Looking for Advice from UT Students (past and present)

LOL...

 

I would view going to school as your job. Plan on putting in the hours the same way you have to put in the hours when you have a job. Don't settle for making a B when making an A is possible by putting in some overtime.

I always liked to get out in front of everything. If a report or project is due in six weeks, I would complete it as soon as possible. I feels great to have all your work done when everyone else in the class is scrambling in the final hours to get something completed.

Good luck.

P.S. Probably a good idea to stay away from the weed/alcohol as much as possible.

 

Graduated UT Finance BBA almost 20 yrs ago, so my perspective is dated...

1. Easy transition, though I came from a large HS graduating class with a high class rank. All I had to do was show up at class every time. Too many students skip class.

2. I took AP exams and tested out of like 30-ish hours. Allowed me to graduate way earlier, which saved money and allowed me to start a job sooner to make money, but I did wonder whether my GPA could have been a little higher with those couple extra A's.

3. I took initiative to join my dorm hall government, UTFA, and a couple intramurals. It helped make a big school seem a bit smaller. People were generally very welcoming.

Good luck.

 

I'm the same as Ming above. I would only add that you need to gain as much real-world experience as possible. Every semester, you should be working/volunteering and meeting someone worthwhile for networking. Go to your professor's office hours so they'll know you exist. Some will know insiders in the industry you're looking at. Yet, don't let this affect your first two years' grades which are crucial for getting the coveted internships. Join 1-2 organizations max and be an active member.

Another thing, you'll meet many people at UT. However, establish a solid base of 3-5 quality friends. I lost touch with many good people because I couldn't discern between semester-only friends, 4-year friends, and finally friends who still have my back even though we graduated many years ago. This last group could've had 1-2 more people if I'd picked up the telephone more to stay in touch.

Frankly, the people who are doing very well today didn't go out as much and largely focused on grades. The exceptions to this are those who joined one of the big fraternities: not only did they have a blast, through their social circle they had positions in major companies waiting for them upon graduation. I've heard that things have changed so much since when I was there (more competition from abroad, cut-throat atmosphere, etc.).

 

I didn't go to UT so don't have any particular advice but recently spoke to some high school HS students who were admitted to CAL for our alumni association.

Taking the AP tests is a good idea and will help you get your prerequisites out of the way. Usually those are the worst classes and the are typically the giant lecture classes with little interaction with the professor. The sooner you can get to the upper division the classes you will find it more interesting.

Also while it's important to focus on your degree take advantage of all that a large and diverse campus like UT Austin has to offer. College will be a time and an experience unlike anything that you will have and if you just consider it just a stepping stone onto you future career you will miss all of that. Try out a lot of different things, sports, arts, martial arts while there. Take classes out side of your major from faculty that you find interesting, another good reason to get your prereqs out of the way. If you can't devote enough time to sign up for classes sit in on lectures in interesting subjects and /or with interesting professors. Where you are now in you r life you will never be again so the opportunity to challenge yourself and explore.

I'm going to tell you another thing. As someone whose been out of college for 20 years I envy you. I'm way more materially well off now and lead a pretty interesting life but there are a lot of days I wish I could go back to being a freshman in college.

Good luck, work hard, play hard and enjoy college!

 

This. Good accurate practical advice.

 

Graduated in May 2013 as Biology major (I know there are some recent McCombs grads on here). Was at UT for four years, and only took classes on campus. Started off as a Psych major in Liberal Arts Honors, and transferred into McCombs for about a week in anticipation of getting into BHP (I didn't get in), and then transferred out and went to CNS.

It was not really that hard straight out of high school. I was fortunate to take some Liberal Arts Honors courses that helped you learn how to work hard and were reading heavy. I used to have a rule that first year that I would never study the day before a test, meaning I got all my studying done ahead of time. As you progress that becomes more and more difficult, you'll start needing to dedicate days, not hours, to studying. I remember getting away with starting to study three days before a test, really working hard for those two days, and then just reviewing the day before. I did really well that entire year, but as you get older that becomes less easy.

For the love of God, show up to office hours. Even if you don't have a question, show up and ask something. Make damn well sure your professors know who you are. Your intro classes are gonna have 300 (or 500) people who are just as eager as you to do well, but 10% of them will show up to office hours. Those people get grade bumps, they get good letters of recommendation, and they know how to do well.

I came in with a good amount of AP credit hours... I couldn't tell you how much, but I APed out of both calcs, US and World History, my English and Rhetoric classes, Macro, and some other things I can't remember. From what I know, calc is pretty hard at UT, but if you're gonna take the second portion (cause you're hoping to test out of AB), it might be best to take the first portion as well at UT to get a feel for how it works. I don't really know though, didn't take calc, but just know a couple of people that didn't do well in it.

My inclination would be to plan your degree out as best as you can, and figure out if claiming credit will save you a lot of time. If it doesn't, take a lot of those core classes at UT. You'll have an advantage having taken them already in high school, and the GPA boost will help. But I would really consider that on a class-by-class basis. Don't claim all credit (I did), but claim some.

