<p>How is the workload for Plan II students? How difficult is it to keep a 3.5+ GPA, especially when combined with a PetroE/ChemE double major?</p>
<p>Bump. Anyone?</p>
<p>Was hoping that a more knowledgeable person would answer this but in response to your shameless self-bump, I’ll try to answer to the best of my knowledge. <em>pity</em> haha</p>
<p>Sooooo, compared to my high school literature load. Plan II seems to be quite a bit heavier. Though I am not in Plan II myself, I have a friend who is EE/Plan II. When I asked him what books he had been reading, he eagerly brought along a about 4-6 decently sized novels (~300-500 pg) that he had completed at that point in the semester. My high school english class knocked out less material over the course of the entire school year and that quantity already seemed like enough to me. So as someone who doesn’t consider himself to be an avid reader, I would say that the Plan II work load will definitely make its presence felt in your schedule. However, he told me that the essays are criticized on a student by student basis and graded more in terms of progress than quality relative to other students. The grades didn’t seem to be that big of a worry to him but the fact that he occasionally had to skip other classes to finish those essays says otherwise.<br>
Now ChemE is considered to be one of the tougher majors relative to other engineering majors and engineering is already considered to be one of the tougher colleges relative to the other colleges at UT. Now compound that with the fact that Plan II is considered to be a tough honors program (because honors=tough) and you have yourself an ambitious schedule. Further, I don’t believe that the Cockrell School of Engineering even allows you to double major within the school.
So to answer your question, I would say that the Plan II workload is a tough undertaking on its own (I believe that they liken Plan II to having a double major). But when it comes to keeping your GPA above a 3.5, that’s really up to how well you manage your time and how downright intelligent you are. However, if you’ve made it into Plan II, then I have faith that you’ll be just fine.
Again, I’m not in the program myself so don’t quote me on anything but I figured that something would be better than nothing.</p>
<p>I can answer for Plan II and being a double major (but in BHP). </p>
<p>The workload for Plan II especially in freshman year when you take a TC seminar and World Lit seminar is dependent on your professor. I know some like Garrison give a lot of reading for every class (at least 100+ from the beginning, but I have seen students in that class sparknote with not problem) while others may take it slow first semester before ramping up the next. I know one class in particular has class canceled all the time. In addition, TC, once again, may require really reading every single thing while others gives a lot of reading but you don’t necessarily need to do it. Plan II definitely is one of those programs where it’s how much you want to put into it. If you want the full effect and are interested, there’s more than enough work to fill your time, analyzing, reading, writing, talking to professors. For other P2 classes, like math and bio, the same applies. Overall, they’re pretty barebones in rigor, but if you want to delve deep into them, you can. </p>
<p>Also, professors define grading, which could affect how hard you work. Some will give A’s to everyone for the effort while others will give you the straight up grade you deserve regardless of how much it will affect your GPA. Some classes will curve generously so the lowest grade is essentially a B- while others will give you the raw grade. </p>
<p>Hope that helps! PM me if you have any other questions about Plan II!</p>