<p>Well, there is some grade competitiveness though most people aren’t really grade competitive. Some of my MCB and pre-Haas friends tell me that their majors can be competitive. </p>
<p>I remember distinctly that one of my MCB friends told me “I’m so glad you’re not an MCB too!” after I introduced myself and told her my major the first time she met. Other MCB friends of mine have told me that they don’t particularly like meeting other MCBs sometimes because they feel like that other person is a rival. The reason is because the curves for MCB classes is particularly harsh so only a certain percentage of people get As in a particular class. Also, most MCBs are pre-med so they want the best grades they can possibly get.</p>
<p>For pre-Haas people, classes are also curved rather harshly so only a certain number of people get As. </p>
<p>I’m not trying to say that everyone in these majors is competitive, but rather I’m trying to point out that there are individuals (quite possibly a large number) who feel that they need to be competitive. </p>
<p>In high school, we all played a game which I like to call the “Higher, Faster” game where we all tried to take the most hard classes possible as quickly as possible with as little effort as possible to show what smart people we are. The focus of this game is getting good grades in hard classes. People in college (sooner or later) stop playing that game if they swant to survive. Learning the material becomes as important if not more important than the grade itself. Exam questions aren’t going to be about things you can memorize in a book but about how well you internalized the material and can now apply it to the given problem.</p>