<p>ok. so i’ll be attending yale this fall and i just have a question targeted mainly to current/past students at yale. coming from a fairly non-competitive public high school in CA, i don’t feel that i’m at all prepared for the intense workload i’ll be facing this upcoming semester. that said, how difficult is it to maintain a 3.83+ gpa throughout my first year, considering that i’m interested in the social sciences, mainly history, international relations, political science, and foreign languages?</p>
<p>Depends a great deal on what classes you take. I think a 3.83 GPA would place you in the top 15% of Yale students, so it certainly isn’t that easy, but it’s also not impossible. If you design your schedule to be easy, it will be, but that probably isn’t the way to get the most out of a Yale education.
In general, a lot will depend, in the subjects you mention, on how good a writer you are. This is, of course, probably hard for you to judge, since you were almost certainly an excellent writer in the context of your high school, but will now be surrounded by a much stronger student body. For me, also coming from a California public high school (albeit a competitive one), I was able to do quite well academically freshman year with a course schedule in the same sort of areas you are considering (I was in Directed Studies, and took Chinese both semesters). If I were you, I wouldn’t worry too much about grades (particularly now - enjoy your remaining 1.5 months of summer), but instead consider the first semester of freshman year as a time to improve your academic abilities and learn.</p>
<p>haha. thanks svalbardlutefisk. don’t worry i’ll try not to stress too much on grades. i’m not usually caught up with grades and whatnot but i guess with the prospect of starting school soon it’s been a bit nerve-wracking. >_<‘’ but to be honest, i’ve been getting very nervous lately. to start out with, i don’t even know why i even got into yale. i got sub-part SAT scores (below 2000), am not a recruited athlete or have any hidden talents, and i’m not an urm…all i have is passion and drive to succeed along with a few ec’s. and yes, i know numbers cannot define my success, but it’s still an undeniable aspect of an education i guess. with that said, being a good writer? haha no. i struggled in high school with writing…but i always improved so hopefully that’ll stay the same. i guess what my true concern is not maintaining a certain gpa…but rather making sure i don’t get too far behind. i’ve never had the money/opportunities to learn the “right way to study” or be in an environment where i’m amongst such brilliant individuals. so it’s indeed a nerve-racking experience just anticipating what it will truly be like. like i said, i never honestly even dreamed of getting this far. but now that i have, i just don’t want to disappoint my parents and myself if i fail after giving up so much. well thank you so much svalbardlutefisk for your post. i’ll certainly take into consideration. luckily i won’t be doing DS…i plan on taking Chinese, French, English or History class, and a Freshmen Seminar. Thanks again.</p>