Repeating a Course with GPA Recalculation
This policy applies only to continuing students whose first term at UIC was prior to Fall 2017.
Important Note: Grade point average recalculation for a repeated course is not automatic. Students must initiate a request with an LAS academic advisor as outlined below. The grade point average recalculation policy only applies toward originally earned grades of D or F. It does not apply toward originally earned grades of C or higher, nor does it apply to courses failed as a result of a student conduct hearing.
For the grade point average recalculation policy to apply, a student must request to repeat a course for GPA Recalculation with an LAS academic advisor. Students must submit this request before the end of the official add/drop period, no later than the second Friday of the fall and spring terms, the first Wednesday of Summer Session 1, or the first Friday of Summer Session 2. The course must be repeated within three terms of the receipt of the original grade, and it must be taken at UIC. Only one registration for the course counts toward the total number of semester hours required for graduation.
Students are allowed grade point average recalculation in up to four repeated courses. Under the course repeat policy, every attempt at a course and each grade received in those attempts appears on the transcript under the semester in which they were taken. Under the grade point average recalculation policy, the grade earned the first time the course was taken is dropped from the calculation of the cumulative GPA and the grade(s) earned when the course is repeated is, instead, calculated into the GPA. This rule holds even if the second grade is lower than the first. If a course is repeated more than once, the first grade is not counted in the GPA, but all other grades for that course are calculated into the cumulative GPA. This policy is available in the UIC Undergraduate Catalog.
Things to Consider Heading link
Reasons TO request to repeat a course with GPA recalculation:
Extenuating circumstances that prevented you from dropping the course and/or performing to the best of your ability.
Reasons NOT TO request to repeat a course with GPA recalculation:
- Repeating a course removes any credit that was earned with your initial completion of the course (if you earned a D). This impacts your Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), a requirement in order to continue receiving Financial Aid.
- The grade earned as a result of your initial completion of the course is removed from your UIC GPA, but it appears on your transcript. It will likely be factored into your GPA when it is calculated by professional schools – particularly programs that are calculating a Math and Science GPA.
- Repeating a course means that you are spending time, credit hours, and money on a course that you have already taken, and means that you are not making any forward progress towards requirements or your degree.
- Courses completing General Education or Foreign Language Requirements should not be retaken for these reasons, unless you need a stronger knowledge base before taking a subsequent course.
- The second grade you earn in the course replaces the first grade you earned, even if it is lower.
- If repairing your GPA (as opposed to improving your knowledge base) is your intended outcome, this is likely best accomplished by pursuing a new course, as opposed to repeating one in which you have previously struggled.