<p>I got accepted to the College of Engineering (Mech E). I'm hearing horror stories about grade deflation and how it affects grad school/employment. This is the only aspect that is deterring me from enrolling at Cal. Should I just go to a state school like Ohio State to get a "good" gpa? Can I survive Cal Engineering? Give me advice :)</p>
<p>im quite worried about this too, especially since I want to apply to grad schools and possibly MBA programs later on… I’ll probably be majoring in EECS (currently undeclared in engineering).</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my son was admitted last year as an Undeclared Engineering major. He has since decided on EECS. He is in his second semester at Cal and is doing just fine. He works hard and does not procrastinate, but he is having no trouble at all.</p>
<p>It is true that engineers do have lower GPAs than humanities majors but that shouldn’t worry you at all. In engineering, as long as you keep above a 3.0, which isn’t too bad if you work hard, you shouldn’t have trouble getting a job after college. I’d say that getting a job has nothing to do with your grades or skills but it is more about networking and who you know. Berkeley has a very good network especially for EECS and MechE. As for grad school, I’d says that it is unnecessary if you are an engineer and have a job offer when you graduate. I’m BioE, which is the only engineering major that highly recommends grad school, but I have no plan of going because it seems like a waste of time to me. I too am interested in MBA but you have to realize that no one does an MBA right after undergrad. People go into industry for about 5 years and then they go back for an MBA so I’d say your GPA isn’t that important for that either. Overall, engineering is hard but you can get a 3.0+ by working hard and you should definitely come if it’s not a financial burden to you.</p>
<p>Lupirius: I’m also in BioE, do you know is it a good major? Because i’m not planning to go to grad school right after I got my bachelor degree. So, does BioE make a lot of money? Comparing BioE and EECS, which makes the most money??</p>
<p>According to [National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com%5DNational”>http://www.gradeinflation.com) , humanities tends to have the most grade inflation, while sciences tends to have the least. Social studies and engineering are in between (though engineering students take mostly science in their freshman and sophomore years). This is not Berkeley specific.</p>
<p>If you are after money, then you should do EECS and concentrate on the CS not the EE. Beware though because EECS is a lot harder than BioE in my opinion. BioE is the least well paid engineering major which is pretty interesting because it is the most selective and hardest to get into. It’s much harder to get a job and it won’t be as well paid as EECS. You can also do l&s CS, which I consider easier because there are no hard science classes that you have to take. Despite what people think, a BA in CS is just as good to get a well paid job as a BS in EECS.</p>
<p>Delete all your computer games when you come to Berkeley and you’ll do fine.</p>
<p>^^ I’m gonna bring a PS3 and use it as decor for my room :)</p>
<p>In your opinion, what is the best major to switch into if engineering doesn’t work out?</p>
<p>^^I think Econ would be a pretty nice major to switch into if things don’t work out after first semester. It’s not too easy or too hard from what I hear and there are pretty good career opportunities.</p>
<p>tnyn - Have you looked into the different types of engineering?
Berkeley offers a really wide range of really cool engineering majors and if you switch out of engineering, it may be hard to get back in.
As far as what major you switch to - that’s really up to what you enjoy learning about. Perhaps take some time to look through some of the classes that each major offers at [General</a> Catalog - Courses & Curricula by Department](<a href=“http://sis.berkeley.edu/gc/curricula.html]General”>http://sis.berkeley.edu/gc/curricula.html) and figure out which ones catch your interest. Take some intro courses/seminars your first semester and use those classes to figure out what you want to major in.</p>
<p>anybody have info on the ChemE program? How well does it place students? is it necessary to go to grad school for that out of Berkeley? Also, how hard is it to transfer into ChemE (I’m an incoming freshman pre-business student right now)?</p>
<p>BioE has the lowest salaries because the graduates generally take research jobs as a stepping stone to medical/graduate studies. </p>
<p>Most applicants to BioE are more interested in research, which explains the selectivity and low salaries. The BioE’s that aren’t into research generally take a CS/data mining kind of job, or design medical devices and get paid accordingly. </p>
<p>Other than CS I would not recommend just relying on your BS. Go to graduate school. If you get a masters and then work, you will make more salary and when you apply for your MBA it will be easier.</p>
<p><a href=“http://career.berkeley.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://career.berkeley.edu</a> has a survey of graduates showing how graduates of each major are doing (at least those that responded to the survey).</p>