<p>I've heard some scary things about the harsh curves and competition at Cal. Do people really have to study day and night to get good grades? And how serious is the grade deflation? I'm thinking about majoring in Econ or trying for Haas.</p>
<p>The only real competitive class at Berkeley, I think, is UGBA 10, the prereq for Haas applicants, since it’s curved. I don’t think it’s even that bad, either.</p>
<p>You definitely won’t have to study day and night to get good grades if you balance your workload. I wouldn’t say that there is necessarily grade deflation, but there is little grade inflation here, so our GPAs are lower on average than at many private schools. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, as a lot of people do understand this about Berkeley.</p>