Wondering how many times can you retake a class (what happens if you fail a class 3 times in college)? Some college classes are more complex than others. You’ve probably not done as well as you wanted in a class, and you may be trying to retake it for the fourth time.
We talked about what will happen if you try to take it a fourth time, as well as any consequences you might face.
How Many Times Can You Retake a College Class?
This depends on your school. You would not be allowed to sit a class more than three times most of the time. Why may you ask? You would prevent others who’ve not taken the module before from taking it. A limited number of seats might be available.
If you want to take a class for the fourth time, you must write an appeal. You would have to discuss with your academic advisor how you can get this done. Once you send the request, whether it would get approved or not depends on how persuasive you were.
Also, some very competitive schools don’t let students sit the same class more than twice.
Should You Sit a Class Again?
Let’s say you want to retake a class. If it is the first time you are retaking it, you should have no problem. The question is, should you? You may be dead set on getting an excellent GPA, which is why retaking a module again might be required.
However, a retake would result in you graduating later than everyone in your batch. This is especially true if this is your second or third retake.
Most scholarships require you to perform at a certain academic standard. If you don’t, you will get your funding revoked. This would warrant a re-sit.
Also, you may be planning on attending a competitive graduate school. You’ll need the best possible grades to get in, so not doing well in a subject would be a reason to retake it.
You don’t need me to tell you that university is costly. If you retake a subject multiple times, your course will take an extra year or two to complete. This would result in a lot of extra money spent, so ask yourself if this would be worth it.
Do Retaking Classes Look Bad On Transcripts?
As mentioned, failing a class would bring down your GPA. However, if your school doesn’t use the grade-point system, will failing one class be that big of a deal? The failed grade would show up on your transcript. This would affect your chances of getting into a good grad school. There is no way to hide a failed grade unless you replace it with better grades.
How Can You Improve Your Grades?
Unfortunately, you may have failed a class. You’re now thinking of retaking it. What are the chances that you’d fail it again, though? If the study material is challenging, or you have a terrible professor, the chances are unfortunately high.
Several tips should help you do better:
Hire Tutors
Your campus probably has many student resources. One of them would include tutors. The tutors your school would offer would be seniors who have done well in the class you’re having trouble with. As you can imagine, you would have to pay them.
Instead of hiring from your school, you could hire a third-party tutor. Maybe your friends know someone who can help?
Make a Schedule
You may not have done as well as you liked in the class, as you didn’t spend much time studying. The best solution would be to create a timetable and stick to it. The more you stick to a timetable, the more it would become habitual.
Get rid of any distractions that may prevent you from focusing on your studies too. This may mean deactivating your social media accounts.
Speak to Older Students
The class may not be challenging because of the study material, but because you have to do lengthy assignments. You can make the projects easier by speaking to seniors. Hopefully, they can hand in any projects they’ve done. This would help you get a better idea of the assignments you have to do.
Speaking of students who’ve sat the class before, it would be a good idea to get tips and tricks from them.
Utilize Office Hours
Professors have office hours where you can meet them. If you’re finding your study material hard, it would be ideal to use the office hours to get your professor to explain them to you.
Also, your lecturer would guide you through what you can do to gain extra credit. Additional assignments that could help improve your grade may be available.
Get in Touch with the Student Counselor
Colleges want their students to perform at their best, which is why they offer student counseling. The counselors will help if you’re struggling with anything personal that is hindering your performance.
Don’t Be Negative
Unfortunately, the class in question may be tough. Yes, studying for it would be challenging. However, you would make it more difficult if you don’t keep up a positive mindset. Always be positive and affirm that you’re going to do well.
Have Study Groups
Make studying easier by hitting the books with others in your class. You could explain complex topics to each other. Moreover, being in an environment with friends would motivate you to perform at your best.
Drop the Class
The final resort would be to drop the class. You may have spent a lot of time trying to ace it, but it’s just too hard. There would most likely be other classes you could take. If the course is mandatory, you should speak to your academic advisor and determine what dropping it would entail.
Before you pick a replacement, it would be wise to do your research on it. It wouldn’t be smart to take another challenging subject, or a class with a professor who is not that good.
What Happens If You Fail a Class Three Times?
You might be able to retake it for the fourth time. As mentioned, though, you would have to make an appeal. Whether your request gets accepted or not depends on how well you explain why you need to re-sit again.
Not all universities let students retake a class more than three times. Hopefully, you lucked out and are not attending such a school.
What are the consequences of failing a class so many times? It would affect your GPA. If your GPA drops to 2.0 or below, you would be put on probation. Depending on the school you’re attending, how long this probation period would be would differ.
Is Graduating Late That Bad?
If you’re adamant about retaking a class until you get a desired grade, you will end up graduating late. You probably wouldn’t want this, as you would get your degree a year or two later than your friends. Also, you would be paying extra as your course would be prolonged.
As you can imagine, spending an extra year or two in college won’t look good on your resume either.
Final Thoughts
College students can retake a class a maximum of 3 times, most of the time. If they want to retake it a fourth time, they have to write a special letter to the school. It might not be worth it to redo a class so many times, as you would graduate late. Moreover, you would be spending extra, as your course would be prolonged.
If you are going to take a module again, below are some tips that should help you improve your grades:
- Make a schedule
- Hire a tutor
- Join a study group
- Be positive