I didn't take Microeconomics in high school, so I needed to take it before trying to transfer into BHP. I took it my second semester, and it's not terribly difficult. I cannot stress this enough, but your professors matter. I was totally fine with taking whoever for whatever, and you'll be surprised at how different classes can be because of professors. Talk to people older than you and figure out who you should take. MyEdu or whatever is a good resource, not for the grade distribution, but for the reviews. A lot of people will give small previews of what the syllabus will be like. See if it matches up well with your skills. I hated doing homework so I avoided professors that had a lot of out-of-class assignments.

This is one of the best things about going to UT. It's incredibly easy to get really involved on campus. Make friends at orientation, show up to things that seem interesting, and be active in whatever you do. There are tons and tons of organizations, from fraternity life, to social/spirit organizations, to the most random of clubs. If you're in the business school, there are a million organizations specific to McCombs.

It was a couple of years ago for me, so things might have changed. Also, I didn't get in, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. The process itself was super simple, it was a short application from what I remember, you needed a resume/CV, and one letter of recommendation. They look at classes relevant to business with a more stern eye, as far as I remember. Doing well in Calc and your Econ classes will help you, I am sure. As for a letter of recommendation, show up to office hours and make conversation. By the end of your first semester, you should easily be able to ask a professor for a letter.

I was lucky enough to have a good friend in BHP who was older than I was, and he along with another BHP friend who was a junior looked through my resume and really grilled me on it. They made some great edits and changes, and I use the same template (with different information of course) to this day.

I think I got rejected because I made a B in macro, and the rest of my classes were science/psych/LAH related. My recommendation letter was probably fantastic, but it was written by a professor who wasn't excited about me adding a business degree, so maybe that had something to do with it. I switched out of McCombs right when I got my BHP rejection.

Study hard and have fun, there is plenty of time for both. Some of the most successful McCombs grads I know studied a ton during the week and partied like crazy on the weekends. I remember my first day in my dorm freshman year like it was yesterday. Time really flies by.

 

The curriculum isn't much harder than an AP class. The hard part is discipline. Doing homework when in most classes, it doesn't count towards your grade. Reading stuff when you know won't be tested for it for a month. That is the hard part of college. If you can stay disciplined, college is a breeze.

 

My personal experience at UT @ Austin was I didn't find it worth it. It was a helluva lot of work, overcrowded, and so competitive it required extreme amounts of studying. I only went there two semesters as a transfer before I got out. But, I was nowhere near the top of my class in high school as I didn't take it too seriously and partied too much. But, I took college seriously and still partied plenty. I transferred to SFA. The work was more manageable by a long shot and the overall experience much more enjoyable. I actually had time to do stuff in the afternoons. And, I still landed a good job right out of college. But, what I lacked in smarts in college I had to make up for with hard work. UT's difficulty from the start was so much more cause they want to weed you out. I remember a lot of freshmen being on probation because they picked a bad time to start partying. I was never on probation. I just didn't enjoy how much daily work and effort that was required at UT. Those programming and calculus courses were especially difficult IMO. I don't feel like I suffered at all by leaving. It just wasn't for me...as much as I enjoyed living in Austin. To me, UT felt like an exercise in daily torture to see how much you can take. I'm all for learning but not cramming huge amounts of knowledge so fast in one ear it exits the other just as quickly.

 

Question about sophomore internships. Which internships did you go after, and which ones do you think are attainable as a sophomore?

 

Oh and please don't be one of those kids who picks classes based on times they feel are nice regardless of who is teaching it.

Pick classes based on which professors are good (if you have a choice) If you have to wake up at 9 AM but get to take a great professor vs. going to class at 2 Pm and taking a bad professor do NOT do the latter.

I know it may be obvious but kids make this mistake so much. Oh and start off strong. It's harder to drop a good GPA than it is to improve a bad GPA.

 

You can get an internship as a sophmore but you have to have good grades and a good personality.

I always tell my students that a good resume and good GPA will get you the interview but a good personality will get you the job.

As far as internships go look for anything that will get your foot in the door. Look for positions in small firms and companies where you can get good experience and build your resume to land a better internship down the road for a big company.

 

Join a frat.

 

What's up, congrats on imminent UT matriculation. E-mail me, and we can chat about McCombs, BHP, etc.

 

So many people say this and as a current freshman in college I will never understand this logic lol. A lot of people go to college in order to reach that state where 20 years down the road they are materially and financially well off. I guess I'll understand what you mean 20 years down the road, but I don't understand now.

 

Party, drink, do drugs and most importantly **** as many girls as u can. Oh and don't forget to study hard as well.

 

What he mean is less posting on CFans and more interaction with coeds.

 

Time is gold.

People would rather be young with the intelligence they acquired right now.

Than be old and die soon.

 

Sorry breh.
I'm heading back to campus right now.