Undergraduate Mathematics.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Yes, I know that there is a thread already on the quality of an undergraduate education at Berkeley.</p>

<p>My question is, will it be really hard to get a high GPA as a Mathematics or as a Statistics major at Cal? Am I better off going to UCLA for either of those two majors? Is the undergraduate education at UCLA just as "bad" as it is at Cal? Will I have much of a better chance of getting a higher GPA at UCLA than I would at Cal for either of the aforementioned majors?</p>

<p>I would really like to go to graduate school. That's why I'm so conerned about GPA.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Well, I fail to see the connection between the "bad" udergraduate education and the difficulty to get good grades at Cal.
Anyway, your concern is the grade. It's true that I've heard a lot of Math majors complaining about the strict grading of their math professors, averaging around 2.7(B-). I've also seen many people in my math classes struggling. But in my opinion, and many math people would agree with me,** Berkeley is one of the best, most interesting places to study math.**
So if you really like math, why not Berkeley?</p>

3

<p>Well people on this board are always whining about professors not really caring about the undergraduates.</p>

<p>It is the grading curve that scares me. You see, I want to go to graduate school. I thought I'd come here and ask if UCLA would be much easier.</p>

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<p>It's better to have a 3.0 at Berkeley than a 3.2 at UCLA for math, isn't it? Berkeley is one of the best universities for math.</p>

5

<p>I guess I'll have to visit Berkeley, have a look around myself and talk to the math faculty and students.</p>

<p>Now, we're talking about upper division undergraduate. I plan on transferring so I won't be taking the killer Math 5A and Math 5B courses. If I pull off a 4.0 at a local community college, I should be well prepared and I won't really be hit in the face with those harsh curves for upper divison courses right?</p>

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<p>Wait, could someone respond to my question or my regarding upper divison course work and if there are any harsh curvers?</p>

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<p>math changes a lot in the transition from lower div to upper div; it becomes much more abstract and you stop seeing numbers. it's more about proof, not calculation. </p>

<p>as for grad school, it depends on what grad school you want to do. </p>

<p>people tell me that law schools and medical schools care a lot about the g.p.a. you get and don't care as much about what school you went to or what classes you took. in contrast, academic grad schools (like, you want to get a master's degree or a doctorate) do care about course difficulty and school reputation a fair amount.</p>

<p>i don't understand what you mean by math 5a and math 5b. i guess they're community college classes, or maybe classes at UCLA? we don't have classes numbered math 5a and 5b at berkeley. in any case, i would say that it's not a good idea to avoid taking lower div math at cal for fear of harsh grading. for most people, upper division math is not easier than lower division math. </p>

<p>it's not the curve that makes math hard; math is just hard.</p>

8

<p>Oh sorry I think I got them mixed up then. I mean I thought I saw someone here regard Calculus I and II with those courses I listed.</p>

<p>Oh and, Applied Mathematics. Is that a major its own at Berkeley? If I'm correct that one doesn't really have many courses with proofs right?</p>

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<p>proofs are an essential part of mathematics. you'll have to do some if you're going to major in mathematics, you can't avoid them.</p>

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<p>they're basically the same except applied mathematics requires you to do 3 elective courses in a certain field such as econ or physics.</p>

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<p>What about Applied Mathematics or Statistics? Less proofs right?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
My question is, will it be really hard to get a high GPA as a Mathematics or as a Statistics major at Cal?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It won't be easy, but will it be much different than UCLA? Probably not that different.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Am I better off going to UCLA for either of those two majors?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>From what I can tell, no, it will probably be similar, but I think Berkeley is a better school, and that's part of the reason why I go there. Check number of professors at each school, number of classes offered each term, and talk to math majors at each school.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Is the undergraduate education at UCLA just as "bad" as it is at Cal?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It's probably about as good in general, but one difference is Berkeley has significantly more classes under 20 people and significantly fewer classes over 50 people, leading me to say it has more smaller classes. You can check to see if the math departments at each school do not follow this trend. What relevant factors are you considering here?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Will I have much of a better chance of getting a higher GPA at UCLA than I would at Cal for either of the aforementioned majors?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>probably not. UCLA is no grading cake-walk. In all likelyhood it's very similar to Berkeley. Sure, there are probably more people at Berkeley who got into UCLA than people at UCLA who got into Berkeley, but many of these people are boderline, and the average math major at each school is going to be pretty strong.</p>

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<p>Oh, alright. Thanks for all of the advice, especially thanks to you DRab.</p>

<p>Now I'm starting to hear that upper division mathematics is much different than lower divison mathematics. What are some good analysis books that I can buy so that I can sort of prepare myself for the first couple of upper division courses at Berkeley before I arrive there?</p>