<p>So far, I have 115 quarter credits at my 2-year college, and I have 4.0. I'm a math major and have taken all math classes up to differential equations and linear algebra. I've also taken all of the higher-level English classes at my college as well as a lot of 200-level classes. Anyway, I'm finding it easy to have a life while getting A's, and I'm kind of telling myself that I should reallllly enjoy my social life right now and keep partying it up while I can. I applied to UCB and UCLA, and my top choice is UCB. If I get into UCB, I envision my life consisting of only sleeping, eating, and studying, if I want to keep my GPA up. This scares me; I want to enjoy living on my own, feeling free to go out anywhere I want without my parents nagging, and being 21. </p>
<p>Tell me this, you Berkeley-accepted-people: could you still go out and have a rich social life/party every other week or so while getting high grades (like 3.95-4.0)?</p>
<p>i doubt it, i know plenty of ppl that go to berk and have fun, i mean none of them have 4.0s but they all have like 3.7+ (micrbiology, EECS, biz admin, etc etc), and one person (Haas biz admin) has all A-'s so she has 3.7 flat, but she has a lot of fun. but it kinda depends on what ur study habits are and if u can limit urself, i had one friend who got suckedd into partying and stuff and she got like a 1.5 GPA.</p>
<p>plus, think of it this way… once you are at UCB, unless you want to go to med school/ law school, there is no real reason to worry so much about your GPA. just make sure you are learning what you need to learn, but a B or even a C is not the end of the world if you are at where you want to be. a degree with a 4.0 is the same thing as a degree with a 3.0… or even a 2.0 for all that matters</p>
<p>Do companies really look at your grades? I thought that they just see if you have a degree or not. I cant imagine a company turning you away because you have a 2.9 GPA from the number one public school in the nation</p>
<p>Yes, many companies look at your grades. There are a lot of companies that won’t even allow you to apply because they state they want a 3.0+ (sometimes 3.5+). Many of my friends who have graduated have been asked what their gpa was during an interview. A response of, “I had a 2.9… but I graduated from the number one public school in the nation” won’t really hit a home run. Also think about grad schools.</p>
<p>I havent transferred to a 4 year yet but I have my eyes set on grad school eventually. Do you think after getting a PhD comapanies will want to know GPA? Isnt saying hey Im doctor so and so with a degree from Berkeley sufficient enough?</p>
<p>I had a 4.0 through 2 years in CC and have gotten a 4.0 through 1 summer and 1 fall session at Berkeley. My free time has dropped substantially, although I would attribute this to having an absurdly easy time at CC and not necessary difficulty of Berkeley (I’m an Econ major). Having a life isn’t impossible, but it means you have to capitalize on the free time you have. Going partying (or doing whatever) one or two nights a week is well within reach if you use time efficiently.</p>
<p>I doubt most companies look at your grades, but you should still get good grades to prepare you for graduate work, even if you think you might not go. Also, most state and federal jobs DO look at your GPA.</p>
<p>"I had a 4.0 through 2 years in CC and have gotten a 4.0 through 1 summer and 1 fall session at Berkeley. My free time has dropped substantially, although I would attribute this to having an absurdly easy time at CC and not necessary difficulty of Berkeley (I’m an Econ major). Having a life isn’t impossible, but it means you have to capitalize on the free time you have. Going partying (or doing whatever) one or two nights a week is well within reach if you use time efficiently. "</p>
<p>Have you hit the upper division courses yet? </p>
<hr>
<p>I would recommend 3.0 GPA or higher. I mean government jobs, like the CIA and the Fed, require 3.0 GPA or above to even apply.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve taken exclusively upper-div courses. I’ve gotten A’s in: ECON 100B, ECON 157, ECON 161, ECON 115 with an A+ in STAT 131A. I’m taking 4 more upper-divs this semester.</p>
<p>Most people who transfer go straight into upper division classes w/ the exception of maybe a prereq or 2 that needs to be completed…lower divs are usually completed at the CC before transfer & Berkeley is really big on completing your prereqs before transfer</p>
<p>"Yes, I’ve taken exclusively upper-div courses. I’ve gotten A’s in: ECON 100B, ECON 157, ECON 161, ECON 115 with an A+ in STAT 131A. I’m taking 4 more upper-divs this semester. "</p>
<p>Can you give me any advice/tips on how one gets A’s in all their classes? Thanks.</p>
<p>cooldude6- they don’t require 100A for the summer session ones. They also have virtually no prerequisite checking, although its way better to complete prereqs before taking classes that recommend them. I know people who don’t care about this at all, but I’m generally more cautious.</p>
<p>bigshow- I study hard right before tests, review at the end of each week all material learned the previous week for each class, do as much of the assigned reading as time allows, go to my GSIs office hours if I need help or to review, get homework done well ahead of time and then review it again just before its due to fix mistakes, and try to be at 100% focus during all of my study time. It seems to work for me, although there are probably more efficient ways that others can do it. I strongly dislike study groups because I get distracted although that seems to work for some people.</p>
<p>How is the workload of that compared to others? Easier to have fun? (because as we know college is nott all about academic priorities-you gotta learn out of the classroom too!)</p>
<p>honestly speaking humanities probably have it the easiest and require minimal effort to graduate then your stuck in a trap. It’s often very hard to find a job with a humanities degree so you go back to school for a phd to be a professor all a pipe dream. </p>
<p>A very good article to read if your considering Humanities</p>