<p>I'm sure many have heard the horror stories of how attending UC Berkeley as an undergrad will crush your GPA like crazy. I know the average GPA for Mechanical Engineering undergrad students at Cal is a little under a 3.0. I’m sure it’s pretty much the same for other Engineering majors since I heard the average GPA for EECS undergrads is about 2.7 which I was surprised to hear.</p>
<p>I’m currently a transfer student who just got accepted to Cal and a few other good schools for this upcoming Fall 2014 and I’m trying to see which school I would like to get my BS in ME from. So if my GPA will be in the low 3.0 range at UC Berkeley, is it even worth going to Cal?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that I do plan on going to Grad School after working in industry with a BS for about 2-3 years. The way I see it, is it even possible for me to get a job in industry with a BS in ME and 3.0 GPA from Cal? I know people make a big deal about the name “Cal” but does it really have any merit in industry or Grad School? I know most Grad Schools require a 3.5 GPA minimum and I’m sure most companies would be skeptical about hiring someone with that low of a GPA in engineering.</p>
<p>Am I better off going to another school where I know I can easily pull off a 3.5 or higher? My other choices are UCLA or Cal Poly SLO in which I know I can get a decent GPA in either one. Any advice from current or recent Berkeley students?</p>
<p>What’s your source? Those numbers sound too low. A couple years ago a member here posted [average</a> GPA by major](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/900945-average-gpa-of-graduating-students-by-major.html"]average”>Average GPA of Graduating Students by Major - UC Transfers - College Confidential Forums), which suggests the average is in the 3.1-3.2 range.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t assume you’ll be in the low 3.0 range… your GPA depends on the effort you put in and the work you produce. You should also check the numbers at your other favorite schools, and see what the average GPA for your major is there… I doubt everyone gets a 4.0 at UCLA either. :P</p>
<p>As for grad school admissions, I think they should take into account the school you were at? Berkeley’s name does carry weight, and other schools should recognize that there’s grade deflation here, and that the average GPA is relatively low for some majors.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply failure622. When I said I would expect to be in the low 3.0 range at UC Berkeley, I meant to say I would be near the borderline of the 3.0 mark, so 3.1-3.2 sounds fairly accurate (I don’t know the exact GPA average for Mechanical Engineers, but I know the average GPA for Electrical Engineers is 2.7 since I spoke to some of their EECS professors)</p>
<p>Anyway, I know for sure I’m not going to get a 4.0 at UCLA or Cal Poly (unless I’m lucky), but after talking with Engineering students who have gone there, they’ve told me that as long as I put in the effort and study hard I can expect to get about a 3.5 GPA (more or less). At UC Berkeley they have a curve, so no matter how hard you study if the other students in your class are smarter than you, then you will feel like you are being capped off from getting an A or B.</p>
<p>With that said, if I worked in industry/research for a couple years after getting a BS from either school, would my GPA matter that much? Would my work experience and good Letters of Recommendation have more weight than my undergrad GPA at that point?</p>
<p>Also, failure622, are you a current student at Berkeley? It sounds like it. What major are you doing?</p>
<p>Actual ME grade distributions can be found here:</p>
<p><a href=“https://schedulebuilder.berkeley.edu/explore/department/FL/2013/93”>https://schedulebuilder.berkeley.edu/explore/department/FL/2013/93</a></p>
<p>Average grades:</p>
<p>ME 40: B
ME C85: B-
ME 102A: B+
ME 102B: A-
ME 104: B
ME 106: B
ME 107: B+
ME 108: B
ME 109: B
ME 132: B</p>
<p>Other courses of interest to ME majors:</p>
<p>Physics 7A: B
Physics 7B: B
Math 1A: B
Math 1B: B-
Math 53: B-
Math 54: B
E 7: B
E 10<em>: B+
E 28</em>: B
EE 40: B</p>
<p>*E 10 and E 28 appear to have been replaced in the ME curriculum by new courses E 25, E 26, and E 27.</p>
<p>Not all classes are graded on a curve.</p>
<p>It is also not necessarily true that you will get a higher GPA at a less selective school. Less selective schools tend to have less grade inflation: <a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com”>http://www.gradeinflation.com</a> (see list of schools at the bottom)</p>
<p>@MechEngineerO Yup, graduating soon, I hope! I transferred to EECS two years ago, I just stick around here cause I like pretending to be helpful. :P</p>
<p>@failure622, cool! Are you expecting to spend 2 years at Berkeley before you graduate? I heard most transfer students take an average of 2.5 years to finish their BS in engineering at most universities when they transfer.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus, that was a pretty interesting article, I never would have imagined that. I just want to know if getting a lower GPA at Berkeley will have more merit than getting a higher GPA at another school.</p>