<p>Hey guys! I was recently admitted to Berkeley, and I feel extremely intimidated by the "difficulty" of the classes and the competition at Berkeley. </p>
<p>I don't mind working extremely hard, but the thing I'm scared of is just failing out of Berkeley. What if I work my butt off, but still only manage to get a C in a class..or even an F? </p>
<p>How are the science classes at Berkeley?</p>
<p>How is the COMPETITION? </p>
<p>AND, what did you wish you knew when entering Berkeley? </p>
<p>Advice and thoughts are GREATLY appreciated. Thank you so much for your time. :) </p>
<p>And, yes, I have googled and searched on collegeconfidential for all this information, but I just wanted more input and NEW insight. :)</p>
<p>If you went to an academically strong high school and did well, you will be fine at Berkeley. In any case, you will not fail out of Berkeley.</p>
<p>The science classes here can be pretty tough but, again, if you have a strong high school background they will definitely be doable.</p>
<p>I think every freshman is a little unprepared at first but everyone quickly adapts once they take their first Math 1A/Chem 1A/whatever midterm here. Once you’re past your first semester, hard exams will seem normal.</p>
<p>If you didn’t go to a high ranked high school, you’re going to most likely struggle during your first semester. Use that to prepare you for the future however. Learn how tests are structured, good study habits, ect. </p>
<p>If you went to a good high school, you should be fine. Just put in the effort.</p>
<p>Be aware that Berkeley courses may seem much harder than supposedly “university level” AP courses.</p>
<p>For example, at many high schools, students take AP Calculus AB over a year, or AP Calculus BC over two years (at better high schools, they offer a one year AP Calculus BC course).</p>
<p>Since a 5 on AB is approximately equivalent to a one semester course Math 1A, and a 5 on BC is approximately equivalent to Math 1A and 1B, that indicates that Berkeley math courses cover material at about twice the pace of AP Calculus courses in many high schools. Only those who had AP Calculus BC in one year will be familiar with the pace of university level math courses.</p>
<p>Science courses (other than courses like Physics 10) will typically have significantly more lab time than high school science courses, even AP courses.</p>
<p>Also, many AP tests have very little subject credit value at Berkeley – perhaps indicative of how they compare to Berkeley courses. For example, history majors cannot count any AP history test to their major course work.</p>
<p>This may be a shock to students who took 10+ AP courses and tests in high school and base their concept of how difficult university level courses are on that experience.</p>
<p>Also note that courses with labs, lots of computer programming, or large term projects can be considerably more work than their credit unit value indicates. Choose carefully to avoid putting too many such courses in one semester if you can, or take fewer units when you have a lot of these courses and more units when you have just lecture and discussion courses.</p>
<p>How much studying does it require to get a decent GPA (3.5 GPA) as a Biochemistry major? I’m prepared and willing to study 5-7 hours a day. (Concentrated studying of course and will probably even go to tutoring)</p>
<p>I am scared *****less to go to Berkeley because I was not accepted for my grades but rather for my ECs…I had a 1950/600,620/3.96 GPA…horrible test grades because I only studied 2 months before the tests (horrible I know)</p>
<p>In order to shed some light on the fact that I had a horrible GPA and test scores, I am doing fairly well on my AP Classes (Econ, Calc AB, Physics B) with a B+ - A- range.</p>
<p>Thank you! For those who did not come from an academically strong high school, should they just try their best to adjust? </p>
<p>demoz:</p>
<p>B/B+/A- all would kind of suffice. I’m looking into nursing school after undergrad; although I’m not sure how much nursing schools look at GPA, I’m sure B+'s would help rather than C’s. Thanks for your help! </p>
<p>jimmihendrix:</p>
<p>Great advice! Thank you! </p>
<p>ucbalumnus:</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your long post; it really helps (not just me, but future Cal students). Would you suggest people, who already have taken Calculus BC or AB to take the regular Calculus classes (What I mean is…that they shouldn’t skip the introductory Calculus classes?) I heard for other schools that no matter whether or not you take Biology AP or Calculus AB, you should STILL take the introductory courses.</p>
<p>When you say they have a LONGER lab time, is that to the student’s advantage? At my high school, we barely have enough time for labs (maybe just an hour for one day…out of a month). What exactly HAPPENS during those lab times? </p>
<p>Again, thank you so much!</p>
<p>fl1p1npr1d3: </p>
<p>I second that notion. I am coming in as a Cellular and Molecular Biology major, and I am scared out of my mind that I can’t even get a 3.4. Advice for fl1p1npr1d3 and me would help so much! :)</p>
<p>get out of as many lower division math/science classes as you can…math 1b/53/54/chem1a/physics 7a/b are all hard to get into in terms of scheduling and have difficult curves as well…AP/Community college out of as many of those requirements as you can</p>
<p>5 on AB => take Math 1B (or H1B).
