, I am taking Data Structure in C++ right now but did bad on my midterms and the best grade I can get for this class is B. But I still have one final and 2 problem sets to go and I am not confident at all. Moreover, I am also taking Abstract Algebra this semester, which I also do not do well on it.  I think I need to work very hard to ace my final to obtain a B+/B on it. 

My current plan is to retake Abstract Algebra next semester. My school's math department only opens one Analysis class and one Abstract Algebra class with 20 seats each next semester, and I am on the waitlist of both ( 20th for Analysis and 3rd for Abstract Algebra). So I can possibly only get into Abstract Algebra.

So here are my concerns: Do I need to retake Data Structure next semester? If I do so, then I will not be able to finish my CS minor. If I do not retake it, will the low grade in CS courses hurt my application for graduate programs? 

Thank you for reading such long post! 

 

Edited April 13, 2018 by MegicLF

[rising_star]

I wouldn't retake a class because you got a B in it. If you got a D, then maybe. But also, it depends on your school's retake strategy. Will the new grade replace the previous one or will both grades show on your transcript?

[MegicLF]

On 2018/4/13 at 9:01 PM, rising_star said:

I wouldn't retake a class because you got a B in it. If you got a D, then maybe. But also, it depends on your school's retake strategy. Will the new grade replace the previous one or will both grades show on your transcript?

Thank you! 

According to my school's policy, both grades will show on the transcript but only the new grade counts towards GPA.

[rising_star]

3 hours ago, MegicLF said:

According to my school's policy, both grades will show on the transcript but only the new grade counts towards GPA.

In that case, I'd do as well as you can. Retaking one course to move from a C to a B or even a C to an A isn't going to change your overall GPA by very much. If you use a GPA calculator, you can more easily figure out how much of a difference one retake will make.

[Bayesian1701]

I am a math major and for those of you, unfamiliar Abstract algebra and Analysis are probably the two hardest undergraduate math courses.  A B in abstract algebra isn't that bad of a grade plus it is probably useless (or close to it) for economics.  I made a B in Calculus III and a B in Numerical Analysis and still got into great stats PhD programs,  and I know there is a difference between stat and econ but I don't think it matters that much.  Plus each 3-hour course is worth 2.5% of your final GPA if you take 120 and less if you take more.  I don't think adcomms are going to quibble over a few hundredths of a point in GPA.

[MegicLF]

On 4/24/2018 at 5:42 PM, Bayesian1701 said:

I am a math major and for those of you, unfamiliar Abstract algebra and Analysis are probably the two hardest undergraduate math courses.  A B in abstract algebra isn't that bad of a grade plus it is probably useless (or close to it) for economics.  I made a B in Calculus III and a B in Numerical Analysis and still got into great stats PhD programs,  and I know there is a difference between stat and econ but I don't think it matters that much.  Plus each 3-hour course is worth 2.5% of your final GPA if you take 120 and less if you take more.  I don't think adcomms are going to quibble over a few hundredths of a point in GPA.

Congratulations on your offers! 

Thank you for your suggestion which does encourage me a lot. I think I do need to calculate how much this course weight in my overall credit hours as I will have 146 credits completed from both universities plus summer schools when applying to graduate programs this December. And I did ask the director of the graduate program in economics in my school and he said they would not look much at math classes like number theory as they are useless in economics.

[MegicLF]

On 4/20/2018 at 10:58 AM, rising_star said:

In that case, I'd do as well as you can. Retaking one course to move from a C to a B or even a C to an A isn't going to change your overall GPA by very much. If you use a GPA calculator, you can more easily figure out how much of a difference one retake will make.

You're right. I definitely need to calculate how much these two courses weight in my overall GPA as I will have a bunch of credits by the time for application.