Retaking Classes

[Hanyuye]

Hi all,

As the semester closes, I might get a C+ to B in my Linear Algebra class (depending if I get at least an 80 on my final exam). I want to know the repercussions of this on my transcript and graduate ad comms. Is it so bad to retake a course if you received a B-?

[mathgeek282]

Yes it's pretty bad. I had a B- in a freshman year math course but then took more advanced classes later on and got A's so I think depends on how much math you are planning to take/where you are in you academic career/what your other grades are.

I don't know I would retake the course. Maybe you could try and master that material independently and take more advanced courses. If you could do that without getting way over your head that would be good...

[Hanyuye]

Never have I found a math.class boring but Linear Algebra makes the cut which I'm probably sure is one factor to my low performance. I am considering taking Linear Algebra in the Spring but first I will boost up my gpa.with Discrete Math, ODE, and Applied Math models.

[Hanyuye]

Semester ends, and down goes my class. I nearly failed it. I'm retaking it in the summer.

To any faculty here,

how do you feel about applicants who retake classes, especially core ones?

[ANDS!]

Never have I found a math.class boring but Linear Algebra makes the cut which I'm probably sure is one factor to my low performance. I am considering taking Linear Algebra in the Spring but first I will boost up my gpa.with Discrete Math, ODE, and Applied Math models.

LA is core. Definitely retake it (perhaps at a community college), and if possible, take the upper division equivalent. Some people will say you need abstract algebra to do it - they are full of it. At most you need to know how to write a proof, and about groups and rings. If your math game is mature enough, it should be a breeze.

For what it is worth, I enjoyed upper division LA more than its lower division brother.

[Statistique]

I had a similar situation with Real Analysis - took it freshman year and got a B-, retook it at my local UC the summer after I graduated and got an A+.

I think when schools see bad grades, there are two concerns. One is for your effort/ability to handle academic challenges, and you can't do much to counteract that besides do well in other classes. The other is for your knowledge/ability to handle PhD level classes. I think retaking the class and acing it may have help assuage the second fear for some of my schools.

In my opinion, if you retake it and don't get a top grade, that would be a big problem. But if you retake it and do great, or do okay in a higher division version as ANDS suggested, it probably helps.

[Snoq]

I have one question (just curiosity). When you pass a course, in yours school, you keep the grade and after that if you want you can retake it whenever you want, or you should contact the professor and say that you don't want that grade so you don't pass that course and retake it?

[ANDS!]

An instructor will never give you a lower grade.

I do not see why another campus wouldn't let you take the course, or simply audit - but I doubt it would do anything for you to take the class officially.

[Statistique]

I do not see why another campus wouldn't let you take the course, or simply audit - but I doubt it would do anything for you to take the class officially.

Have to disagree here, actually. If OP's goal is to learn the material for his/her own sake, of course auditing is fine. But if he/she is asking about how it appears to grad comms, etc., I think retaking it officially makes more sense. You're trying to say, "Look, I did poorly, but actually I'm good at this stuff." An audit means very little to admissions people; an official retake with a good grade would constitue better "proof" of your abilities.

[Hanyuye]

As for learning Linear Algebra, I didn't find it interesting whatsoever. But I do want to excel in it.

I am in the procedure of registering for a Linear Algebra course at a different school in the summer other than my home school. The Linear Algebra course in my home school is 4 credits, however, the Linear Algebra course at the foreign school is 3 credits. How do the graduate admission committee see this? Is this a conflict I should avoid and take the course in the fall, at my home school?