<p>Ive heard a lot of people say that uci classes are extremely difficult. I recently went to orientation and a lot of the people I met (new freshmen) had under a weighted 4.0 in high school. This made me think maybe the classes aren't hard, but the type of people who take them find them hard. Not to say there aren't people who had over a 4.0 in high school. Personally I had over a 4.0 and I'm wondering if ill find the classes as difficult as theyve been made out to be</p>
<p>Hit or miss. Some classes require 10 page reports and regular attendance, knowledge from a previous course, and a final where the average is <50%. Some classes have 2 multiple choice tests that require little-to-no studying.</p>
<p>Sometimes the easy classes are the former and the hard classes are the latter.</p>
<p>I was basically a B student in high school but earned a 4.0 for my entire sophomore year at UCI (Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, Molecular Biology, ect). Sure, you have to study hard but what really helps is the curve that UCI uses for all its science courses. There are tons of slackers at UCI who will conveniently pad the bottom for you to fall back on. Now, if you aren’t a science major, then i dunno. Maybe the classes are as hard as people say. Before starting at UCI, I also heard the rumors of how cutthroat the school is but they’re all false.</p>
<p>Subjective… really depends on your professors and major, and how your personal study habits are.</p>
<p>depends on the person.</p>
<p>I know people who had 4.3 GPAs in HS to get under 3.0s at UCI.
I know a guy with a 2.7HS GPA and a 3.7 UCI GPA.</p>
<p>I had a 3.5 in both and did basically no studying ever and hardly ever tried.</p>
<p>The best advice I can give - GPA matters more than major. Internships/work experience matter more than major(name matters, go for well known companies such as those in the Fortune 500)</p>
<p>Applied math vs. computer science vs. engineering vs. physics… all “close enough” in most cases. The guy who interns at JPL or NASA with a major in math will get more engineering jobs than the average engineer.
The same concept applies to “business”. Business Econ = Econ = Bus Admin. Just do what’s easiest. Heck, consider majoring in ANYTHING and just doing a minor to show interest. It’s close enough
Premed - major doesn’t matter. Just take the easiest courses that knock out the premed requirements for your desired program. Inflate GPA
Etc.</p>
<p>Ideally you’d do the following</p>
<p>Summer before frosh year - do something fun/cool that you can talk about
frosh year - check out a few clubs relevant to fields you’re interested in. Get to know a few people. Do 1 or 2 practice interviews at the career center.
Summer before Soph Year - volunteer, study abroad(preferably at an elite university to get the name on the resume), or do a leadership/research program at a leading US uni
Sophomore year - formally join 1 or 2 clubs. Be active. Start looking for internships. Do something small during the year if you can. Consider basically ANYTHING at a well known firm to get the name on the resume.
Summer before junior year - some sort of an internship
Junior year - you should be a LEADER in a club at this point. You should note that serious internship hunting occurs NOW. A lot of the best positions become available in the winter. Good luck
Summer before senior year - do an amazing internship.
Senior year - find your dream job during the Fall. This is when people hire.</p>