How hard is IB major?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>I'm looking at which majors I'm interested in. How hard is Integrative Bio as a major? I heard MCB is insanely hard, but does IB compare to MCB? </p>

<p>I tried to search for this answer but couldn't!</p>

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<p>All Majors at Berkeley are difficult, but I think what you are asking is what major will be more generous in terms of getting a higher GPA.</p>

<p>The issue with MCB classes, specifically 102 and 104, which are required for many tracts of the major, have a very unforgiving grade distribution, and are packed with highly competitive students. With some exceptions, most MCB classes give about 10% A’s, with a few giving 15% A’s. Overall, this is quite low compared to other departments on campus, and is even more unforgiving than some of the Bio-Engineering classes. The average GPA for an MCB major is 2.96. Now ill try to find a link to verify that soon, but this only takes into account classes that count toward the MCB major. This does not count any elective courses.</p>

<p>Now Integrative Biology has a better grade distribution in most classes, with a lot of the classes giving 20-25% A’s. There is a human biology tract, and an evolutionary and ecology tract. You can get more info on this here </p>

<p>[Integrative</a> Biology Major Requirements | Integrative Biology](<a href=“http://ib.berkeley.edu/undergrad/major/index.php]Integrative”>Integrative Biology Major Requirements | Integrative Biology)</p>

<p>Overall what I found is that, Integrative Biology classes are diverse in the students that take them, with a mix of A and B type personalities, while MCB classes are generally all A-type, dead serious, not very socially inclined competitive students. Don’t get me wrong, thats not a bad thing at all, just don’t be surprised when people might not be interested in any sort of social contact outside of class.</p>

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<p>Wow thanks a lot Jweins! Are you an IB major?</p>

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<p>Note that MCB 102 is a common course taken to fulfill pre-med course requirements, which may account for heavy grade competition.</p>

<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/PrepPrereq.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/PrepPrereq.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/PrepChem.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/PrepChem.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Yes, I plan on doing IB as my major :)</p>