<p>So I just got my first CS midterm and I did really bad...not doing so hot in EE either...
The thing is I used to believe in myself, used to stay on top of things. At this point, I'm not even sure if CS is still something that I want to pursue. CS here is tough. They give you these long projects almost as if they think you have no other class or a life outside school. Or maybe they assumed that everyone here are geniuses...Seeing myself at the bottom of the pack is rather depressing, I'm beginning to wonder whether this will be the case in the industry? I still sort of like programming but being here makes me re-evaluate my decision. But then again, I really don't see myself doing any of the other of the engineering branch or other fields. I used to think that I'm a little bit above average programmer and can at least go somewhat far. I wished I had SIR'ed to UCSD or UCD ...and just graduate with ease (or less difficult at least) and just get a regular programming job afterwards...
Now I fear failure because it is something that is actually possible for the first time in my life. Wished I never got accepted here in the first place and given my spot to someone else... :/</p>
<p>It can require a LOT more work than what many high performing students were used to from high school. It also is easy to crush egos a bit, because with so many strong students, the projects and tests have to be difficult enough to spread out the grades, not to have everyone bunch up at the top.</p>
<p>challenge yourself. there are a lot of people here with skill and knowledge, but not a lot of people with the will or determination to push themselves through the goal line. </p>
<p>so what’s the real reason you’re not doing so hot? is it because you aren’t as devoted to your studies as your classmates? (your interests lie elsewhere perhaps? - life, fellow freshman (lol.), ecs?) or is it really because you don’t understand the material as well as everyone else? there are solutions to either one if you seek em out, lots of opportunity to grow and learn and bounce back here at cal imo.</p>
<p>I think, for better or worse, for whatever reason, you’re here at Berkeley. And you should definitely choose to make the best of it. You could eventually transfer to another UC after this year, but you shouldn’t. In my opinion, reasons like not finding the general social atmosphere/people of Berkeley agreeable, disliking the large class sizes and wanting individual attengion are okay; however, finding your CS classes and wanting to transfer to a university where they’ll supposedly be easier is not as good a reason. Honestly, yes, Berkeley is one of the best in the country for engineering, and though I’m not that familiar w/either that or the CS program, I’m sure the courses will still be VERY difficult if you went to UCSD or UCLA or something.</p>
<p>I don’t know, I would say stick with the courses you have now this semester, and see if you do better (I have many friends who are doing pre-med and some of them jumped ship when they saw their first chem midterm grades, finding it too hard; others stuck with it, and now they’re doing better and glad that they did. I don’t know which case will be for you.), then put them on pass/not pass if you don’t feel your passion for CS will be enough for you to handle the bad grades. If you feel that the courses are simply too difficult for you, I would try taking a course from another major that interests you next semester. If you like it, major in that. That would obviously change up your career plans quite a bit, but better than stuck doing something in which you feel miserable and inadequate. Anyway, I still think it’s too early for you to give up just yet.</p>
<p>Have you considered changing majors? Also EECS with relatively low GPAs tend to find good job opportunities at Cal. IF you were to switch and still do CS, I don’t think you would have the same opportunities even if you did better relative to the class.</p>
<p>It’s okay, you’ll get into the flow of things.</p>
<p>You should’ve thought about that before coming to Berkeley. Did you honestly think it was going to be cakewalk like your high school?</p>
<p>I suggest you keep at it and put more time into studying. If it means you have to sacrifice some of your social life, then so be it.</p>
<p>If your GPA is far below 3.0 by the end of the semester, or even year, you should change majors. If you can’t at least get above a 3.0 in a non-Engineering major, then you don’t belong at Berkeley and should strongly consider transferring to Cal State or something. There’s no point graduating from Cal if you’re going to have a 2.3 GPA or something.</p>
<p>^^ not entirely true. Cal is a good experience overall 
Even 2.7s get job offers from Cal.</p>
<p>Some people just aren’t suited for a specific major. Take classes outside of CS and see what you like. I know happy people who didn’t fit well with EECS that changed majors and are doing very well :)</p>
<p>no one answered the op’s question</p>
<p>^^^ Yep…</p>
<p>Is having below 2.5 as an EECS major bad? Like is it going to be hard to find a job? But I thought the average GPA is like 2.7…
It’s too early to tell what my GPA is going to be yet but I thought the first midterm is supposed to be the easiest one, so I’m concerned right now.</p>
<p>@starrynights
Where did you get the info that CS majors get less job opportunities? I thought that doing EECS Option IV is pretty much the same thing as doing CS in L&S.</p>
<p>^^ I meant CS at <em>other</em> UCs won’t receive the same opportunities as CS at cal :)</p>
