Berkeley Really That Difficult?

<p>You're right, but that's because math and sciences are based on a building block of knowlege, so stepping into a class where everyone else has had those building blocks would not be a good idea. At the same time, if you haven't taken many humanities courses and are all of the sudden thrusted into a class where you have to read hundreds of pages of dense material each night and then come up with compelling and original new thoughts about that material in an 15 page essay you will probably not do very well. And for h+w+t+f, I couldn't link to that daily cal article, but what you quoted doesn't make any sense. Where do you get the figure that only 25% of math/science classes give out a's?</p>

<p>
[quote]
it usually ranges from 60-70%.
But, the avg for the nation is like 48%, so not THAT big of a difference.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Bubbles, here is the comparison. </p>

<p><a href="http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/national.stm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/national.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>conor, its a general rule stipulated by the departments. i can tell you for a fact that the physics 7ab series will only give out 25% a's and 40% b's. other math and science courses are very similar</p>

<p>You'll have to excuse me if I don't believe you just because you say its general rule. If you don't have stats that you don't really know. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if what you say is true, but if its such common knowlege than it'd be pretty easy to find stats to back it up, wouldn't it?</p>

<p>By the way, why can't I write you're handle without it being treated like a swear word?</p>

<p>Conor, ask and ye shall receive.</p>

<p>"Course Curve: The standard departmental curve [for the Berkeley physics department] is 25% A's and 40% B's. </p>

<p><a href="http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/%7Ephy7b/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~phy7b/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Any more questions?</p>

<p>Hey I'm in that class. Yea, but you're using Physics as an example. Math curves aren't as friendly. I speak as a student in Math 54.</p>

<p>That's one department and there is no mention of any comparison with humanities programs, so it doesn't really answer anything.</p>

<p>Well I've taken 2 philosophy classes. It's hard to get the A unless you're hardcore into it too. I'm just an engineer... But then a lot of those humanities classes aren't exactly like very strict on grade scaling. I see how Chem and CS and a lot of courses have a set grading scale, so you know where you are at anytime, but dang I'm clueless about my Philosophy grade.</p>

<p>The Physics department is kind in giving 25% A's and 40% B's, but I can say from experience that the difference between a median score and 35th percentile is not usually more than five or so points. One little mistake can take you from a B to a C+. For example, just look at the exam distributions for 7B.</p>

<p>My solution? </p>

<p>Work hard. Play hard. Drink hard. Sleep hard. As you progress, you'll find you study less and less for the same grades and effort. </p>

<p>I have a 3.631 -- and lead an active social life with two majors (one on the easier side, the other being rather difficult). So, it can be done.</p>

<p>which majors?</p>

<p>American Studies and German. </p>

<p>...American Studies is not as easy as people say, and German is difficult. I won't make any pretentions that I spend as much time on my work as an engineer or science major -- I just know though, that both require I do a lot of research or attention to little details when you get to my level. And for American Studies, my profs and instructors are rather adamant about my attendance, so don't try to pull the dumb football jock card on that one.</p>

<p>Come on, conor, first you challenge people to present data that shows that the physics department gives out only 25% A's, and then when that data is presented, you say that it doesn't really answer anything. If the data doesn't answer anything, then why did you ask for the data in the first place? You first dismiss an argument on the grounds that it doesn't have the supporting data, then when the supporting data is found, you still dismiss the argument. It seems to me as if you're playing a game of 'heads I win, tails you lose'.</p>

<p>If you want another take on it, I believe the Daily Cal once polled the students on what they thought the most difficult majors were, and while I don't remember the exact ordering, I can tell you that the ordering was not surprising - technical majors dominated, and you certainly didn't see any of the Studies majors anywhere to be found. The Daily Cal will probably run the study again, so you will be able to see for yourself. You can also just ask around. How many current Berkeley humanities students were former engineering/science students, but found it to be too hard, so they switched to the humanities? In my experience, it's been a lot. On the other hand, how many engineering/science students were former humanities students who found humanities to be too hard, so they switched over? I think the answer is 'not many'.</p>

<p>in one of the berkeley course webcasts that I was watching, the professor said that eecs departmental policy is 17% As. can anyone confirm/deny this?</p>

<p>First, please find a quote where I say, "I challenge anyone to show me data that says the physics department gives 25% A's." Don't jump into an argument when you don't know what's being argued. My question had absolutley nothing to do with the physics department, it had to do with compairing the grading between humanities classes and tech classes. Obviously showing one side without the other makes a comparison pretty tricky, right? Second, I've never said that tech majors are easier than humanities, I've only said that I take offense to people labeling them as "easy." Its easy for a tech major who is struggling with his/her classes to say, "if I were taking a humanites course I would get an easy A" because they want to feel better about the fact that they're not getting good grades. Don't blame me and my major because you've got a C- average, its not my fault.</p>

<p>Well, conor, what is this quote of yours:</p>

<p>"Where do you get the figure that only 25% of math/science classes give out a's"</p>

<p>That's what you said. OK, so you didn't ask for physics classes specifically, you asked for general information. It isn't ABSOLUTELY EXACTLY what you asked for, but it is relevant. </p>

<p>And since you say that the argument is to compare general grading standards amongst various disciplines:</p>

<p>"The results were clear. "The physical sciences and engineering had rigorous grading standards roughly in line with the recommendations from 1976," stated Rine, "while the humanities and social sciences in many classes had all but given up on grades below a B, and in many courses below an A-, "</p>

<p><a href="http://ls.berkeley.edu/new/05/grades.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ls.berkeley.edu/new/05/grades.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>So perhaps you'd like to take it up with Professor Jasper Rine and the L&S colloquia who examined Berkeley's grading schemes and tell them that you think they're wrong.</p>

<p>Sakky, sense when is asking where someone got their information the same as saying that they're wrong. All I said was if you are going to give statements like that then be ready to back them up.</p>

<p>And now it is backed up. </p>

<p>Furthermore, I think we now have sufficient proof that at Berkeley, tech classes are, as a whole, graded harder than humanities classes. After all, that's what Jasper Rine said, and he has apparently investigated the matter deeply. He's look at the data, and he has found a difference in grading. If you care to disagree with him, then together we should ask him to present the data.</p>

<p>Or it could just be proof that humanities students are smarter!</p>

<p>Do you believe that? I think we can agree that the admissions process to get into engineering is harder than that in L&S. I know information regarding the qualifications of entering students in the College of Engineering and in L&S can be found in Berkeley's Common Data Set.</p>