<p>hey guys, over at the "engineering majors" section on CC, I proposed these questions for schools I applied to as an EE major (might switch over to ME). please take a look at them and offer honest answers =)</p>
<p>so, does berkeley:</p>
<p>a) allow students to innovate in class (e.g. in a post, sakky suggested to have classes where EE students analyze a radio or ME students analyze a motorcycle; from there, students should find a way to improve a certain feature)</p>
<p>b) (typically) slaughter half the class over a test due to a curve? is this true for every class you'll take as an EECS or ME major?</p>
<p>c) have enthusiastic teachers that teach really well and inspire students to love the subject taught in class? currently, I have an AP physics teacher in high school (who previously taught at a university) and he's absolutely fantastic (no homework, teaches well in class, everything is based on tests and quizzes).</p>
<p>d) produce engineers who are grumpy and pretty much hate life because that's what they were taught at berkeley?</p>
<p>obviously I've heard a ton of rumors about berkeley's engineering dept. of course, I don't expect engineering to be easy or anything; I'd rather it be challenging, but not to the point where 30%+ of the students in my class lose their sanity and drop the major. so, for anyone who has experienced the rigors of UCB's ME or EECS depts: would you call your experience, ehem (I know I may be pushing it), "fun"?</p>
<p>thanks, I'll be looking forward to your responses.</p>
<p>Most things most Engineering majors say are just to scare you. However, at Berkeley there's this sort of camaraderie you might find amongst EECS/CS majors... kind of like people who have been through the same thing know what its like.</p>
<p>a) With most of your first year classes being huge, it's hard for classes to have such projects where you innovate your ideas. From what I hear, most people in CS61A are doing projects/labs every weekend so a deal of innovation is needed to complete your projects. However possibly the upper-div classes cultivate more of what you asked.</p>
<p>b)
It depends on the class. For ex, CS61A is on a straight scale, so there's no curve involved. Same goes for E7 (the programming class you take if you're in ME). In lower-divs, most curves are set so that the average is around a B-/C+ range. The tests are usually pretty hard (averages around 50s) but it curves fairly. It gets even worse in some other classes, where like 30% isn't a F but a rather decent grade. So in a way, it can slaughter you, but the grade won't be horrible.</p>
<p>c) have enthusiastic teachers that teach really well and inspire students to love the subject taught in class? currently, I have an AP physics teacher in high school (who previously taught at a university) and he's absolutely fantastic (no homework, teaches well in class, everything is based on tests and quizzes).</p>
<p>There's always going to be good teachers and bad teachers at any university. They are all great researchers in their field but that doesn't translate them into being good teachers. I've had bad experiences with the Math department here, and the professors that I've had so far aren't very good (seems to me like they're more involved in their research). However, my Physics professor is pretty good, so it all depends. You can always do research beforehand so that you don't get a bad professor for your class. </p>
<p>d.)
Berkeley taught their engineers to be grumpy? Maybe with this recession some engineers are having a hard time finding work, not because of what they learned. Anyways, I'm not a ME/EECS major but I am in the CoE. I can't really speak for EECS majors but I've taken similar courses that ME majors have to take. The avg. freshmen gpa in the CoE is about a 2.8, so unless you're at the top of your game (which many HS seniors mistakenly think so), don't expect a 3.7+ coming in. It's tough, the grades aren't exactly the nicest as those of the humanities classes, and I'm not sure if 30% of students lose their sanity. Maybe in the EECS department :P. It is "fun" in the fact that some classes are intellectually stimulating but if you need to preserve your high grades for law/medical school..well it'll be a lot tougher here. Hopefully this give you some insight.</p>
<p>a) Not too sure about this. Most lower-division classes are too packed to have any individual projects, but once you get to upper-division classes there is a ton of space to innovate.</p>
<p>b) Most of the lower division courses are graded on a scale, such as for my CS61A and CS61B class. The grade is set to about a B-/C+ as blackfire said (since the average GPA for EECS is ~3.0 GPA (B-/C+ range)).</p>
<p>c) It depends on your professor.</p>
<p>d) I don't think so, most graduate knowing that they're already better than the majority of the engineering workforce.</p>