Repeating classes for better grades?

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.

So I've been reading a bunch of threads for about a month here and have seen a number of people talking about taking classes multiple times to get a better grade. Is that actually common? I know both the schools I'm looking into that would be dumb and not help you at all. They look at all your classes and average grades for classes you retake. If you didn't get a C or above I guess you need to for pre-reqs but if they had a C or B repeating the class sounds silly.

Are there a number of schools that only care about your best grade no mater how many times you take the class? Just the pervasiveness of the idea to repeat classes for a better grade has always struck me as odd.

I'm going to have to "repeat" two classes but that is not by my choice. I'm going to be applying for an accelerated BSN program and my science classes were completed too long ago to be accepted. So I have to retake microbiology and either retake a general Chem class or take a CLEP exam for one of the schools.

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Yes, there are some schools which only consider your highest grade, but even if they are not going to those schools, getting an A in a class that you got a B or C in will raise your GPA a bit, which might be all these people need to squeeze into the average accepted applicant range

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Specializes in Emergency Room, CEN, TCRN.

When I found out how competitive the programs in Oregon were after moving from California (programs near me were generally lottery/luck based) in regards to GPA, I set out to retake pretty much every class I received a B grade in. I went from a 3.5ish GPA to a 3.93 (still kept one B, couldn't retake stats due to my work schedule).

Mock interviews for the program I applied to are today, invites to the real interview should be going out soon. We'll see if retaking classes works out for me.

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.

I guess for the schools that only care about your highest grade in the class it would make sense but still can't really sell me on the idea when they count each time you took the class. Sure even the average grade will be higher but they see and factor in that you've taken the class multiple times. Kinda takes the "shine" off of the higher GPA I think. I know in the info session I attended yesterday for my school of choice it would NOT help you, they went as far as to say it's strongly discouraged to repeat any class. With the exception of the science pre-reqs you may have taken previously but not within the time table the program has set.

Each school is different and they care about what they care about I guess.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Carefully check the policy for schools you want to attend. In my part of the country, many schools have 'hard limits' on repeating classes. They do not allow repeats unless the first time effort ended in a failing grade or the previous course is no longer acceptable because it is >5 years old. Even then, they only allow one repeat in cases of previous failure.

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The school I will be applying to uses your first attempts at pre reqs as the standard for admittance. Retaking in my case (unless of course I outright failed) wouldn't help me, so this really varies by school. Best of luck to you!

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Specializes in Maternal Child, Home Health, Med/Surg.

In my schools(there's 3), we get allotted a point value for our grades. So I've been retaking B+ classes for that darn A.

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Specializes in med-surg.

Like someone said, MAKE SURE you check your school's admission criteria, because some schools actually deduct points for repeating classes!

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Specializes in Oncology, OCN.
Like someone said, MAKE SURE you check your school's admission criteria, because some schools actually deduct points for repeating classes!

Yeah, that's why I was so confused to see so many people talk about repeating for the A. I know both schools I'm interested in aren't in favor of it and really I'd assume most wouldn't encourage it.

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Ya , check with school. Where I am, even if you have a passing grade but want a higher one, you may lose half the points needed to enter the program..I feel like this is taking forever just to get the classes to get in. :/

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