College of Natural Sciences

<p>So who's attending in the fall of 2010? What major? Are you considering any FIGs or the FRI?</p>

<p>pre-pharmacy
considering FIG
whats an FRI?</p>

<p>^ pre-pharm too! but I want to change it into a Biology/Chem major.</p>

<p>Bio for me, what exactly are FIGs/FRI?</p>

<p>Bio for me, what exactly are FIGs/FRI?</p>

<p>FIGs are First-Year Interest Groups.
[First-year</a> Interest Groups | School of Undergraduate Studies](<a href=“First-Year Interest Groups | TEXAS Undergraduate Studies”>First-Year Interest Groups | TEXAS Undergraduate Studies)</p>

<p>FRI is the Freshman Research Initiative.
[Freshman</a> Research Initiative](<a href=“http://web3.cns.utexas.edu/fri/]Freshman”>http://web3.cns.utexas.edu/fri/)</p>

<p>Both are highly recommended.</p>

<p>Is FRI the only way to do research as a first year? What other ways are there? And how selective are their admissions? Thank you for answering!</p>

<p>I was told that it is very selective. It’s such a great opportunity not to miss out on!</p>

<p>Thank you everyone for this invaluable information. I suppose I would’ve never known about it had it not been for you all. So, to answer the OP’s question, I am applying for the FRI and am interesting in FIGs.</p>

<p>Perhaps I missed this on the link provided, but how exactly does one go about creating/joining a FIG? Or is it just a thing with some close friends in similar classes?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Could anyone please tell me anything they know about the Computer Science program?</p>

<p>FRI is not the only way to do research freshman year, but it would probably be difficult to find a professor who is willing to expend time and resources on a freshman. FRI offers opportunities for inquiry-based coursework – for example, instead of taking a regular general chem lab, you can take the FRI lab where you are given a problem to solve rather than a procedure to follow.</p>

<p>There are two kinds of FIGs, residential FIGS (where you live together in very nice housing) and college based FIGs. UT creates them and you sign up for them; the process is different for the two different kinds. There’s a lot of info on the UT web site.</p>

<p>From what I have seen, it looks like anyone will get accepted into either FRI or FIG. You’ll hear a lot more about it during orientation, which is where you will sign up for those programs.</p>

<p>I’m going to be a biology major with a concentration in human biology (Option II under the Biology major). I’m also pre-med</p>

<p>I’m a Biology major right now, but I’m not sure if I want to do Pre-med or not. I hear it’s insanely competitive and time consuming. I want to go to medical school, but I want to get used to college life first before I take on something I can’t handle.</p>

<p>Bearkat11, All you need to do to be pre med is to be sure you have taken the classes required for med school admission and then register for the MCAT test. There’s nothing unusual to take on. You can major in anything you want. Med school admissions are competitive, but taking pre-med classes at UT is not a big deal.</p>

<p>Check with your advisor to confirm this, but really, all you need to do is to be sure that at some point during your first three years of college, you take (at college) a year of bio, a year of chem, a year of organic chem, a year of physics, and a year of calculus. Then register for the MCAT. (If you do well on standardized tests and pay attention in the required classes, you should do well on the MCAT. Volunteer work at a hospital or clinic helps with med school admissions too - there is a whole forum on this on another part of CC.) Good luck!</p>