<p>So I'm taking my biological anthropology final tomorrow and I'm pretty worried about that class. It's my first semester at Berkeley, granted, but if I get below a B how would that potentially affect grad school admissions? Currently I'm physics/engineering, so the class is just to fulfill breadth reqs, will it matter a whole lot? I'm THINKING about transferring to some other school around soph year (not sure yet), but if I do, they will basically be looking at three semesters worth of classes, and the first will not be so good.</p>
<p>Everything counts, but freshman year is not the time to freak out about a B or C. (Especially at Berkeley!) In the sciences & engineering your research and LORs carry as much or more weight as your GPA</p>
<p>But if you're still worried, do the math. Here at Penn, you need 32 courses to graduate. So at worst any one course grade is worth 3.125% of your total GPA. Thus, overall an A is worth 0.125 points, a B 0.09375 and a C 0.0625.</p>
<p>So getting a B instead of an A lowers an otherwise perfect GPA 0.03125 points and a C would drop it 0.0625 points.</p>
<p>Just do your best and don't make a habit of letting things slip.</p>
<p>For the most part, graduate schools will take into consideration that you are at UCB. I also made a small mistake myself, (in cultural anthropology =P) but things came out alright for me. I'm sure graduate schools are more concerned with your major related classes. Just keep those major classes going!</p>
<p>Oh, BTW, may I ask why you want to transfer out of UCB?</p>
<p>I'm definately cleaning up my act this next semester. I let the "college adjustment" attitude go to my head a little too much. Plus, I'm taking technical courses this sem so I'll be much more at home.</p>
<p>Well, Stanford is closer to where I live, and I figure if I'm not going far for college anyway (UCB was ironically the closest on my list, and I didn't apply to Stanford cos I wanted to get as far away as possible) I might as well hit up Stanford. Berkeley is really big, and yes, I know there are plenty of opportunities to be had here, I kinda feel like after high school I deserve to have my hand held for awhile :P. I'm having a great time at Berkeley though, so I haven't made up my mind yet. There's also a girl involved...but that's just another plus since I've actually regretted not applying to Stanford since I got all my decisions back.</p>
<p>Do not worry at all about getting a B in a class unrelated to your major. Period. I got two B+'s throughout my three years of undergrad, one of which was even in one of the core classes for my major, and I got into a top 15 program with support. If you're worrying about getting a B your freshman year in an unrelated course, you seriously need to get out and enjoy life a bit more.</p>
<p>And if you're saying to yourself, "Well, a top 15 program is okay, but I really couldn't stand being anywhere other than a top 3 program for my field," then I also would suggest you consider getting out more.</p>
<p>Of course it's very important for some people to get into a top-notch graduate program. Many of us have had that as a goal since we knew what college was. However, I'm from the school of thought that advocates social activities as well as mental activities, and there are certain people who just need to relax a bit more.</p>
<p>emengee dude, you had straight As in all your classes except 2?</p>
<p>hehe, well actually I think it'll be lower than a B, possibly even lower than a C. If it was just a B, I wouldn't be worried. This is the first time I've ever actually encountered a class where the reading/book has NOTHING to do with the class/tests. I probably should have gone to lecture. Oh, and don't worry 'bout my social activities, they're probably why I didn't do as well this sem as I wanted. Like I said, I guess I took that whole "adjustment" mentality as an excuse to have a little fun.</p>
<p>Of course, emengee, for some people, getting into a top-three program may be more important than having an active social life. For instance, what if the only goal in one's life is to contribute as much as possible to the academic oeuvre? It then makes sense to try to get into a top-three program, since this will give one the best resources during grad school and the best chances for getting a professorship at, say, another top-three school, which will give one the best resources for the rest of one's academic life.</p>
<p>and drbott...I must say... if that is their ONLY reason for existing...</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but that seems like a pretty sorry purpose in life!</p>
<p>Well, read a biography of Paul Erdos. His were truly incredible, and I think that contributing to the academic oeuvre was essentially their only purpose. I like this joke about Erdos:</p>
<p>"On one of his frequent journeys across the United States Erdos decided for once to ride the train. As luck would have it he found himself seated next to a stunningly beautiful young woman. The two struck up a conversation, and one thing led to another. By the time the train was pulling into Penn States, they had written a joint paper."</p>
<p>See the book "My Brain is Open". I was also going to mention Marie Curie, but I wasn't completely sure about her.</p>
<p>Obviously there are some people in this world who care about their academics more than anything else, people who have wanted to be in a top three graduate program since junior high school. The thing is, though, that these people are few and far between, and when I wrote my response I was guessing that Golden Boy isn't one of these people. I was guessing Golden Boy was more the sort of person who has always worked very hard in school and has always had high hopes for his future. I know many people like this, and sometimes they tend to lose focus and spend their time worrying about getting B's than enjoying life. I just like to tell these people that it's not the end of the world if they don't get into Harvard and to remind them that there's more to life than your GPA.</p>
<p>And yes, the only grades that weren't A's or A-'s as an undergraduate were two B+'s, but I went to a school with a lot of grade inflation, so there at least a handful of people who graduated with a 4.0 cumulative GPA.</p>