<p>What's your take? Too much competition? Or perfect balance of competition? How hard is it to get good grades? Is research easy to get involved in? How's the volunteer opportunities? Quality of education? Any pros, cons. anything you have to say. </p>
<p>Let's discuss!</p>
<p>i am pretty sure classes will be tough , most will have 150+ people in them, so its all going to come down to you, if you think you can make better grades at a smaller school go, after all to go to med school dont you need high grades and a few other things?</p>
<p>This is true for all students across the nation but UT science classes are tough and MANY students change their minds about med school. Most CNS students I’ve talked to told me they had 2.5s and 2.4 GPAs after their first semester and decided to do something else because med school was out the question.</p>
<p>From what I know, most science profs are full of themselves so unless your good at science and or you want to go to med school really badly, think about another major to choose from.</p>
<p>or just go to a smaller school where you would be able to keep your grades up,
so dont change your career just go where you think it will be easier to reach your goal, which is to go to med school</p>
<p>I would say that competition is not bad, but most classes are just hard. For instance, the calculus professors I have taken were horrible at teaching, while the exams and homework were hard.</p>
<p>Grade inflation does not seems to occur at all. You experience depends a lot on which professors you take. Some are definitely better/easier than others.</p>
<p>Is there a curve in all classes? Because, then you could ride the curve up if everyone does bad I guess.</p>
<p>I am a Psychology B.S./Pre-med major and it is really not that competitive. I was really nervous about being pre-med and how difficult it would be, but if you put the time and effort into it, you will be just fine. I can only speak for lower-division science classes though, beacuse those are the only ones I have taken since I am only a freshman in my second-semester. Definitely take Dr. Laude for chemistry… it’s a great class and not hard and he curves at the end. My biology teacher also curved a lot last semester. It’s not hard if you work at it. If you aren’t willing to put the time into your weeks for studying, then of course, it’s going to be competitive and difficult for you at any school, but especially at UT, since they’re are so many people working toward the same goal.</p>
<p>Are a lot of the premeds, perhaps, not really realistic about their goals and hence make it easier to get good grades? </p>
<p>Like, basically, the whole premed at UT is the ONLY thing deterring me from wanting to go to UT as badly as any other school. And are amazing SAT scores = amazing GPA in uni.?</p>
<p>And did you take AP/IB in high school? I do not have either option and I wonder if I may be a little behind and need to work harder than other first year.</p>
<p>And would getting X GPA at UT be just as good as the same X GPA at TAMU or Baylor? Is there any more respect and value for a GPA at UT when applying to med schools like Baylor/UT-Southwestern, and schools out of the state?</p>
<p>i dont think it will matter about “respect and value” because you will still have to take that test i think its the MCAT remember that has alot of weight itself. so dont think just because you go to a this school or that school , that you will look better than other students</p>
<p>^that’s true, but I mean, people compare prestige and such of schools like Ivys, but is there any variation between Texas schools. </p>
<p>(A harvard grad will find it easier to get into a top med school with stellar application than a grad at a lesser known school with the same stats. its a fact of life, but does the UT rep. help/recognizable in any way over other Texas schools?)</p>
<p>And can anyone answer the q’s in Post #8 please?</p>
<p>anyone wanna help me out with those q’s? Post 8 and 10 have some q’s that I am confused about. </p>
<p>Also, is getting research opportunities at UT difficult because of the enormity of the student body? Or are the grad students the ones that get most of the research?</p>
<p>I am currently a premed student at UT, about to finish my first year and honestly it all comes down to the professor. If you have crappy professors then kiss your premed dream goodbye. </p>
<p>To answer your questions, the students here are no BS and you always feel a sense of competition. Everyone wants to be better than everyone else and thanks to the top 10% rule, you will be competing with kids who were #1-10 in their class in high school (straight nerds). If you are not taking AP bio and chemistry at your HS then don’t bother. These kids fresh out of high school will be taking these and kill the curve significantly. If you plan on taking these classes, try to do well and understand the material. It will help you out so much. </p>
<p>Personally, If I could go back, I’d go to an easier school. Since so many people want to be doctors, the professors here will try really hard to weed you out. You will be studying several hours a day. But, in all honesty if you come here and really bust your butt then you should do fine. Doing well in high school does not necessarily mean you will do well at UT. It all comes down to you. If you really want it, then its for sure do-able. </p>
<p>From what I hear, a 3.5 here at UT is the equivalent to a 4.0 at Texas State. If you go to an easier school, then you need to do very well GPA wise. But rumor is when you apply to med school, they will take the school you attended to into consideration. The more prestigious, the more leeway in your GPA. Also, an advantage of coming to UT is that UT will prepare you very well for the MCAT. The material you will learn will go into great depth and should pay off. </p>
<p>I do see that your location states you are in Ontario, just so you know it will be very tough to get into UT OOS. I have met so many people here and I would say less than 1% of them are from OOS. </p>
<p>Good luck. Studying the right material + time management = success here at UT.</p>
<p>Here is my opinion: It is impossible to say “I made 2300 on my SAT so that means I will have a 4.0 in university”. Why? Because the correlation is not necessarily between the SAT score and gpa. SAT reflects the type of student you are, so people who score well on the standardized test will be the type of student that is driven to do well in school. The fact that students who scored well on SAT do well in university does not imply a causation there. In fact, this trend is not always true. Example: Would SAT Math section reflect how you will do in multivariable calculus? That answer is surely NO.</p>
<p>I think TAMU and UT are both respected schools so you are not gimped if you go to TAMU instead of UT or vice versa. The more important thing is that you do well on the MCAT. When all things are put aside, this is the one factor that is determined under the same conditions for everybody.</p>
<p>@naz333, man, that post really scares me. There is no way I’ll be able to take AP courses (not offered here at all). So, I will surely be behind.</p>
<p>So, could I ask you how do you make sure you get good professors? And I am even more stressed about getting good grades at UT now, but I am very happy that you did not sugar-coat it in any way and just said what its like in a frank manner. And would it be too rude to ask what your GPA currently stands at? And did you take AP in high school?</p>
<p>I have established Tex. residency and UT admissions office has confirmed that, so I <em>should</em> be able to get in. </p>
<p>“If you are not taking AP bio and chemistry at your HS then don’t bother.”
