How to decide when to retake a college class
I have been writing about all things 4.0 GPA, how to get it, and how to maintain it, and one of the things I mentioned is that when you get serious about getting your GPA to 4.0 you will have to review all the classes you have taken, and you will quickly realize that sometimes there is no way around retaking a class.
However, with all that said, how will you know when to retake a class? What are the factors to consider before making such a decision?
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Decide When to Retake a College Class By Considering These 6 Factors
As I explain in all my listicles, I write in alphabetical order, not the order of relevance or importance. Without further ado, here are 6 factors to consider before you retake a class
1. Academic goals
What are your academic goals? Are you trying to get your GPA above 3.0 perhaps? Your academic goals are one of the considerations before you retake a class.
You will need the help of a course advisor. They will calculate the effect of you retaking your failed classes and tell you how much they might raise your GPA. This is important because of other factors we shall discuss below, you need to make sure it is worth it.
2. Finances
Another consideration is financing. For the most part, we should make sure that we are acing all our classes, so we don’t ever have to retake any classes, right? But that’s not practical advice for everyone.
Before you retake a class, make sure it won’t disorganize your finances. Each time you retake a class, you pay full tuition for it, which is why it is not advisable for retaking a class to be your first option when raising your GPA.
3. Number of Retake classes
Every college campus has its own policies on how many classes you are allowed to take. Before you retake a class, be sure to visit your course advisors.
They will educate you on the policies behind retaking classes. At my alma mater, we were allowed to retake only four [4] classes. That means at retake four you are done and any other classes you fail are squarely on you. This is why this is a factor to consider when deciding whether to retake a class.
4. Pre-requisite
Another factor to consider before taking a class a second time is whether it is a prerequisite. A prerequisite is a class you are required to take in order for the system to allow you to retake another.
For the most part, a passing grade is usually a C+. If a class is a prerequisite, and you scored below a C+ then you pretty much have to retake the class whether you like it or not.
5. Uncooperative instructor
Here is another reason to retake a class. A factor I considered when I chose to retake a class. From time to time, you will find yourself with an instructor you just can’t work with. Either they are arrogant, misogynistic, or just bad instructors.
When this happens, I advise you to think about how their horrible attitude is affecting your grades. Does it make you space out in class? Come in late? Not understand the concepts?
6. Year of study
When you are in your first year and the second year of school, you can get away with a few C pluses, however, the higher you get, the less forgiving your GPA is. If your GPA is above 3.0 then I would recommend you save your retakes for a rainy day.
As far as a GPA system is concerned, low grades have a very high negative weight. A good rule of thumb is to keep your grades above a B+ at all times. Closer to the end, you
