<p>Hello,
I'm applying to UT Austin, not in the top 10 (top 25), 3.82 GPA, 1980 SAT, good ECs...</p>
<p>I was wondering how hard are the natural science classes? (Bio major) Is it easy to get a GPA close to a 4.0? I would say I'm a hard worker, I progressed through high school... from taking 1 honors freshman year to 7 APs senior year.</p>
<p>Also, as for the ranking system, if you're not in the top 8%, do they look at your rank as a block (i.e. top 25%)? Or is it the exact rank (i.e. 23.002%)?</p>
<p>It’s really difficult to get a 4.0. Lets put it that way. Look at one of the engineering threads that has the topic “Average Engineering GPA” and their is a PDF file that breaks down all the numbers- from the number of people in each college, the average GPA in each college after fall/spring, etc.</p>
<p>ah, ok, thanks for the info.</p>
<p>I’m a bio major (Freshman):</p>
<p>It’s hard getting a 4.0 only because most teachers now use the plus minus scale, meaning that for the most part you can’t really miss that many questions on the test . </p>
<p>Most of my classes aren’t necessarily hard, it’s just a bit tougher to get that 94 needed to get a full 4.0.</p>
<p>Getting all A-'s isn’t that bad as long as you just actually study and keep along with the HW.</p>
<p>Some teachers don’t use plus minus though, so look out for that since it can be a huge help if you are decent at the class but not great, but can suck if you are just alright at the class (midrange B is a 3.0 instead of a 3.3).</p>
<p>lockdown22, I appreciate your comment. I’ll look into classes that don’t use the +/- scale, hopefully boost my GPA up a lot. I will be taking Bio (BA) by the way, since I’m applying to pre-Med.</p>
<p>When it comes to the pre-med requirements (calc, bio, physics, chem, ochem) none of the concepts in these classes will be beyond your grasp, but your professor choice and willingness to put in the study time will make the difference between med school student and lost soul with a bio degree and a 3.4 GPA. </p>
<p>In case you don’t already know, the website MyEdu is a tremendous help in choosing the right profs because it has all the teacher’s grade breakdowns from previous semesters.</p>
<p>Good luck and try not to overload yourself in the first semester if you are not super confident about your study habits. I personally didn’t study in high school and the transition has been extremely drastic for me, hopefully that is not the case for you. If you would like some guidance about getting good grades I have heard so many people swear by “How to become a straight-A student” by Cal Newport, so maybe give that a try</p>
<p>Thank you for all the information, I really appreciate the “My Edu” advice, I’ll study the same amount for any class depending on the teacher, but if he/she is “easier”, then why not take that class? I have started to study a lot senior year, because AP Bio is a killer, so hopefully the transition for me won’t be too harsh.</p>
<p>I got a 3.8 bio/chem got into med school. Not difficult. Its all about time management.</p>
<p>The transition is harsh no matter what.</p>
<p>Think about it UT-Austin is the Princeton of Texas, Texas A&M is the Yale of Texas, Baylor is Stanford of Texas, and Texas Tech is the Duke of Texas. So getting a 4.0 at any of these schools will be hard. </p>
<p>UT is such a difficult school. I can’t imagine the workload at UT, so hard man. good luck getting a 4.0 at the Princeton of Texas. The transition from high school to the GREAT princeton of Texas is going to be hard on any freshman, my advice is to create a study plan, where you study around 4 hours a day, outside of class, to do well.</p>
<p>well crap sorry i just found out the link doesnt work anymore lol</p>
<p>Wow, how come it’s so low? Is it hard to get a 3.7 +?</p>
<p>It is not hard to get a 3.7+, you have not been to college to realize the amount of waste there. Many kids fail classes because they have never been to them. Then many people do poorly because they do not study. </p>
<p>I dropped out of HS at 16, and could have 4.0. The transition from stuff being easy to having to learn on your own is the only hurdle to overcome. Biology is just mainly memorization. Its all about what you put in.</p>
<p>^ Its sooooooooo hard to do well at the prestigious University of Texas Austin. I know so many smart kids there that complain of it being so hard. They work so hard to get their gpas up. They take their classes very seriously at UT. Its much harder than Ivy League schools + Stanford+ MIT. Ivy league schools are a joke compared to THE UT-Austin. Ivy League schools and other private top 25 schools have so much grade inflation compared to UT-Austin. I don’t know how UT Austin kids manage to find the time to party all night long, and do well in classes, because its such a demanding/hard/prestigious school. Honestly the kids at those top 25 schools and they ivyies are just lazy kids (not to mention rich kids) who act “smart”. We know the real smart kids go to UT-Austin. If any Ivy League student/top 25 school student had to spend 1 semester at UT-Austin, he/she would not last a month, cuz its sooooo hard.</p>
<p>VF, why are you being so sarcastic? Oh, were you able to get your grades up second semester at Vandy?</p>
<p>Ok, I see. Thanks MaineLonghorn and entropy.</p>
<p>Entropy is clearly a genius so his viewpoint is probably skewed, but he is right about grades being dependent on how much and how smart you study. As I said, none of the topics will be beyond your mental capacity to understand, it will just come down to repetition and seeking the right help if you need it.</p>
<p>UT has a great tutoring center and even academic coaches so if you are struggling make sure to take advantage!</p>
<p>and ignore vandy and his love for usnews rankings</p>