Unsure about UC Berkeley

<p>As college decision deadlines come around the corner, I'm really leaning towards going to Berkeley, my only issue is that I have doubts about not being able to handle it since I'll be a pre-business/ pre-Haas major (one of the more difficult majors at Berkeley, and a major that I hear a lot of "horror" stories about) . Is it really as hard as everyone says it is? I'm aiming for a 3.7, and I'd be willing to study about 30 hours a week, so is it doable? What I'm trying to say is, I'm totally willing to work hard, but I also want to play hard and have some free time now and then. So- I guess that's what I'm asking, if I study hard, can I get a 3.7? Or is it a more of a "luck" thing (i.e. you can try hard and study hard but you still may end up with a bad grade)? Any opinions from pre-Haas, Haas majors, and Berkeley students would be greatly appreciated (regarding this and if possible, large class sizes and your experience with the course load and its manageability)! I'm also considering Emory (in Georgia), and its business program, in case that offers any more background information.</p>

<p>I’d appreciate ANY feedback on this, please :)</p>

<p>I am not in Haas, but I know that it is around 50% acceptance rate for those who apply after 2 years in Berkeley. A 3.7 GPA is more than enough to get into Haas along with a couple of convincing essays why you want to be in the program.</p>

<p>There are certainly cases that you get a disappointing grade after a lot of studying, but I can tell you that if you do put in 30 hours a week for studying, then achieving a 3.7 is quite manageable.</p>

<p>As for large classes, this means I won’t get personal attention from the professor, but this didn’t affect the quality of the learning. You still attend lectures and discussion, do the homework, and take the exams with 400 other people at the same time. </p>

<p>I helped and looked over a lot of people’s essays for the application for Haas and listened to their stories, and in my opinion, being a pre-business student is one of the lesser horrifying experience compared to pre-meds or chemistry or certain engineering majors.</p>

<p>If you’re willing to put the effort and time into it, you should not have doubts about not being able to handle the schoolwork. Usually those other 50% who got declined know better why they got rejected and admit they could’ve tried harder.</p>