<p>I'm having a really hard time with lower division classes right now. I barely managed to get decent grades. My question is do things get easier in upper division? Because most of my classes were so-called 'weeders' - statistics 21, math 1a, math 1b. Or does it keep getting harder and harder till its unbearable? Btw .. i'm hopefully a double major in economics and applied math.</p>
<p>upper divs are usually easier, it probably matters from subject to subject and professor to professor. My upper divs this semester were all pretty easy, I actually learned and synthesized the material w/o killing myself.</p>
<p>keep plugging away, you’ll be rewarded w/ a better GPA than the ppl who think “C’s get degrees” come end of senior year.</p>
<p>How’s the grading in upper div? Is it 10-20 percent A’s like lower div?</p>
<p>Depends on your major - generally around 30-40% AFAIK.</p>
<p>Honestly, upper divisions shouldn’t be getting easier. They’re more specialized, advanced material. But, the grading should be less haphazard, and the professor might not be obligated to maintain low GPAs, so in this sense it’ll get better. But to the mass population, the upper division courses should be more intense to manage. In the math department for one thing, lower division math is something many can handle, but most find the transition to upper division courses challenging. Average grades being higher just means that someone who actually has talent in the area should have a surer chance to do well in the upper division (while someone who is not so into that material might have trouble).</p>
<p>It gets much better-- not easier, but more enjoyable as you begin to study things that you really wanted to.</p>
<p>Math in particular will not get easier.</p>
<p>In same boat, OP.</p>
<p>One upperclassman said, “you’ll get more used to it, but it doesn’t get easier”. Best to just suck it up now and deal with it. Or switch majors.</p>
<p>more enjoyable. i hope so.</p>
<p>Yeah hopeful not as intense as Bio 1A/L. Felt like a 4 month rape session even though the class had the most interesting material that I have learned since coming to Berkeley.</p>
<p>Why is Bio 1A so bad? Not that i’m doubting it…</p>
<p>It’s just that for lecture I’m bad at multiple choice so that kind of screwed me for the midterms and the Lab was waaaay to much work for a 2 unit class.</p>
<p>I second that math will not get easier.</p>
<p>I second that nothing gets easier… =____=</p>
<p><em>just started taking upperdivs this semester</em></p>
<p>would you say math 53/54 is harder than math 1a/1b ?</p>
<p>in terms of material and competition …</p>
<p>If you know 1a/1b well, 53 isn’t too bad</p>
<p>54 is something else, though.</p>
<p>The politics and history classes I’ve taken as upper-divs are far more interesting and engaging than the lower-divs. In fact I’ll be doing my best to stick to them.</p>
<p>Oh thank god, then I am set.</p>
<p>I would just echo that upper-divisions, and graduate courses, are easier due to a heightened interest. It is much easier to read 300 pages of dense APSA articles a week if you enjoy it.</p>
<p>My comment on Math 1A/1B vs. 53/54 is that there likely are much, much more students in the former two who saw that material in high school. Thus, doing well in those classes can end up being more a matter of who’s really up to speed on all the nitty gritty, since a large portion may understand the basic material. Whereas in 53 and 54, even some of my intelligent acquaintances (most for the latter) didn’t seem to have a very deep understanding of the material, and I think someone who does should have very little problem. For someone who really gets calculus and is interested in learning new things, 53 and 54 probably are the best bets.</p>