Repeated courses - bad?Answered
Backstory: My mom died just before I started high school which led to me suffering from depression, and absolutely no motivation for school work. This resulted in me only getting average grades.
I have graduated high school, and thanks to the adult education department at my high school (I’m from Sweden), I’m repeating/retaking courses in order to improve my grades.
The colleges will therefore get my transcript from high school, and the repeating courses I am taking now, and so they will now I have already taken them.
My question: Will colleges look down on the fact that I have repeated courses? All the courses except 2 are ones I already passed, but wanted to get better grades in.
Will this affect my college admission negatively, and if so, how much?
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3 answers
I am so sorry for your loss as well. Because of this unique situation, colleges will likely understand, as long as you explain your situation in the Additional Information section of the Common App. Best of luck with your application process!
Hello!
Short answer: probably not. While it would obviously look better to colleges if you had above average grades throughout, I doubt it would affect your college admissions negatively if they could see all your class grades. In fact, it may make your college application look very good because you took it upon yourself to retake your courses, not because you failed them, but because you wanted to challenge yourself to get better grades.
Also, I HIGHLY suggest including the reason why there was a drop in your grades on your college application. You obviously have a very good reason for this (which I am terribly sorry about), so it would be unfair for the college to hold this against you. This would help the college you are applying to understand your situation and be a bit lenient.
In summary:
- No, I doubt it would hurt your chances of admission.
- It may even have some benefits in terms of your overall motivation.
- Include the reason why your grades were lower in your college application, colleges could be lenient.
I hope this helped. Good luck! :)
I'm so sorry for you loss. I can't imagine how it must have felt. If you explain this in your essays, I do not think this will have an effect on your admissions chances.
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Thank you so much, it means a lot. I will be sure to include it, I appreciate the help! :)