MCB GPA At Berkeley? (for premeds)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

I am currently a second semester freshman (about to end) at Cal, intended MCB.

I know the general consensus at Berkeley is get out of CoE and CoC for premed. However, stats show that MCB has one of the lowest GPAs of 2.90 - 3.00 (around 2.96), while Chemistry is 3.0 to 3.10, and ChemE and BioE is higher. I know there are many more “non-engineering oriented” students in MCB, so the number of lower GPA students is higher.

However, is it that Chem E is not much harder than MCB? I’m asking because I’m one of the few premeds who feel as if Bio isn’t my passion, getting into med school. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate bio, but after taking Chem 1A, I found out my academic passion is Chemistry/ChemE (I know they’re different but don’t worry about that for now).

My ultimate goal is still med school, so initially I thought Chem E was a lot harder and I don’t wanna risk med school acceptance for studying what I like in undergrad. However, I noticed that if Chem E GPA is not lower, but rather higher than the GPA for MCB, it can’t be that much harder.

This isn’t for bragging, but to show that I do enjoy learning and chemistry: I have earned A+s in Chem 1A (20 out of 1200 form last semester), Math 1A, and Chem 1AL with a lot of fun. I most likely will get an A or A+ in both Chem 3A, 3AL, and Math 1B. In those regards, I don’t think being accepted by CoC is a problem. I was initially scared of the Math 50 series and Physics 7 series killing my GPA, but if I do well in the courses I have already taken, would those courses be a problem? Or are the engineering courses (Math 50s, Physic 7s) SUBSTANTIALLY more difficult, even for someone who gets solid A+s in premed classes? To set myself high standards, I aim for 90%+ on all my exams, and I could care less for what the average score and deviation here is. I attribute this mindset for my grades so far.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

2

The math and physics courses for chemistry and engineering majors (i.e. Math 53 and 54, Physics 7A and 7B) are more math-intensive than the ones for biology majors (Physics 8A and 8B). In addition, chemistry and chemical engineering majors have harder chemistry courses (4A, 4B, 112A, 112B instead of 1A, 3A, 3B). You can compare final exams at https://tbp.berkeley.edu/courses/ .

The College of Chemistry selects for stronger students both at frosh admission and inbound change-of-college later, so that may mean a stronger group of students getting higher grades. In contrast, the MCB and IB majors are not restricted admission or capped enrollment (also true for the L&S chemistry major).