<p>i just finished my first year and i didn't do as well as i would have liked. I currently have a 2.73 gpa. I came in wanting to be an econ major, but i am highly doubtful that i could even get into the major. So I am now debating between PACS, PEIS, or Rhetoric. Also, i am looking towards Grad school and/or Law school in the future.</p>
<p>With a C- in Math 1B should i retake this class for a better grade even though i don't technically 'need' it? even if the new grade is not factored into my gpa, will improvement reflect well on my transcript?</p>
<p>thanks in advance for any advice</p>
<p>Well, let's see. If you got a C-, you probably aren't going to get an A if you retake it. The curve is harsh like that; you're probably not going to become a Math 1B superstar.</p>
<p>But even if you were able to get an A, why not just take another class that you think you're likely to do well in? That way, your GPA will go up <em>and</em> your transcript will look better! And you won't be miserable relearning Math 1B...because who the heck would want to do that?</p>
<p>I got a C+ in Math 53, and I eventually got into the grad program I wanted, so hopefully that makes you feel a little better. My GPA improved significantly as I progressed through Cal, as I got more comfortable with the environment/studying habits/etc. I suggest you just try your best in future classes.</p>
<p>But take my advice with a grain of salt. I'm engineering, which is pretty different.</p>
<p>thanks...any other advice?</p>
<p>What's your gpa in the econ major? If you have mostly A's in the other econ major prereqs, then one C- in math 1B will not kill you. How have you done in econ 1, intermediate economics courses, and statistics? And if you still want to take math 1B to improve your overall GPA, an improvement will reflect well to law schools. Also, if you want to go to an econ grad school, I think you should retake math 1B. Please don't give up on majoring in econ because it is a very useful major, the Berkeley econ department is one of the best in the nation, and the econ major can be used for career and grad school advancement. </p>
<p>As for improving your GPA, I would recommend going to class every day, reviewing new material as soon as possible, and even studying/doing homework on a Friday night if you must. I know it can be very tough at Berkeley and it can be pretty competitive, as evidenced by the glacial environment in the stats 20 class I took last semester. Anyways, I just finished my first year as well and if you have any other questions feel free to ask, after all, the advising at Berkeley is so bad.</p>
<p>By the way, looking at your previous posts, I completely agree with you on the racial clique thing. I can't really identify hanging out with people of the same race due to the lack of Nepalese people at Berkeley and in general, although I get commonly mistaken for a Pakistani or Hispanic:)</p>