How hard is the courseload at UMD?

<p>Hi, I am an incoming freshmen at UMCP this fall. I am wondering how hard is the course work? is it hard to get a 3.75+ gpa?</p>

<p>That’s a very subjective question, the answer to which changes depending on the student and the major. I got a 3.6 my first semester taking some random introductory classes and a math course. I got a 4.0 my second semester taking mainly business classes. I don’t consider myself a genius nor did I bust my ass to get those, but I also think my strengths lie in those courses. Whereas if I did engineering classes I’d probably have a 2.0! And likewise, a person who can get a 3.7 as a math major may struggle to get a 3.0 as a philosophy major.</p>

<p>@riobravo are you a business major? if so, how hard is the business school specifically in terms of workload?</p>

<p>Not very, powder11. My son graduated from the Smith School in May with a double degree (150 credits total) and didn’t find it particularly tough.</p>

<p>If you keep up with the assigned work and don’t let yourself get behind, you’ll be much better off than those who let things slide and then try to get caught up. Keeping an appropriate balance between work and fun is also important too.</p>

<p>Both Ds would say that their double degrees were/are a lot of work. Some of astrogirl’s astro and physics classes were particularly tough and involved a lot of teeth-gnashing on her part to get through. D2’s classes have been LOTS of reading and a couple of profs with a total of 2 tests and a final that didn’t seem to match up with what was either lectured about or assigned reading, so she got a couple of chinks in her previously untarnished GPA (3rd semester).</p>

<p>@Powder hopeful business major. Didn’t apply for it when I applied for admission so I have to do the whole internal transfer application show. So far I’ve taken BMGT220 (Accounting I), ECON200 (Micro), COMM107 (public speaking), MATH220 (Business calc) and BMGT230 (Statistics). Stats was by far the hardest course, got a B-. I got an A/A- in the rest without breaking my back, but I will admit it was down to the wire for those courses. Had I not kicked it into high gear during finals week I would have gotten B+s. But overall I don’t find them very hard. Of course every person has their strengths; I’m sure some English majors would find business very difficult while I would find English difficult.</p>

<p>If you’re in high school then definitely apply for the business school if that’s what you’re interested in. If you get admitted then it’s very easy to stay in the major (they do a review at like 45 or 60 credits but as long as you’re getting Bs you’re fine), but if you’re not admitted then it’s a bit of a pain to become one since you have to take all those pre-reqs, get great grades, get great recommendations and have either work experience or club leadership experience. You also have to write an essay (well, they recommend it, and you know what that means).</p>