<p>First, a little bit about myself. I have been fortunate enough to have been offered admission into the Colgate class of 2014. I am extremely excited for the coming school year, but I'm worried about the transition from high school level work to college level work. I've attended public high school all my life and I'm worried I'm going to have a very rough first semester.</p>
<p>My current high school barely, if ever, sends students to selective schools. Most of the students either go to the state schools, and around 1/3 of the students go to community college. I'm doing very well in my classes, pulling mostly A+'s, but I doubt that the rigor of my classes, even if they are AP, is comparable to the rigor of classes found in high schools that send almost all of their students to 4 year colleges. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with the rigor of the work at Colgate? Any input and advice, especially from current or past students, would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>The classes are definitely quite rigorous, but they take pretty good care of you. All first-years have an FSEM (First-Year Seminar) with (at the very most) 18 students, the professor that will be your advisor until you declare, and an upperclassman “Link” to help you learn the ropes of college. The FSEM class is designed to help you learn college study skills, how to write research papers, how to use the library, etc. Nearly every department has juniors and seniors majoring in that subject as tutors available every night, so you can go in the evening for help. All professors have office hours and will sit down with you and go over material - just ask! There’s a Writing Center with students (that have applied and a very good at writing) who can help you work through writing a college paper (they won’t do it for you, but will help with the process). There’s [Colgate</a> University : Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research](<a href=“http://www.colgate.edu/academics/centersandinstitutes/centerforlearningteachingandresearch]Colgate”>http://www.colgate.edu/academics/centersandinstitutes/centerforlearningteachingandresearch) that provides advising, teaches study skills, etc.</p>
<p>As long as you make a bit of an effort to take advantage of these, there’s plenty of ways Colgate provides support.</p>
<p>No problem! As long as you’re responsible about it, you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that in general, most students get lower GPAs at Colgate than they did in high school. The average GPA for admitted students is 3.73 and I think the average GPA for current Colgate students is closer to 3.4? (I can’t remember where I read that though…) A+s are fairly hard to come by, though not impossible (depending on the professor/class). Just because you aren’t doing “as well” at Colgate as in high school doesn’t mean anything - just that the competition got a lot harder!</p>
<p>I don’t want to scare you or anything, but Colgate is apparently known for grade deflation, too, so there won’t be 20% of the class with GPAs above a 4.0 (it’s usually closer to 4-5 people maximum in a given graduating class). Luckily, it seems to be pretty well known, so a 3.6 at Colgate means much more to a grad school than a 3.6 at a 4.0-factory school.</p>
<p>Long story short, don’t get too worried/take it personally if you don’t get straight As like you did in high school!</p>
<p>I think 3.4 is above average at Colgate. The Dean’s list cut off is 3.3. If you do a google search you’ll find the GPA’s published by the office of Greek life at Colgate - I think the average gpa at Colgate is more like 3.1-3.2. Colgate is known for grade deflation, although grad schools will look at grades within the context of the school you are coming from.</p>
<p>I think freshmen who get into academic trouble at Colgate are often those who get behind in their ongoing work. It’s hard to catch up once you fall behind. Keep up with your work from the start and you will be fine.</p>
<p>According to my official transcript given my final Colgate GPA and rank in class. I do think 3.1-3.2 is the average GPA. Grad schools will definitely take Colgate’s rigorous curriculum into account when they evaluate your GPA. Certain departments are tougher than others. </p>
<p>The all around the main message is that professors are tough because they want you to succeed and push you for that reason. They don’t hate students (well, not that many) but just care a lot about students’ successes. After all, this is a teaching-focused school.</p>
<p>Competition is there but this is much more friendly environment in terms of studying together and sharing resources. Here at Michigan, I have heard terrible stories about pre-meds… pre-meds, supposedly, aren’t this bad at Colgate. Everyone collaborates because everyone wants to see each other succeed and do well at Colgate. And that’s just the nature of Colgate community.</p>
<p>I have heard of freshmen getting into academic trouble. It’s mostly due to too much partying. Like at any other college, you need to try to stay on top of your readings so you won’t get in too much trouble at the end of the semester. In reality, smart profs know to just let their students pass with a C- because it does more damage to the student’s overall GPA than a F (because you don’t get credits and it doesn’t really impact the GPA as much)</p>
<p>Although it sounds like the work at Colgate sounds really tough, it’s really reassuring to know that Graduate schools will take note of the rigor of Colgate’s cirriculum.</p>
<p>It’s rigorous and your grades are going to drop (every single one of my first semester freshman professors gave us this whole speech before handing back our first papers, it was terrifying). But everyone else is going through the same thing. Most people are friendly and want to work together so everyone can succeed - there is some competition, but it’s hardly cutthroat. </p>
<p>Also, most professors really want you to succeed (there are exceptions, obviously) and are fantastic about office hours. There are tutors, the writing center… just take advantage of these resources and try your best and you’ll be okay.</p>