<p>So I am about to transfer out of my cc to berkeley in the fall as a molecular and cell biology major and to be honest I'm getting "senioritis" again, or more appropriately, transferitis. My grades at my cc have been good with only a B in an english class (counting transferable classes only) and a gpa of 3.93. I was wondering, how much would it REALLY matter if I was to take it easy a bit and get a B in one of my lower division major courses at my cc right now. Is it that big of a deal to grad schools in the future (assuming I keep my grades up at berkeley)? My ECs have been great so far. Been working in a lab doing research ever since the summer after I graduated high school and I plan to continue to find research opportunities at berkeley. </p>
<p>So what are you're opinions? Should I push out the extra effort and stress to keep up my A's? Or should I just take it easy and not stress out over it and just take a B? Right now I'm thinking a B in a lower division class won't be a make or break deal for grad school but I'm just trying to be cautious. I hope to get into a top tier grad school in the future.</p>
<p>The GPA that matters when you apply to graduate school is last two years of your course work and if you are transfer, they almost ignore your CC GPA. They know that the level of difficulty between a CC class and a UC class is huge. At UCB, getting above 3.8 is really hard and most UCs, if you have over 3.8 that’s top 5~8% of your class.
Once you get to UCB, keep your GPA as high as possible at least 3.7 and visit almost ALL of the professors and talk to them about their research and etc as soon as possible.
You only have one year when other students have three years to make connections and do research.
I am an econ major and I did RA for first two quarters at my UC and made connections with three professors because I need three letter of rec for the grad school.
So General Idea is,
- Take relatively easy electives and get As
- Get A+ or A in require/major classes
- Research Research Research and start make connections with the professors</p>
<p>So to answer your questions, getting a B won’t hurt you because you will take harder classes at UCB and getting As in those classes can compensate the B you have in a lower div class. The grad school do not even care about lower div classes anyway.</p>
<p>A B won’t hurt you, but the attitude may. Here’s why:</p>
<p>If you don’t get in the habit of pushing yourself even when you’re tired of a course or distracted, then the presumably more rigorous Berkeley will be that much more difficult to tackle. If you get a B because you can’t break the barrier to get a grade in the A-range, then that’s understandable. It happens to the best students. But if you get a B because you just can’t apply yourself to do A work, then that’s a dangerous precedent, especially since that kind of thinking can sink you quickly at a rigorous university or, even more so, in a graduate program. An undergraduate education prepares you not just in course material but also in academic methods, management, and rigor. You should be learning how to be a good student. The other stuff is for high school.</p>
<p>The short answer is that a B on your transcript won’t hurt you. I just want you to think beyond the grade itself.</p>
<p>@momwaitingfornew</p>
<p>I totally understand how you got that impression from my post but no worries, this is only because I’m transferring. All other times of the year I’ve pushed myself to get the high scores in my classes while doing research at a lab. The only reason I’m considering it now is the reason I stated above, will it really matter? </p>
<p>As you’ve said, pushing yourself to do the work is what it takes to succeed in ucb and grad school. But all work and no play makes johnny a dull boy. If I can ease my mind right now when it doesn’t really matter as much, I won’t be on a constant grind and burn myself out. I plan to be working full time once my finals end so if I’m going at it full time year round (I up my work outs during things like winter break and spring break too) sooner or later I’m going to need a break and now seems like a good time to take it, not when I get to UCB.</p>
<p>^ work hours during things like winter break and spring break**</p>
<p>@jwblu289</p>
<p>so in short, a B won’t matter?</p>
<p>Thanks for the other advice too. I’m fortunate enough as to have been able to do research for the past 3 years already and have made good connections with professors so I’m not as worried about that aspect of transferring but I am definitely going to find research to do.</p>
<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I’m at UCB right now, and am just finishing up my first semester. My finals went really well, and I’m currently looking at exactly a 3.7-3.799. If I maintain a GPA within this range, am I competitive for top programs in Education Policy or Ed. Administration? Yes, I know work experience factors in as well, so I’m planning on doing a lot of related work over the next year or two.</p>
<p>Here’s my main question though:</p>
<p>In community college I received 2 F’s and 1 D. I received Academic Renewal for all 3 courses, and even retook the D grade (and received an A) just to actually learn the material. I failed these classes in my first semester of CCC when I was 16.</p>
<p>How much will this affect my chances for grad school? Please be brutally honest. Yes, I know my last 2 years in undergrad matter -more-, but overall GPA comes into play as well. I don’t know if grad schools will disregard the grades due to the Academic Renewal, if the grades will be totally meaningless in general since it was my first semester in college and from a CCC, or if my overall GPA will be drastically affected by these 3 poor grades.</p>
<p>If anybody has any information or experience with this sort of situation, I would love to hear from you! All the best.</p>
<p>If you are a transfer, you have TWO overall GPA. CC Overall GPA and UC overall GPA.
It does not make sense to have only one Overall GPA. If so, then why wouldn’t UC students take lower div classes at CC and get good grades?
@xfer123
a single B especially from a CC will not hurt and the adcom will not even care.
@emil
Get good letter of recs and just explain your poor grades in your SOP</p>
<p>GPA and GRE scores is only looked at the first round. for example, <3.7 and <1300 goes to auto reject pile in top school since they receive too many applications.
After that, what matters are the letter of recommendations, research/work experience, and SOP.</p>
<p>For letter of recommendation part, if your writer is well-known and knows someone at the top school, you are almost sure to get into that school. Assuming that you are getting a great letter from the professor.</p>
<p>@jwblue i don’t think the 3.7 cut off is true necessarily. I know people who have gotten interviews at schools like UCSF with a 3.3-3.5. The gpa probably does depends on your field of study too i would assume.</p>
<p>@xfer123 I too believe that there is no auto reject piles but people TEND to look at your record less seriously if your numbers(GPA, GRE) aren’t high as other applicants.
I should have said that they set aside the less qualified applicants :)</p>
<p>@jwblue Yea gpa definitely is a factor</p>
<p>Hmmm I just wish it was easier for me to calculate my actual GPA. It all depends on whether or not the grad schools accept Academic Renewal and will disregard my 3 poor grades or not. The UC’s take academic renewal and don’t factor the 3 F’s into my GPA for undergrad, but graduate school may be a different story. Either way, I’ll be working to redeem myself for that semester one way or another.</p>
<p>All the graduate schools I applied to, used my cumulative GPA as calculated by my undergraduate institution, which included (or more accurately, did not include) multiple Fs removed from GPA calculations by remediation.</p>
<p>^^ That is what I love to hear lol. Thank you! Hopefully the same goes for me! </p>
<p>Wow. Seriously, that just made my night.</p>
<p>imu emils. lolol you’re gonna be FINE 
Just kick a** and take names.</p>