<p>Right now, my GPA is somewhat lower than I'd like it to be. It's right around the average for engineering students, but I'd like it to be higher, especially considering that I do well in my computer science classes (CS is my major)--it's the math, physics, etc. that are giving me trouble, though I have been slowly getting better at handling the workload as I get more into the rhythm of the quarter system. My question is, do most CS majors start out strong GPA-wise and then go down from there (i.e. do I have no hope for a better GPA as time goes on), or is it common for them to have an upward trend in GPA? Do grad school admissions officers value such an upward trend, as undergrad adcoms do? Thank you!</p>
<p>I’d say it depends on what you’re good at. If you’re really good at comp sci, you’ll probably see an upward trend as you being taking mostly CS courses (having finished physics, math, and the GEs). If you do well in your lower div courses but aren’t the greatest at CS, you’ll probably begin to decline.</p>
<p>I’d say I’m in the 1st category. My current GPA is about 3.23 (also comp sci major).</p>
<p>What is your GPA, if you don’t mind me asking?</p>
<p>I’m in the first category so far, too. I’ve gotten through the “weeding” of CS 31 and 32 without much trouble at all (and honestly I love working on the projects), but math has been a bear (or should I say bruin? har har). After this quarter, my GPA will be around 3.0 (an improvement from last quarter)</p>
<p>Time to up your study habits, somehow</p>
<p>Excor could be right. Maybe you should rethink your studying strategies. How many more math classes do you have to go through? Once those physics classes are over, your GPA can begin recovering 
(at least, that’s what happened to me).</p>
<p>I’m working on that–I definitely improved somewhat this quarter. I had 18 units this quarter compared to 13 last quarter, but I was able to manage my time better, despite the increased workload. I’ve got Math 32A/32B/33A/33B and Physics 1B and EE 1 to get through, but I now know that my strength and passion is CS so I hope things will be looking better soon.</p>
<p>From another the BioEng perspective… my trend was like this: pretty bad Freshman year (3.1 overall) (didn’t do well in math/physics but did better in chem/biology courses) then a lot of near A-/A average quarters since then to bring the GPA up to 3.5+. I’ve got other friends who did really well early on in pre-reqs, 3.9/4.0 status and then dropped down when they got complacent after first year. Then rose again after realizing that.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. Obviously it would be ideal to have a consistently high GPA, but would employers and grad schools look more favorably upon me if I overcome a shaky GPA to do well in my major-field classes?</p>
<p>I don’t think employers care if you consistently improve your GPA, only your final GPA matters. Same story for elite graduate schools.</p>
<p>^Upward trends are valued in virtually every grad/med/law school, albeit it is a soft factor among many many others</p>