I got off the waitlist at UC Berkeley a few days ago. It has been my dream school since freshman year and I would love to attend but I’ve been hearing about Berkeley’s grade deflation and how difficult it can be to keep up your GPA. I’ve also seen some stories of people becoming depressed there.
My major is Civil Engineering but I may want to switch to Applied Math since I’m unsure of whether or not I actually want to do Civil Engineering. I’ve SIRed to UCSD as a Structural Engineering major and I had recently become happy with the idea of going there despite getting one of my last college choices (Eleanor Roosevelt - too many history GEs). I know Berkeley has a much more exciting campus, as UCSD is considered “Socially Dead”, and living in NorCal would be a fun experience since I’ve lived in SoCal my whole life.
I’m just wondering if the grade deflation that bad at Berkeley? How much more competitive is it compared to UCSD? I don’t want to purely pick Berkeley because of the prestige, even though that was a big reason for me wanting to go there. I do believe that competition will be good, but I don’t want to go if I can’t handle getting a decent GPA and end up getting depressed. I’ve been thinking that I will end up going there, but I really don’t want to regret my decision. If anyone has anything to say, I’d love to hear! Thank you!
Civil engineering has been a bright spot for Berkeley. Unlike most other departments, quite a number of civil engineering professors have industry & consulting experience making them practical providing both theoretical approach and real-life examples. There are also a number of professors who go with absolute grading scale than curved grade fostering a nice ‘work-together’ environment.
I don’t know if I can say the same for other majors, but I highly recommend Berkeley Civil Engineering. It has been undisputed #1 program and relatively positive environment.
https://www.berkeleytime.com/ has grade distributions if you are concerned about that.
Looks like most civil engineering courses have grade distributions where 70-80% of the students earn B or higher grades (3.0 being the most common cut-off GPA that employers use for screening college applicants for interviews). However, lower division prerequisite courses (mostly shared with other majors) tend to have lower grade distributions (50-70% B or higher).
I don’t personally buy into the dream school concept. It’s an illusion that may be tough to live up to in reality.
Like most things it won’t be perfect and perhaps your expectations will leave you disappointed. It’s a place filled with Human beings and competitive ones for that matter. And that means random and varied perspectives, outcomes and experiences will emerge.
You were bright enough to get into these great schools. You can handle it. Grade deflation or not. Someone heads the curve. Maybe it’s you.
Maybe it’s not. Welcome to a few bs. Believe me you will be ok. No one cares.
Go to Berkeley and come back here and help out parents and students in the future understand your experience. Pay it forward.
Congrats and best of luck. I bet you knock the cover off the ball.
Based on @UpMagic’s extremely helpful insider information on Berkeley’s civil engineering program, it sounds like Berkeley is your best choice here. I don’t think grade deflation is a big enough reason to shy away from a really outstanding program.
How serious are your worries about possibly getting depressed – do you have a history of depression? College students can suffer from depression for a variety of reasons – sometimes reasons having nothing to do with academics. It’s impossible to predict how you’re going to feel at this or that campus – so much depends on your individual experience, the friends you make, etc. You might well end up depressed at UCSD as well, if you’re prone to depression. The important thing would be to make an appointment with the college counseling service early on if you feel like you’re struggling.
Berkeley does have a reputation as being stressful and competitive for engineering students. If that idea sounds bad to you, then go to UCSD. If you can handle the stress but you’re just worried your grades might be lower at UCB, I’d choose UCB since they have the more highly regarded program.
It isn’t as if UCSD is not stressful and competitive.
If you got Regents at UCSD and not at UCB, then that might tip the scales. (Registration priority, research, mentoring, etc.) But if they’re both “regular” offers, then why not go for the school that you have considered your top choice? I don’t think UCSD is “kinder and gentler” to an extent that it should sway your decision, when the UCB CivE department is so strong and the Berkeley vibe appeals to you. Go for it and congrats!
Thank you all for your insight! I think I was just overthinking everything, and all of these comments make me feel much more relieved. I have committed to Berkeley, so there’s no looking back!