UC Davis GPA

My son is a freshman at UC Davis…He has always been an achiever and had a 4.3 gpa in high school consistently.We just got his grades for the fall semester…He has a 2.900 gpa…is that good?

Good is relative and it depends upon major. Was he was struggling in his classes or did he understand the material but just had a tough time adjusting and wasn’t prepared for the workload? What type of classes did he take?

My older son now in his 4th year at UCD, also was a high achiever in HS and had a difficult 1st year( similar GPA). The quarter system is hard and you need to hit the ground running. Your son has plenty of time to bump up his GPA but he should reevaluate his study habits, what material gave him difficulty and if he needs to spend more time than normal on his academics (many distractions for Freshman). Also depending upon his major, there are several “weed out” courses Freshman take which contributes a reality check when it comes to grades. At any UC, he is competing with high achievers and unfortunately everyone cannot get an A.

Good luck to him and I am sure things will improve.

Thanks for the reply…he is majoring in animal biology…what made it low was calculus wherein he got a D…he has 2A’s and a B…Math has always been his waterloo

My son’s “waterloo” was Chemistry and Calculus at UCD.

Oh well…only a few likes Math☺ just worried about the scholarships though…he is on a free ride right now…what is the required gpa to maintain it?He is my first and only child to go to school here in the US…my other 3 went to school and finished their bachelor’s in the Philippines where we’re from and we have a completely different system so am kinda clueless of how it is here.Thanks for people like you who are always helpful.I am very hands on with regards to my son’s studies ever since and he’s not the type to ask questions too☺

Btw…what do you mean by “weed out courses”?

Weed out courses are classes such as General Chem/Organic Chem and Biology where are large portion of STEM students have to take and are notoriously hard on purpose to reduce the # of students in a given major like Engineering or Biology (Pre-Med).

You need to check with your son in regards to what GPA is required for any scholarships. Many require a 3.0 or higher depending upon the scholarship (this may be cumulative for the year) but definitely double check.

Thanks for the info and tips…they are definitely helpful…happy new year!