Is it true that UCLA experiences a good deal of grade deflation/down-curves (for the North Campus)? I would attend UCLA in a heartbeat if it wasn’t for the daunting 3.2 GPA average. Is maintaining above a 3.5 doable (and not just for the exceptional student, as pretty much everybody at UCLA is exceptional)?
In my experience it is more of an effort to receive A’s in lower division classes than in upper divisions, and yes the grade deflation is real. But, it’s not at all impossible to receive A’s and A-'s, and professors here typically provide you with everything you need to know/do to perform well in the class. It’s just a matter of whether you utilize that or not.
I’m a North Campus major Junior and have a 3.8 GPA currently, and that’s just from going to class, doing the work, and dropping in at office hours every now and then to make sure I’m doing things the way the professors and TAs expect. You really just need to have the right mentality and not slack off, ever. A lot of classes have maybe 4 assignments total throughout the quarter, and each assignment is typically worth a good portion of your overall grade, so as long as you hold yourself to a high standard on all of them you will be fine.
Long story short, above a 3.5 is 100% doable. If you got admitted to the school, you’re fully capable of it. Just apply yourself.
I think the 3.2 is from the South Campus major. If I’m not mistaken, I know that there needs to be a B- average for certain classes (like math). One of my humanities professors said that humanities don’t curve it to an average; it’s based on your own performance.