<p>I keep hearing crap like "Berkeley is so difficult for science majors", "Berkeley is harder than all other schools!", "ZOMG DON'T DO IT! LAWL!"</p>
<p>Basically people saying that it's SO MUCH harder at Cal.. what is it that makes Cal so much harder? specifics please</p>
<p>Q: What makes Cal hard?
A: Very attractive girls do.</p>
<p>^rawlfulmao, haha RIGHT… :p</p>
<p>For science majors, grades are commonly awarded based on a curve. Since people at Cal are more likely to be intelligent/hardworking, given its selectivity, you are more likely to fit lower on the curve. In addition, because people at Cal are more likely to be intelligent/hardworking, professors can challenge their students more and do. I think that’s why you hear these things about difficulty.</p>
<p>I’m scared about that too – this is the one thing that’s holding me back from going lol</p>
<p>cut throat competition</p>
<p>What makes the curves hard is that the professors write the tests to make an accurate curve. I have a lot of friends that are science majors at Cal and they say that the tests have questions on the most ridiculous, insignificant things, just so that the students who worked the hardest (aka spent the most time memorizing the most stuff) get the best grades. A lot of times students will spend so much time memorizing super specific details that they will miss the broad concepts.</p>
<p>@Cantib
would you say then that majoring in molecular bio for instance with an emphasis on something besides biochem will be more memorization based rather than conceptual?</p>
<p>@Coolaid- I really don’t know, I’m a philosophy major. I’m pretty sure that the upper division classes are better though, and I know that my friends don’t regret majoring in a science at all.</p>
<p>It’s the competition. I took an upper div macro course at UCSC and it was pretty easy to stay ahead of the curve and even benefit from it. I took an upper div micro course at UCB and I had to STUDY. Your A- on a test might easily become a B-. </p>
<p>Also it’s how the professors structure the tests. One day our prof went over one topic for about 1-3 mins and then devoted the next hour+ to material in the book. Come exam time, most of the book material was not on the test, but the material he wrote on the board for less than 3 mins was extensively tested and required heavy intuition. Everything is fair game.</p>
<p>So what about compared to a school such as UNC? That’s what im debating between… </p>
<p>Also, if I have taken all my pre-med requirements, will the upper division bio classes be less rigorous? Im coming from a cc and have taken all my requirements. Is the super death competition between ALL bio/chem etc students or just in the premed requiremnts. i understand there is still competition but is it as cutthroat</p>
<p>It’s easy to assume there are a high percentage of premeds majoring in bio or chem. And because med school admittance is based on GPA, it’s not like premeds are going to start slacking in upper division courses. Competition might actually get stiffer because the herd has been culled and the curve is now set with fewer slackers taking up the low end. </p>
<p>A lot of people recommend not doing premed at Cal because maintaining a competitive GPA is more difficult; but, some people also say that med schools take this into account. Given the extra energy required to take a specific school’s grade deflation into account though, and the large number of med school applicants, I doubt adcoms really do care about the difficulty unless you have a borderline GPA.</p>
<p>i went up to berkeley a a couple days ago and literally 2/3 of the student population i talked to was pre-med…</p>
<p>UC Berkeley is difficult because the students there are bred to be competitive. If you’re not a superhuman in some field, you’re in for a challenge (not that that’s bad…just very different from community college).</p>
<p>You’re subpar! <em>hides</em> jk</p>
<p>rawfulmao, not from what I’ve seen. More like:</p>
<p>A: Recycling, hybrid cars, and other tree-hugging junk.</p>
<p>/gross stereotype</p>
<p>@Oblivious</p>
<p>I meant it as a joke (Berkeley sees a hot girl, Berkeley gets hard).</p>
<p>Oh. I thought you meant it literally, as it is difficult to do well at school with so few pretty girls to impress. Just kidding, I know you were joking. I was too. I meant it like Berkeley gets hard when it sees a hybrid car (you know, because of the liberal greenie stereotype and everything). NVM. My humor fails.</p>
<p>I am genuinely worried about engineering at UC Berkeley. I, for one, do NOT think I am ready for the rigor of that program. I am so scared.</p>
<p>Wait, there can’t be THAT few pretty girls at Berkeley, can there be? </p>
<p>I mean, think about what we’re saying about women in general right now…</p>
<p>We are saying</p>
<p>A: Girls are not as smart as guys,
and
B: Girls that are smart are ugly</p>
<p>Why else would you guys suggest that the #1 public school in the nation has predominately ugly girls???</p>