I applied Early Action and got in, but I’m wondering how hard it is to get a 3.8 or higher as a Biochemistry Major. I got a 1550 on the SAT and am a National Merit Semifinalist. I also have a 4.5 GPA and a 3.97 unweighted GPA, along with extracurricular participation in Science Olympiad, Academic Decathlon, as well as self-studying Japanese. Given my stats, to what extent will the difficulty be in getting a 3.8 or higher?
This is challenging at any school in that major. You need the go in dead serious about your studies. Take advantage of dept office hours and any tutoring from the dept Find a paid tutor if you are struggling. Try to read and work ahead in your classes so you are refining your knowledge in lectures and sections, not just figuring it out then. If you don’t understand your section TA, try another section. For any classes with papers, take af advantage of the Writing Center if there is one. Go to the library after dinner instead of back to the dorm so you aren’t tempted to study less.
It’s very very hard, even with your stats.
It depends. Your stats say you are college capable. But, once in college it will take consistent effort to do well.
Really hard per my son. But, the hardest part for him is all the liberal arts stuff that is required. He had A’s in organic ! and 2 for example but then had a C in Great Texts as did many other students who got c’s and lower. Very frustrating. He is a math/science guy.
My daughter just finished up her freshman fall semester on the pre med track as a BioChem major who took 16 hours. She got a 4.0. She was incredibly disciplined and consistently put school first. I thought she had impressive stats from high school but yours are better. You clearly have the intelligence, so if you are willing to work for it, you should be fine. My daughter has so many wonderful things to say about Baylor’s pre med program.
Some pre-Med friends of my child did research and found Baylor’s statistics for higher GPA and Med school admission support were higher than other Texas schools.
Adding onto what intparent said, it’s hard to get a 3.8 gpa at any school with a biochemistry major. Calculus is a beast here at Baylor and biochem majors are required to take calc 1(if not already received credit from AP or IB classes in high school). You may even have to take Calc 2 as well. From the surface, your stats from highschool show that you have the potential to excel as a biochem major at Baylor. Therefore I’d say a 3.8 is achievable(at least for your first two years at Baylor).
Very hard but not immpossible. Pre med at Baylor is a meat grinder but with a very high success rate for those who get to med school.