<p>I am currently a second year student at UC Berkeley, majoring in Environmental Economics and Policy. When I began my career here, I intended to change my major to Econ or Business, but due to my poor grades, I will have to stick with my original major. I am typically below average in all of my classes, and I am worried that down the road when I graduate, if I have a sub 3.0 gpa it will be difficult to find a job. I am wondering if it would be possible for me to start clean at a CC in my home town of San Diego, and then transfer to UCSD to major in CS or Management Science, majors that I believe would be much more marketable. Every CC class I have taken so far has been a breeze compared to my Berkeley classes so I feel like it would not be too hard. </p>
<p>Tl;dr berkeley is really hard, I kinda want to change my major. should i switch schools.</p>
<p>It is certainly possible to go home, tail between your legs and start down an easier path at a CC - though if you were to transfer to UCSD - that would be hard again - particularly if you switch to CS, College is supposed to be hard - that’s when the learning starts. </p>
<p>Transferring to UCSD does nothing but delay your graduation. I’d encourage you to do your best and work toward a 4 year graduation. </p>
<p>This is a tough call. All the top tier UC’s and at least some, if not all, of the top public schools, grade on a bell curve to weed out students, especially in the impacted majors (to get into computer science, engineering, business school like Haas, etc.) or competitive areas like pre-med. I know the Univ. of Wash. and probably other top public schools are the same. I sat in a UW orientation and the administrators stated to the incoming freshmen that they were all “A” students to get admitted to UW and that not everyone can be doctors. Therefore, they are on a steep bell curve to weed out students. Some schools like UC Berkeley can be very harsh in its grading with a steep bell curve. Some tests are so difficult that a top score out of 100 would be 50 or 60 and then the grading is on a bell curve.</p>
<p>You need to decide whether you want to change your major to a less competitive major at UCB or even transfer to another UC or transfer somewhere else. Transferring from UC to UC is very difficult and requires a very high GPA. The other alternative you mentioned is going to a CC and start fresh. The CC route is easy, but you would encounter the same issue again when you transfer to UCSD or any top UC’s. Having gone to a top UC and a private college, I personally believe the private schools are not as harsh in their grading. The private schools are another alternative. You should do your research and ask people enrolled in the private colleges. </p>