UT class dificulty

<p>ok how hard are classes at ut? i'm especially interested in classes most ppl attending McCombs r requried to take how hard r those? Which classes are the easiest? I"m really bad at english but really need high gpa how hard are the rhetoric and english classes at ut? or psychology? i know it depends on professors but which classes are the easiest and which classes r the hardest</p>

<p>bump ........</p>

<p>I want to know also</p>

<p>me too, but i guess it wont be too bad compared to most schools. I mean UT=#1 school students never study, so if you study, i bet its easy :)</p>

<p>hey there... my brother is in his second semester at UT, and i recently received my acceptance.</p>

<p>He's an EE major, and from what he's said, first year sounds fine. Apparently, the key is organizing ur time. That should leave you with enough time for n joying the UT experience :-D</p>

<p>but hey, since when has organizing ur time been easy? ;-)</p>

<p>tc hve fun</p>

<p>I'm afraid that it's not gonna be easy within the sea of 300+ ppl/class</p>

<p>Yeah, they're easy. Use pickaprof.com to find professors who give more than 40% A's in the courses you need--that's the nice thing about going to a huge school, there are lots of professors to choose from, so if you're willing to do some research, you can find easy classes.</p>

<p>well i hope its easy....</p>

<p>Seriously, how easy is it?</p>

<p>lol glucose asks a great question but im nervous about one thing.. ive heard ut has very big class sizes.. wouldnt that be a massive disadvantage...</p>

<p>Why would it be a disadvantage in terms of how easy/difficult your classes are? There's no curve. You're not being compared to your fellow students. If you get A's on the assignments, you get an A in the class, period.</p>

<p>well yes.. from that sense its not a disadvantage.. but say if i want to like get a job as a teaching assistant or something wouldnt i have to be really good and stand out from so many other students in which case more the number of students more tougher it gets..</p>

<p>First of all, I have never heard of an undergrad getting a TA job. It's really mostly for the grad students.</p>

<p>If you mean like a RA (research assistant), UT definitely has good stuff, try searching for Eureka on the UT site, there is a LOT of info about getting those positions, finding labs to work in, etc.
Anyway, most freshmen classes will be huge, and the professors really don't care if they find a bunch of freshmen getting As in an intro course. </p>

<p>However, if you want to stand out from the crowd, go to office hours, ask questions, make yourself be noticed!</p>

<p>Seriously, professors know you, they remember, and they like students who are active in class (but don't be a jerk and just ask about every trivial thing..you'll get a lot of hate from your classmates.)</p>

<p>Some professors even make an effort to know their almost-100 people class.
I know because right now I'm in a music history class, and my prof. knows me by name, even though I've never even spoken to her before.</p>

<p>But, I just wanted to say that trying to stand out and planning on getting recs from the professors in your freshman year (especially if they are general requirements, not in your major area), is sort of pointless. It's very unlikely that someone will hire you as a RA or something in your freshman or even your sophomore year(unless you're lucky or outstanding or whatnot), they usually want the juniors/seniors who have taken upper division courses. </p>

<p>It's good to know your professors, you can go to office hours, and they will probably remember you. (well, some may not....lol) </p>

<p>I'd say concentrate on getting good grades (seriously, pick-a-prof is one of the best investments ever, 5 bucks is nothing compared to a semester full of bad professors), and when you get upper division classes (I've heard they have a smaller class size, so you definitely will get to know your teachers better) you won't have to suffer from humongous intro classes.</p>

<p>P.S. Labs, huge classes, essay grading...it's all about the TAs. Bad, mean TA: you're gonna have to work HARD.</p>

<p>I've personally never heard of an undergraduate student getting a TA position at UT. Like iamwhoiam said, those positions are for grad students. Not to say that it never happens, but if it does, i think it's it's very, very rare. There are other positions, like lab assistants and such that may be open to undergrads, and that can be a good way to get to know profs too. </p>

<p>I've had classes at UT that had over 600 students as well as classes with under 10 students, so it really does vary. You're more likely to have lots of students in lower-division classes in common subjects and more likely to have fewer students in upper-division classes in less-popular classes. I've gotten good and bad grades in both kinds of classes, so I don't know that one is necessarily harder than the other. I think it depends on the prof and whether their teaching and grading style works with your learning and working style. </p>

<p>Personally, I wouldn't advocate picking your classes just by looking for "easy" profs. I took a class my junior year that was taught by one of the hardest profs in the department, who usually didn't teach undergrad classes. I barely squeaked through with a B, but I was darn proud of that B and I learned more in that class than in lots of other "easy" ones. Sometimes the extra effort is really worth it and I think that you'll get a lot more out of your undergrad experience if you actually look for classes that are interesting and challenging rather than looking for the easy A.</p>

<p>It's not hard to get a position as a research assistant. So few students actually care/want to do such things that there are plenty of opportunities. And there are classes in most departments set up to where you do an independent study for credit and just have to find a faculty supervisor.</p>

<p>hey guys.. forgive me for being ignorant.. but what exactly is this pick-a-prof.. i ve got in for engineering.. so will i like be able to choose my own professors or something..?</p>

<p>Pick-A-Prof is a website where students can write reviews of professors and where grade distribution data is posted.</p>

<p>so.. lemme get this straight.. i can see which profs are the most lenient and then pick their classes so as to boost my average....?</p>

<p>More or less. You can see the breakdown of grade distribution for each prof for each class if they've taught it before. So, it might show that Professor Smith has taught Underwater Basketweaving 101 every semester for the past 5 years and that the average grade breakdown over that time is 20% - A, 30% - B, 30% - C, 10% - D, 10% - F. </p>

<p>Students who have taken a class with a particular prof can also write reviews that can shed light on the grading practices, lecture quality, and general impressions. For example, someone who has taken Underwater Basketweaving 101 with Professor Smith might write "Professor Smith is an excellent lecturer, the classes are interesting, and he's very nice when you come to office hours with questions, but the entire grade depends on one final and if you can't use your snorkel right, you'll fail."</p>

<p>wow... thats amazing...</p>