<p>In high school, we are encouraged to take touch courses cuz colleges look at it.</p>
<p>but in college, wouldn't it be better to take easier courses since the compnaies(when i apply for a job) only look at the gpa?</p>
<p>what u think?</p>
<p>I think companies hire people that are qualified for the jobs being offered not because their grades look good.</p>
<p>In my not-so-humble opinion, if you’re not coming to this institution for a quality education you shouldn’t come at all.</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take into consideration the work load when choosing a course schedule, but you should be coming here to learn interesting things from interesting people. If all you want out of four years of further education is a number, I would suggest another university. I’m saying that in all honesty; I’m sure you will have a much easier time finding easy classes and maximizing your GPA at a peer institution, and you will probably be more likely to be surrounding by peers thinking on that same page.</p>
<p>Thanks ! I will have to change my attitudes.</p>
<p>This is the wrong way to look at things. </p>
<p>Companies don’t care whether you took hard or easy courses. Most don’t even know the difference (but note, for one example, of the companies hiring MBA students that looked specifically for ones trained by Gene Fama!).</p>
<p>What a company looks for is the ability to do the job and future promise. There are many paths to that goal. </p>
<p>Consider too that what is hard for one person may be easy for another. For the right kid, an honors course, with more theory and less rote, may be easier than a “standard” course. So keep an open mind. </p>
<p>BTW, do NOT believe posts that claim it is easier to get decent grades elsewhere. over 2/3 of June 2008 grads graduated with honors. You do the math…</p>
<p>I just want to clarify what I said because newmassdad was pretty vague in what he was responding to in his last sentence. I said that it would likely be easier to “find easier classes” and “maximize your GPA” at another institution. I made no comments about the general ease of getting mediocre grades at the College. If the OP’s goal is to get a 3.25 overall GPA at the college (that’s General Honors, BTW; if newmassdad is also including departmental honors in his number, then a good number of those people only have above a 3.0 overall GPA) then perhaps that statistic will matter to them, but I’ll bet a good deal that they’re thinking of much loftier prospects.</p>
<p>But due to the fact that UChicago is decidedly less prepofessional than other schools, the likelihood that you would receive a barrage of helpful responses when you asked your peers which classes/professors grade extremely easily is low. At a more preprofessional school I would imagine (and I’ve heard anecdotal evidence to confirm this) that there are classes and teachers that are renowned for being easy and this information is sought out and shared between peers in order to maximize their GPA for their future professional endeavors. This is what I was alluding to when I said that it would be easier to maximize your GPA and find easier classes at other peer institutions. Newmassdad also brings up a great point in that you might thrive in theory-based classes, allowing you to obtain a higher GPA at Chicago relative to other universities.</p>
<p>However, the point still stands: you won’t enjoy your time here nor will you be able to take advantage of all of the opportunities if you enter the College with that original attitude, focusing on the grades you receive. I have a couple of friends who do place a large focus on grades (their end goals are med/econ/etc.) and they are consistently stressing about the next test or their past grades. It’s not fun to be around and I’m sure they’re not having a blast either. Yea I think the best way is just to come in with the goal to learn and being open to the many resources offered. Not only with you find your time more enjoyable, but it’s likely, if you stay focused and are aware that succeeding in every class is important for your future endeavors, that your GPA will be fine and you’ll gain those abilities that jobs are looking for.</p>
<p>i find it moderately disturbing that most of the posts on this topic basically say you shouldn’t come to chicago if you want a decent GPA.</p>
<p>Shempi: I agree. I’m heading to Chicago in the fall and I strongly believe that Chicago is certainly doable. I saw its Calculus midterms and they aren’t difficult. An individual can receive a great education and GPA at Chicago, undoubtedly.</p>
<p>Even though Chicago is a great academics school, it shouldn’t be impossible for studetns to get a decent gpa. i think if you are good enough to get accepted to chicago, you should be fine at the university too. i am sure those who aren’t qualified to study at chiago are rejected by the admission committe</p>
<p>Shempi: I don’t see that at all when I read the posts. I read that 2/3 graduate w/ honors, but that if you want an easy path to a high GPA, then you shouldn’t go to UChi. If you want to learn, then you SHOULD go to UChi. If you just want the grades, then you shouldn’t.</p>
<p>It’s not about the difficulty of the exams in curved intro math and science classes, it’s about your competition. Also, I’d be wary of taking a Calc 150s exam as representative of general class difficulty at the university.</p>
<p>beefs: I took 15100’s, 15200’s, and 15300’s exams as representation of first-year Calculus difficulty at the University.</p>
<p>Also, I think it’s absolutely fair to ask which instructors are easier than others. After all, learning can mean finding a balance between difficult courses and easier courses while enjoying all the classes. It does not mean to blindly take the most enjoyable courses that also happen to be the most difficult. My point is that it is important to find a balance.</p>
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[QUOTE=Shempi]
i find it moderately disturbing that most of the posts on this topic basically say you shouldn’t come to chicago if you want a decent GPA.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So… I believe I said exactly the opposite. </p>
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<p>And newmassdad presented evidence saying at least 60% of UChicago students graduated with higher than a 3.25.</p>
<p>The point I was trying to get across is that if you put in the effort, you will succeed at the College and get a decent GPA. Therefore you should really not try and scheme and max your GPA but take the classes you think you’ll enjoy. Sure, if you feel you need a high GPA, you can surely ask around to see which teachers are a$$holes and wont give higher than a B unless you rock their socks. I’m just advocating the position that if you have a one-track mind on GPA you’ll miss out on some of the great things this university can offer. Achieving a balance, as FB pointed out, is certainly a respectable view on the topic.</p>
<p>ok so uh what are the curves like at u chicago?</p>
<p>It really depends on the discipline, I think. I can give you an idea for the sciences, though.</p>
<p>Non-honors classes usually curve to a B (sometimes B+, sometimes B-, depends a bit on the teacher). Honors usually will curve to a B+. In the early sequences they’ll tell you the average and standard deviation of the exam and if you consistently score above 1 standard deviation above the average, you’re in A- territory and if you rock the final you’ll probably get an A. </p>
<p>In the early sequences you can expect consistent curving as mentioned above, but when you get into higher level classes the grading really depends on the teachers. Sometimes the teachers are straightforward about the grades you should expect and other times you just take the class and get a grade and you have no idea how the rest of the class did.</p>
<p>It might seem a bit intimidating, but if you ever find yourself struggling, the University is great in that now it offers a lot of resources. There are Harper Chem/Math/Writing/etc. tutors, the Chem department has created a whole program that is there to supplement the Chem/OChem class and help anyone who wants extra tutoring. Your TAs and teacher hold office hours where you can go and ask questions or just chat and whatnot. I’ve seen that those who end up struggling the most don’t often take advantage of the resources available to them early on, and end up suffering as concepts continue to build on each other.</p>