I attend NYU and am planning on studying abroad in London spring of sophomore year. I will take physics II and orgo II, how hard will it be to get a good GPA while balancing the distractions that come along with studying abroad? I want to travel a little bit but do not want to screw up my GPA. Thoughts? 🙂
Study abroad spring semester sophomore year?
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If you're going to go abroad, then do it right. Balancing all of this would be extremely difficult. An important thing to consider is how the grades convert. Oftentimes the conversion is not very favorable, as European grading systems are harder to do well in by American standards. That's just one aspect, and balancing studying with all of the traveling you'll be doing will be near impossible. You don't want to be cooped up in the library for a big exam when you could be walking around Rome. Capisci?
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As the guy talking about grade conversions said, the UK runs on a logarithmic grading system from 1-20. 20 is considered impossible and 11 is passing. 17 would be considered phenomenal by most standards but at least with my school, a 17 was the lower limit for an A. Most people considered themselves lucky with a 14 and many students were just shooting for 11s since many UK universities don't count freshman grades. Even though NYU may run on a different system, if you found orgo 1 and physics 1 to be a difficult course load, don't do it. Studying abroad opportunities are experiences that can't be done correctly if you're cramming in the library 10 hours a day.
For reference, I took organic abroad and slacked off the entire time and probably got a lower grade than I could've but thinking back to the time I had, I don't really care.
For reference, I took organic abroad and slacked off the entire time and probably got a lower grade than I could've but thinking back to the time I had, I don't really care.
Thank you for your thoughts. I guess I'll see how fall semester goes w/ physics I and orgo I and then decide. I love traveling but can't risk my grades for it. Apparently a lot of people say that orgo is a lot easier in London and if you work hard for it it may end up boosting your GPA, because the school I would be attending would be NYU in London. Thanks once again 🙂
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If it's an American school in London, grading with American grades, then you don't have the added problem of converting grades.
However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend taking high-stakes courses abroad because like others said, you want to have time to travel and do other things.
What I would recommend is to still study abroad but see if you can arrange your schedule so you're taking less stressful/less important classes while you study abroad, like knock some electives out. Even science electives compared to the main subject courses (physics, orgo, chem, bio) would probably be better. At my college both physics I and II were offered both semesters, and I think the same for orgo. So if that's an option I would just come back and do physics II and orgo II the next fall. Or, study abroad in the fall of your junior year? Then you can come back and use the spring to study for your MCAT. Maybe your study abroad office will have contact information for someone in your major who studied abroad who could help you with this.
However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend taking high-stakes courses abroad because like others said, you want to have time to travel and do other things.
What I would recommend is to still study abroad but see if you can arrange your schedule so you're taking less stressful/less important classes while you study abroad, like knock some electives out. Even science electives compared to the main subject courses (physics, orgo, chem, bio) would probably be better. At my college both physics I and II were offered both semesters, and I think the same for orgo. So if that's an option I would just come back and do physics II and orgo II the next fall. Or, study abroad in the fall of your junior year? Then you can come back and use the spring to study for your MCAT. Maybe your study abroad office will have contact information for someone in your major who studied abroad who could help you with this.
