<p>Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find anything detailed. Can past/current students describe how hard it is to maintain a 3.5+ in the COE. I know its not that hard for majors like Operations Research and Engineering but what about for Computer Science, MechE, EE, etc. Is it achievable through a lot of effort or is it pretty much impossible unless you're innately smart? And is it true that only the top 30% each class get an A? How heavy is the daily course load?</p>
<p>It’s not bad if you:</p>
<p>1) Keep on top of the course material. This doesn’t mean you need to cram the book every night or even read it at all. As long as by the end of the week you sort of understand the concepts taught in the past week you should be okay. Homework and discussions tend to help a lot here.
2) Have good study habits. Different things work for different people. A lot of people are really good at cramming and that’s fine - other people need to find a good study group to do well and that’s okay too.</p>
<p>I’m in ECE and except for finals week and weeks when projects are due I pretty much have a lot of free time. I think I do more reading for my business classes than I do for my major classes…</p>
<p>my roommate is an ece major. he got a 4.3 gpa this semester while taking 22 credits. the guy is a genius and never moves from his desk. he typically has 10 page homework assignments due weekly and 20 page labs. multiple of those per week. however, he is asian and took differential equations in like 6th grade so yea</p>
<p>thanks for the information guys, it was really helpful. ECE is probably the toughest major there is so you guys that are in it are probably really smart.
So how difficult are engineering tests/homework for the average/somewhat smart person? Also is there grade deflation in the engineering school?</p>
<p>If you work hard and were smart enough to get into Cornell, then you can get 3.5+. I emphasize work hard. </p>
<p>Some people can get nearly 4.0 in ECE without working TOO hard, if they are quite bright. </p>
<p>Some people might end up crying because they think they worked so hard and are so smart but can’t get above a C - these people are probably either very rare exceptions who for some unknown reason tend to bomb tests, but more likely they don’t actually work CORNELL hard (this may involve working all night Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday, and weekdays, if you have to). </p>
<p>So, no, it isn’t impossible at all, but you’ll almost definitely have to work very hard, be motivated, and be pretty smart. If you got in, don’t worry too much about the last one. Also, I wouldn’t say there is grade deflation. You might have a class where the exam averages are about 65-70%, homework and labs a bit higher, but there’s a bell curve around a B/B-. One engineering class ended up with about half the students getting A- or better, just because they all did that well. There is a heavy daily course load, but it depends on how many classes you take, and which year you mean. You’ll definitely have time to eat, do fun stuff on campus some days, etc. But don’t expect to be able to take a weekend camping trip (unless you get lucky, which is possible). And some weeks you might barely have time to eat if you have 3 prelims or something.</p>
<p>The tests are sometimes really difficult, sometimes really easy. But really, they are only really easy if you know the material very well. There isn’t really a way to explain. It’s nothing like high school where you can blow off studying and still get an A.</p>