<p>I would really like to go to UNC, but I read that the average GPA was around 2.91 (something in that area, at least). Would any current student care to comment on how difficult it is to get As here? Thanks.</p>
<p>classes are pretty tough here. I know some senior chem majors with a 3.0 gpa and they say thats really good for a chem major. A lot of classes are curved. Your also going to find a lot TAs who are told to grade hard and they don't like giving too many As because they're afriad they'd lose their crediablity. Classes have a lot of out of class reading, studying and writing papers or lab reports. If you come to carolina expect to get a C, but don't sweat its very normal. Some classes are fixed so that a certain percent get A's, B's, and C's (those are the curved classes). For example, my chemistry class curved, I was getting 50s on the tests (we only had 3 tests and that made up our grade), but the class average(over 300 students) was in the 50s, so because I was getitng the same grade as the class average I got a C in the class. If my average was above class average I might have gotten a C+ or B-.</p>
<p>O yea another thing to remember is a B- is not worth the same as a B. Getting a B a class will give you that 3.0 quality points but a B- is worth less than 3.0 quality points, its something like 2.somthing but a B- is better than a C+ (a C+ is worth more than a C which is 2.0 quality points)</p>
<p>Your GPA is almost always affected by what your majoring in. Science majors usually have the lowest GPAs. I'm sure this is common at other colleges. I'm a science major, well now a soft science major, but i was a bio major. I got all As in high school and my first semester gpa at carolina was a 2.8 , but i did have friends who did better first semester, it all depends on major and who's your teacher. A very helpful resource for choosing teachers is pickaprof. register and you can read student reviews on the teacher and see that teachers grade distribution.</p>
<p>So basicially classes at UNC are tough, but come on what do you expect this isn't NCSU.</p>
<p>o yea, A's are possible they just require a lot of work. Don't expect a lot of easy A's at UNC though.</p>
<p>Wow..that's a little intimidating. Do most students study very hard though?</p>
<p>I think that grade deflation is probably the wrong way to look at it. More likely our grades are more resistant to the national trend of grade inflation that seems to affect many schools. Even so, i've seen stats that show that the average grades today are significantly higher than they were 20 years ago. Having said that, there are few easy As, and that is apparent. As a student, that can be frustrating at times, but in the long term it is probably good for us to have to work a little bit for decent grades. I have no way of knowing, but the stereotype of the Ivy League school is that once you are in, good grades are more or less guaranteed. I have heard that some rediculously high percentage of students at Harvard graduate with honors. So if that is true, Carolina is a bit different. I think it is mostly for the better, because it is a good habit to be in to have to work for things, right? And a little challenge now and then never hurt anyone.</p>
<p>I think I'd like grade deflation. If there is massive inflation, then it wouldn't be hard to get a 100. But with deflation, just getting a 85 would be a pain in the ass. Wouldn't you rather have more stuff to learn so that when you get in the real world the transition won't be as bad?</p>
<p>yea but your at college to major in some field of study, not to learn stuff to get u through life in the real world, but there's probably class that will help for the real world. Like Intro to Golf, i hope to get into that class my junior year.</p>
<p>But serously don't worry so much about the grades your getting, like COtarheel said, carolina does things different from other schools and don't look too much at the grade deflation.</p>
<p>Here's some tips though:
1)read the chapters, probably should read them before you go over them in lecture
2)go to class
3)for math classes, do the math problems in your book, they aren't always graded but do them anyway
4)if you need help go to one of the help centers, or go to office hours and talk with ur professor
5) participating in class always helps me better learn the matieral.
6) don't go out thursday night
7) if there's distractions in ur room, go to the library to study
8) don't get overwelmed by the out of class work
9) don't expect to get the same grades as you did in high school, cause to be honest high school was easy, but that doens't mean there are no easy classes in college.
10) don't start studying for a test the day before, tests in college are usually worth a major part of your grade, if a test is going to cover several chapters then maybe you should start studying at least a week before the test date</p>