<p>CS at Cal is the same as EECS at cal :)</p>
<p>I’d say 3.5+ is ideal range. But 2.7+ is okay for getting jobs at some smaller unpaid startups and then work your way up through work experience to a paid/better internship. Really CS is about experience and ability to code. If you can prove your knowledge during your talk with recruiters, your frosh GPA won’t hurt you too much.</p>
<p>And get help early. Study hard. Sleep.</p>
<p>Just curious, you implied that you were a freshman, correct? Then how are you taking EE classes already? Unless you mean EE42 (if you are in L&S CS)? If so… I think part of the reason for your doing not so swell may be because you jumped into more technicals than you should have, especially with EE42 (if that is the EE class you are talking about). None of my L&S CS friends did well in that class or enjoyed it for that matter.</p>
<p>I would also like to point out that you most likely do not have your grade yet for that midterm (I’m predicting you are refering the CS61A one) and there are 3 midterms in that class. In other words, you will have the opportunity to pull yourself up. If you’re finding the material difficult, don’t hesitate to seek out help ie office hours. Don’t be afraid to speak to your TA or the professor if you feel that you are really that far behind. They might be able to set you straight on the reality of things.</p>
<p>I personally remember when I took the last class of 61C that Garcia taught back in Spring '09 my freshman year and flunked (by flunked I don’t mean asian-flunked) all the projects and thought I failed the class. I had a omg-am-i-meant-for-this-major panic attack back then, but I wound up with a decent grade. Who knows, that may be the case for you too.</p>
<p>Are you unhappy being here in general or are you specifically (only) unhappy with how you are doing in class?</p>
<p>You start sweating classes and midterms, you’re gonna end up making yourself mental. Granted this is your first and I panicked a bit when I got my midterm back and it was terribly low. It’s really only natural to feel down so just vent. My friends who are seniors in EECS actually kind of enjoy it now much more than they did their freshman/sophomore years.</p>
<p>You know what’s sadder?</p>
<p>The quiet Romanian exchange student in the corner of discussion just finished his project last night . . . in about 30 minutes.</p>
<p>I’m actually a junior transfer. Pretty unhappy with the classes in general and how its affecting my life. I haven’t got a chance to check out alot of the events/meetings going on here because I was always busy doing hw. Luckily I found a club a few weeks ago only because of this guy I met in class. But I feel constantly overswamped with hw. I don’t even attend my humanities class sometimes and may just take it P/NP if my first midterm in Oct is bad.
I’m also kind of scared I guess. Cause I thought that CS is really my thing but my score is just bad…On top of that, this is just a lower division course, what about upper division CS classes where the exams may be curved and everyone are CS majors? that concerns me.
It’s like at this point, I’ll be happy just to graduate here with any GPA…will it be hard to get a job with GPA below 2.5 even though its from Cal?
I definitely would mind sacrificing my social life some more though as long as I don’t fail here…</p>
<p>Hang in there!</p>
<p>Review your midterm and learn from your mistakes.</p>
<p>If you have a passion for programming you will be a great programmer. Stick with it!</p>
<p>You obviously have a strong GPA from your transfer school. Just average it and put that on your resume as your “College GPA”. ;)</p>
<p>I think transferring as a Junior from a CCC to a UC or CSU is something that you can only do once, Berkeley chose you and you chose Berkeley so you are going to have to make it work. In addition the other UCs and Cal States use the same textbooks, teach the same material and assign the same amount of homework as Berkeley does so even if you were at one of those other schools you would be facing the same academic challenges but without the significant advantages that Berkeley confers in terms of resources and quality faculty over the other UCs and particularly the Cal States. You are no longer at a community college where you can have an active social and still get a 4.0 GPA, you are now at a four year university which are more demanding and you chose the most demanding one in the state. You are going to have to concentrate exclusively on your academics even if it means spending all day Saturday and Sunday, including Saturday night, studying until you have made the transition from CCC to UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>You can’t make CS61A P/NP if you’re planning to major in CS right?</p>
<p>If it’s for your major, you have to take it for a grade</p>
<p>^^^ Yeah I’m an EECS major so I can’t make it P/NP.</p>
<p>@UCBChemEGrad
Lol I like the idea of average CC and UC GPA >_< but I heard you not supposed to. Maybe I should if it comes down to that.</p>
<p>Honestly I don’t think other UCs are necessarily as difficult. I had a friend back at CCC who dropped from UCSC for financial reasons and he said that the classes over there are really easy, some even easier than the classes at the CCC…also know a few other people too at Davis and they’re doing pretty good…but I’ll definitely try harder. I mean what else can I do I’m already here?..but the concern of not making it is definitely there.</p>