<p>How hard is it to maintain a 3.0+ GPA?</p>
<p>Haha, I love this question because everyone asks it, even though they all know that it is impossible to answer.</p>
<p>How can I give you an answer like "not very hard" or "really hard"?</p>
<p>Just as it is at every school, it all depends on your major, the classes you take, the professors you have, the amount of time and effort you put into your work, your study habits, your basic intelligence, etc.</p>
<p>There is no simple answer to this question, and I'm sure you knew that when you asked it. Is it easier to get a 3.0 at Pitt than it is at Harvard? Actually, due to grade inflation, it isn't. The best answer is work hard, study, go to class, ask questions, talk to your professor during office hours, and balance work and play. If you do all that and do it right, you'll do well. I believe my undergrad GPA was about a 3.7-3.8, and trust me, I worked my ass off for that. However, I also had tons of time to explore the city and have fun. It's all about finding the balance, and working hard when it is time to work.</p>
<p>You also must take into consideration how well you adjust to college life, and this is impossible to know without going through it. I know someone who had a 4.8 GPA and was a salutatorian in high school, and ended up dropping out of college (He actually ended up opening his own computer repair business a few years later and is doing quite well.) I also had a friend who had a 2.3 GPA and a 900 SAT and barely got into community college. He ended up doing amazingly well and transferring to Rutgers and finished with a better GPA than I did.</p>
<p>I agree. I had a 2.9 UW in high school, went to Pitt (probably by the skin of my teeth), went to all of my classes, paid attention, asked questions, went to office hours, did all of the non-required work, graduated from Pitt with a 3.54 and am now at a top PhD program in my field.</p>
<p>Conversely, my fiance had a 4.0 W, much higher SAT went to Pitt, went to barely any classes, did just enough to get by if that, and flunked out in 2 years. </p>
<p>It really depends on your internal drive and how well your high school prepared you for college.</p>
<p>thank for your input Ophiolite and Pat2323... DD has been offered a scholarship based on maintaining a 3.0 and we are trying to determine if it's reasonable to expect her to maintain that 3.0. What I'm gathering from your remarks is that if a bright, hard-working student comes into Pitt and remains a hard-working student, they should be able to keep their scholarship. Is that right? Would the fact that she's in engineering affect that generalization?</p>
<p>Yes in general. I took all of the normal first classes that engineering students take outside of engineering (i.e. math through diff eq., year chem, year physics) and was able to get good grades by being diligent about my class work. I had a friend that graduated high in my high school class and worked hard (while doing cross country) at Pitt and managed to graduate with a good GPA (don't know numbers, friends don't normally share that info in college as its poor form).</p>
<p>Pitt is no different than any other college. Engineering is one of the toughest undergrad majors wherever you go, and you must work hard to do well. It's not a question of whether she can maintain a 3.0 at Pitt, it's a question of whether she can maintain a 3.0 in college.</p>
<p>Not really hard. I did basically no work during my first semester, taking two honors classes, and spending most time working out and reading nutrition and physiology books (I'm engineer, so all extraneous classes), and still had a 3.1 or so.</p>