5 on BC => take Math 53 and/or 54 (or H53 and/or H54) but you should self-study some introductory differential equations topics before taking 54 or H54.
3 or 4 on AB or BC => you may take Math 1B, but the Math department suggests that some students may want to start over with Math 1A.</p>
<p>(Note: the normal freshman and sophomore math sequence is 1A, 1B (calculus), and then 53 (multivariable calculus) and/or 54 (linear algebra and differential equations) in either order; the H versions are honors versions. There is also a less rigorous 16A, 16B calculus sequence.)</p>
<p>Some other schools like Caltech and Harvey Mudd have freshman calculus courses that are much heavier in theory, so they want all students to take them, since the AP syllabus does not contain all of the theory that their courses contain.</p>
<p>For other AP tests, check with the department of the subject and your major department. Note, however, that medical schools do not accept AP credit for pre-med requirements (though they may accept more advanced courses instead of the beginning ones that you can jump over with AP credit; check with the medical schools).</p>
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<p>You do lab experiments. Lab are often 3 hours long once per week, and then you write up the lab report as homework later – almost as much time as lecture and discussion plus its homework (although you do not get additional tests and final exam for the lab). But you do get more learning out of the lab than in high school labs, where the time limitations reduce the amount of meaningful labs you can do.</p>
<p>For pharm school, you probably should not skip the intro classes. The Math 1 series is not the easiest. Unless you are doing a major that requires it, you can just do the Math 16 series - it works for pre-med/pharm/etc but is easier. I think that even with a 5 on Calculus BC the 1 series is not exactly an easy A.</p>
<p>Also, as you make your way through your first two years, try to be open to different majors. If you want to do bio, MCB may or may not be the best option for you. There are other biology majors including Integrative Biology and a few others in CNR. Pretty much every pre-med or other pre-health student enters as an intended MCB major but a good number of them switch to other majors that are more conducive to getting a high GPA.</p>
<p>Oh forgot to answer your question whoops. So I think that even though you say you did not come from a strong HS, it is a good sign that you are willing to work hard. I think the students who have it the worst are those who were at the top of their mediocre high schools and come into Berkeley overconfident about their abilities. As long as you work hard and utilize all of your resources (ex, office hours, the school’s tutoring services) you will be fine.</p>
<p>^yeah. idk about grad school. i know pre-med needs to take all the lower-divs like chem/bio/math. i’m an engineer just looking to get by and get a job when i graduate…so yeah :)</p>
<p>You don’t need math 53/54 or physics 7a/7b for MCB. But if you do have the AP scores to get out of Math 1A/1B, Chem 1A, Bio 1B, or Physics 8A/8B, USE THEM. Retaking will be a waste of your time and will most definitely hurt your GPA.</p>
<p>The important and hard classes your first few semesters are going to be organic chemistry and Bio 1A. They’re hard for everyone, but some people do well after studying only right before midterms while others study 5 hours every day. I was lucky enough to be in the first group and I do thank my competitive high school for that. If you’re not used to the difficulty level at first, you are going to have to put more time into it but should be able to pull off B’s at least.</p>
<p>Berkeley MCB is overall pretty amazing and it gets better as you get into the upper divs. Lot of great professors and research opportunities as well. So skip whatever you can and good luck :)</p>
<p>“Oh forgot to answer your question whoops. So I think that even though you say you did not come from a strong HS, it is a good sign that you are willing to work hard. I think the students who have it the worst are those who were at the top of their mediocre high schools and come into Berkeley overconfident about their abilities. As long as you work hard and utilize all of your resources (ex, office hours, the school’s tutoring services) you will be fine.”</p>
<p>Thank you! That makes me feel a bit better; I’m willing to study as much as 10+ hours a day to get that grade, haha, but I think that may hurt my social life…I will try my best at Berkeley! </p>
<p>ucbalumnus (or anyone else) :</p>
<p>What do you suggest I major in at UC Berkeley if I wanted to pursue a nursing career?</p>
<p>qwanie, you should pursue whichever major you find most interesting. If it helps though, a lot of the pre-nursing students I know are either Public Health or Integrative Biology. I think Integ. Bio is a good choice because its upper div requirements overlap with a lot of nursing prereqs (anatomy, physio, etc).</p>
I’m looking into nursing school after undergrad; although I’m not sure how much nursing schools look at GPA, I’m sure B+'s would help rather than C’s. Thanks for your help!