GPA Effect of Retaking Courses 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student retakes a course and earns a higher grade. Under a 'grade forgiveness' policy, which grade is used in the GPA calculation?
- The original grade only
- The average of both grades
- The most recent grade only
- The higher of the two grades (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The higher of the two grades
Grade forgiveness policies replace the original grade with the higher grade earned upon retaking the course.
Question 2: A student retakes a course but earns a LOWER grade the second time. At most schools, which grade is used for GPA?
- The first (higher) grade
- The second (lower) grade (Correct answer)
- The average of both grades
- Both grades are included separately
Correct answer: The second (lower) grade
Under replacement policies, the most recent grade replaces the original regardless of whether it is higher or lower.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes 'grade exclusion' when retaking a course?
- Both grades count equally toward GPA
- The original grade is removed from GPA but stays on the transcript (Correct answer)
- The retaken grade is excluded from GPA
- The lower grade is hidden from employers
Correct answer: The original grade is removed from GPA but stays on the transcript
Under grade exclusion, the original grade is excluded from the GPA calculation but still appears on the official transcript.
Question 4: A student earned a D in Chemistry and retook it for a B. Under grade averaging policy, what is used for GPA?
- Only the B
- Only the D
- The average of D and B (C) (Correct answer)
- Both the D and B count separately
Correct answer: The average of D and B (C)
Grade averaging policies compute the mean of all attempts, so a D and a B would average to approximately a C.
Question 5: When a student retakes a course under a 'repeat policy,' how many times does the credit hour typically count toward total earned credits?
- Once, regardless of how many times taken (Correct answer)
- Twice, once per attempt
- Three times if taken three times
- It depends on the grade earned each time
Correct answer: Once, regardless of how many times taken
Credit hours for a repeated course are typically counted only once toward degree requirements to prevent inflated credit totals.
Question 6: Which scenario would most likely trigger an academic advisor's recommendation to retake a course?
- A student earned an A- but wants an A
- A student earned a C in a prerequisite for a required upper-division course (Correct answer)
- A student earned a B in an elective
- A student wants to explore the topic more deeply
Correct answer: A student earned a C in a prerequisite for a required upper-division course
A weak grade in a prerequisite can jeopardize success in advanced courses, making retaking it a strategically sound recommendation.
Question 7: A university limits grade forgiveness to a maximum of 15 credit hours. A student has already used 12 hours. How many additional credit hours of forgiveness remain?
- 0 hours
- 3 hours (Correct answer)
- 5 hours
- 15 hours
Correct answer: 3 hours
15 total limit minus 12 already used equals 3 remaining credit hours of grade forgiveness.
GPA Effect of Retaking Courses 2
A student retakes a course and earns a higher grade.
Under a 'grade forgiveness' policy, which grade is used in the GPA calculation?