Does this mean that I will be screwed in intro. classes for not taking AP? How difficult would you say intro. classes are for those who have not taken AP?</p>
<p>How would you guys rate TAMU in comparison to UT (competition, research, etc.)?</p>
<p>ViggyRam - There is a positive correlation between students who do well on their SATs and students who do well on their MCATs. The SAT for aptitude, and if you did well on it, you’ll most likely do well on the MCAT as well. You do not need to take AP classes in high to do well in college. For example, I never took AP chem and hadn’t taken chem since sophomore year of HS and have done well making a solid A in gen. chem I and II so far. But it is more beneficial since premed students usually decide to retake their AP classes in college for an “easy” A and the GPA booster. Intro classes are mainly weedout classes everywhere, so no matter where you go, it’ll be pretty hard. </p>
<p>I currently attend Texas A&M as a freshman Biology major. I didn’t do really well on the SAT but am making a 4.0 GPA for my first year. 
I’m transferring over to UT this upcoming fall because A&M doesn’t offer much (or anything at all) for premeds. You have more opportunies at Austin than you do at College Station (volunteer, research, hospitals, etc.). The competition at A&M and UT are probably the same. </p>
<p>You should use myedu.com ($10/year) to pick and choose which professors will be good for you based on their reviews and grade distributions.</p>
<p>Well here is my story:</p>
<p>I am currently a sophomore. My freshman year I came to UT and took 32 hours and maintained a 3.7 GPA but I was a Liberal Arts student so the course-load was very easy. </p>
<p>I then decided I wanted to try the premed route (big mistake). I did not take AP science classes and I took BIO 311C and CH 301 last semester and made D’s in both. I would put in hours of study and simply fail my tests. UT requires you to make a C or better to move on so I am now retaking these classes and it <em>seems</em> as if it’s easier. It maybe better to take these classes a semester ahead of everyone else (in the spring instead of the fall) as classes will be almost empty. I probably have 40-50 biology students in my class compared to 150 last semester. Last semester though, I waited until the last minute and got crap teachers. My teachers this semester are so much better. The teacher makes the biggest difference. I would recommend using MyEdu when registering or RateMyProfessors.com. </p>
<p>Please note that UT does NOT have a retake-and-replace policy unlike other campuses. What you make is embedded into your transcript. My advisor never told me this and I got screwed badly. I figured I would retake these classes and replace my D’s but that’s not the case. </p>
<p>Not taking AP classes is not the end of the world and for some I am sure its do-able, but I struggled. I’m also not the brightest kid in the world. Also, I’m not too familiar with TAMU but for premed I would recommend a decent school like Baylor, Rice or UT.</p>
<p>@Xcellerator: that’s very interesting because I was also seriously considering A&M, but now you mentioned that they offer limited opportunities. </p>
<p>But, you have a 4.0 at A&M, are you worried at all that UT might lower that GPA or not?</p>
<p>And I thought A&M might’ve been easier/less competitive since less top 10% kids go there than at UT.</p>
<p>I’m still so confused. Basically would the difficulty at UT, TAMU, Baylor, Rice, etc. all be about the same? Is this something to even consider when picking a school to apply to/go to?</p>
<p>@ViggyRam ask yourself do you really want to volunteer in college? if you go to A&M or UT you will get in medical school(with good MCAT too). and yes it is easier to get into A&M than UT since they only have about 50% top 10 kids. @Xcellerator wanted to go to UT coming out of HS so that is his main reason for leaving A&M.</p>
<p>but overall im pretty sure every school has its hard/easy classes(or professors), this is like a kid picking University of Houston because they assume it will be easier than UT/Baylor/a&m/rice. Every-school will have something different to offer, so keep that in mind when applying.</p>
<p>and @Xcellerator has a 4.0 because he studied and put work towards it.</p>
<p>Yes, I had to wait a year just to get a volunteering spot in a hospital…and don’t even think about shadowing here. College Station is pretty small with almost nothing to do to here.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m a little worried because of UT’s new GPA scale. I would be ok if my GPA dipped a bit as long as it stays at least a 3.75+. </p>
<p>Both schools are almost as equally competitive. Lots of kids that are not top 10% are really really bright students that couldn’t get into UT b/c of the top 10 rule.</p>
<p>man UT is increasing tuition , why do they see the need to charge people more> @xcellerator how do you plan on paying for UT?</p>
<p>and i dont think anyone goes to A&M to live in college station lol</p>