Retaking Courses in Preparation for Applying to Medical School

The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) has applicants manually enter all coursework and grades into the AMCAS application. You may wonder why they have you complete this seemingly repetitive and arduous section, given that they collect official copies of all transcripts. It allows them to create a standardized GPA calculation from which to compare all applicants. If you need to retake courses or are in the process of deciding whether or not to retake a class, please consider the following:

1. All grades earned are calculated into the cumulative GPA.

While your college campus may offer grade forgiveness on transcripts for any classes failed and repeated, AMCAS does not. They will calculate all attempts for the course. Even though the failed grade will hurt your GPA, not retaking the course and earning a passing grade—whether it is a prerequisite course or not—is worse. Yes, people get accepted into medical school even though they have failed a course or two in the past. It’s all about demonstrating improvement.

2. Only courses retaken on the same campus will be labeled “repeats.”

If you pass or fail a course and decide to repeat it, only those courses taken on the same campus can be labeled a repeat course. In other words, if you fail a class on Campus A and take a similar class on Campus B, you cannot label the second course as a “repeat.” While you will receive GPA credit for taking the course, it won’t be considered a retake.

3. It’s not necessary to retake a course if you passed it the first time.

If you received a C or higher in a course, there is no need to retake it. In my experience, it is far more impressive for a student to take new upper division biological science courses and excel in them rather than to repeat lower division coursework. Upper division courses are more similar to the level taught on medical school campuses. The only situation in which I would advise a student to retake a course that they have already passed is if they have been out of school for years and plan on taking more courses in that subject and need the foundational knowledge.

In summary:

DO: If you fail a course, retake the course on the same campus.

DON’T: If possible, don’t fail classes to begin with! (If you do, it’s not the end of the world.)

Don’t retake courses that you have passed unless you are returning to school and need the foundational knowledge.

If you are not able to retake a course that you have failed on the same campus, it is still better to take an equivalent course on a different campus, even though AMCAS will not consider it a “repeat” because you can explain that you retook the course for a higher grade in your application essays.

While it is always best to avoid failing a class to begin with, it does happen. If it does, it’s not the end of the world. The most important thing you can do is to learn from the experience and improve. Many students have been accepted into medical school after failing and retaking a course or two early in their college education. Three or more F’s may be considered a deal breaker.

Alicia McNease Nimonkar is an Accepted advisor and editor specializing in healthcare admissions. Prior to joining Accepted, Alicia worked for five years as Student Advisor at UC Davis’ postbac program where she both evaluated applications and advised students applying successfully to med school and related programs. Want Alicia to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Applying to Medical School With Low Stats, a free guide
• Boost Your GPA for Medical School Acceptance
• Study Skills: How to Improve Your GPA to Become a More Competitive Med School Applicant