<p>Is it true that the majority of competitive people going to UCSD are majors in things such as the natural sciences(bio, etc.), engineering and pre-med? I have my choices down to uc irvine and ucsd so far and am planning to major in international studies (social science major). For me it kind of comes down to the gpa because I plan on going to grad school for MBA. I personally like Irvine but I am wondering if it is also not that difficult to obtain a good gpa at UCSD in my field (3.6+). Thank you.</p>
<p>most courses in social sciences aren't curved because they're based on essays and other subjective examinations as opposed to the hard sciences being mostly objective. This means that mostly everyone is social science is graded more or less on just their ability rather than their ability in respect to everyone else. the only social science that i can think of that doesn't follow this is economics. Whether you get a 3.6+ is totally determined by you alone (well, maybe your TA too).</p>
<p>Im going to UCSD next fall and plan on majoring in a social science as well (poli sci), and looking for a top notch GPA so I can get into a T14 law school. From what I've heard the department is pretty competitive but you can achieve an A as long as you put your time in. Like deonman said, in the hard sciences theres usually those 2-3 kids that ruin the curve for the whole class while in the social sciences you control your own destiny. That said, depending on where you plan on getting your MBA, a high GPA will mean a little more coming from UCSD (or at least that is true for law school - UCSD was graded as having the same "harshness factor" as Berkeley in terms of GPA adjustment, while UCI was a tier below). It's not just the hard sciences UCSD is known for, they've been ranked #7 in the country the past few years in the political science department :).</p>
<p>The competition is what makes UCSD bio so fun and exciting. Nothing like clamoring over your peers to the top. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>There should be some curve-breaker award given out for each class. It'd be a lot easier to know who to glower at for making the curve so awful.</p>
<p>I had the happy luck of hanging out with the really really smart kids in my science classes -- which made studying and lab-partner-finding a piece of cake, but totally cut down on the surprise factor when exams were handed back. </p>
<p>Though that one time I actually got a higher grade than the class nerd? Best feeling ever.</p>