<p>Hey folks</p>
<p>I was wondering about something I heard. This girl told me that students don't help each other as much because of a curve, and that the competition is very high at berkeley. Is this the case in certain classes? Does this curve mean that it is difficult to receive an A because the standards are set so high by your peers? Is this true for upper division science courses? Let me know, if you know. Thanks.</p>
<p>it's survival of the fittest, so naturally, in a place like berkeley, there are bound to be bright minds that tear apart others in the curve... upper div science courses should be pretty tough, but i'm sure competition is not to the point of not helping each other out... there might be a few that do, but the majority would be more than willing to give help.</p>
<p>i heard of terrible things that take place in east coast privates, where students steal and rip off notes from other students to get ahead in the curve.</p>
<p>So far at berkeley, I haven't heard of anyone who refused to help another student because of the curve. I find that kind of people antisocial.</p>
<p>I've only seen good things among students here. Someone will always help you out if you ask for it.</p>
<p>the same here</p>
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So far at berkeley, I haven't heard of anyone who refused to help another student because of the curve. I find that kind of people antisocial.
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<p>Well, I'm afraid that it exists a lot, especially in premed. The sad fact is that it's true that there really is a lot of cutthroat competition at Berkeley within certain majors and there really are some gunners at Berkeley who will stop at nothing to get the A.</p>
<p>This is to Sakky --</p>
<p>By pre-med, do you mean all the science classes required for medical school? i.e. biology, chem, o-chem, physics? Or do you speak of all science classes including upper division ones? Can you give me some example of what these cutthroat students might do for the A?</p>
<p>I mostly mean the classes required for premed. Upper division science classes are less cutthroat, but still no hugfest. </p>
<p>What might cutthroat students do for an A? You ask a student to explain something and they will deliberately tell you something wrong. The prof might put some reading material on reserve, and some students will check out those materials and only return them late after the exams are over, not because they're still reading the stuff, but because they don't want to let anybody else read it so that other people won't know how to answer a test question that is based on that material, hence lowering the curve. Or (even worse) when the material is returned, certain key pages are ripped out. </p>
<p>Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying that everybody does this. However, you ought to know that this sort of thing sometimes happens.</p>
<p>Isn't there some time limit on the items placed on reserve?</p>
<p>Absolutely, but some people have no problem in paying the late fine, if it means possibly getting a better grade by denying other people access to the materials. That's the harsh reality of cutthroat competition - certain people really will do anything to get a better grade.</p>