<p>So today I just came back from Cal day where I attended the CS information session. According to the presenters there (the head of the CS department (?) and an assistant) it is almost certain that CS is going to be capped in the near future (possibly this spring) at around a 3.0 GPA. I've been surfing CC threads for a while and there have been rumors for a while but hadn't seen anything for certain. So, my question is, is it hard to maintain a 3.0 GPA at Berkeley in the first two years of L&S? My parents are making 100% sure with me that I'm fine with Berkeley and the fact that I'm going to have to work my butt off. I'm pretty confident with myself but I want to hear from others on what you guys think. </p>
<p>It obviously depends on an individual basis, so for me personally getting above a 3.0 is pretty easy. I think it amounts to doing your reading, homework, and practicing/studying for midterms and you should be fine, but everyone is different.</p>
<p>Like for me maintaining around a 3.5 means I have to put in effort and I’ve managed to do that after ramping up my studying (but I like what I study so it’s ok), but for others a 3.5 comes easily and for them maintaining a 4.0 is their goal.</p>
<p>Everyone is different right?</p>
<p>PS: I’m an EECS major just in case you wanted to know. Just make sure you don’t overload on technical classes. Some kids can handle that but most can’t, so sticking to only 2-3 technical classes a semester (in addition to some humanities class(es)) helps with GPAs I think. But once again I have friends with 4-5 technical courses a semester who can handle that. It’s really hard for someone else to know what works for you imo.</p>
<p>Does that mean that most of your classes aren’t curved though? I still haven’t gotten to looking up classes and class average grades yet (which I probably should very soon…) but I guess a good amount of people get A’s in most classes? My parents are kind of under the impression that most classes will be curved, and with the competitive students that are Berkeley admits, it will be difficult to get A’s and B’s without a lot of study. And sorry if I’m asking stupid questions lol. I’m researching the stuff right now.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight though man. That’s awesome that you’re in EECS - that’s even tougher. And actually about the technical classes thing, the GPA cap will only account for technical classes I believe and so I don’t think using humanities classes and such to raise the GPA will not be an option… </p>
<p>I believe that the average CS GPA is around a 3.0 (probably 2.9-3.0 to be more specific, the dept.'s lower div. avg. is a B-). I can tell you right now that even getting a 3.0 is not going to be a walk in the park especially if you have no prior experience in programming before coming here. If you think about it, the 3.0 GPA cap is going to “weed out” at least half of your classmates (similar to Haas admissions). It takes a good amount of studying for a normal person to maintain a tech. GPA of 3.0. I suggest that you take 2 technical classes per semester with 1 or 2 other easy classes on the side so that you can concentrate on your pre-requisites. You’ll definitely have a balance between studying and having a social life if you do. There’s no use rushing through classes since as you said it will be impacted probably in Spring 2014. </p>
<p>Best of luck, and congrats! Hope you had fun on Cal Day!</p>
<p>Yeah you will have to study hard to beat the curve. Basically you want to score one standard deviation above the mean to be in the A- range and top 25-30% to get a solid A. That’s actually really hard to do imo although it sounds like a lot of people. All the kids here are basically the top kids from their school so grades can be very competitive especially in lower div technical classes where the curve is set to a B- which is a 2.7 GPA. If it’s set to a B (3.0), then it should be a little easier.</p>
<p>Although the policy still exist, it appears not to be followed very strictly.</p>
<p>[Grade</a> Distributions for EECS and LSCS Students](<a href=“http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~hilfingr/report/index.html]Grade”>Grade Distributions for EECS and LSCS Students) indicates that in 1999 (ten years after the policy was last updated) EECS majors had lower division EE and CS grades averaging 3.0 or above (L&S CS majors had higher grades, but there is selection bias in the CS was a capped major back then, so only those with higher grades become L&S CS majors).</p>
<p>Thank you for all the input guys. I think I might have been underestimating how difficult it would be to maintain a decent GPA. At cal day the department was made it sound like only a tiny percentage of students were being weeded out, eh oh does seem to be the case seeing as a 3.0 -3.1 is average (half above half below). I definitely have a better picture now. That being said in going to make sure I get in lol.</p>
<p>@fl1p1npr1d3 (nice user name haha) yah berkeely day was surprisingly fun and informative. Ty for the help!</p>
</p>