Can I get a 4.0 at berkeley?

repute
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:24:00 +0000

Thanks very much for your reply! I’ve heard that upper divs are more concerned with depth rather than breadth (and weeding out those who “don’t belong” :). I’ll be very glad with the depth of content I will be exposed to and the sense of being around other people who show the same interest in the subject.

However, it’s been a burning ambition of mine to thwart what they all say and obtain the storied and supposedly unattainable 4.0. Really, this emotion is what allowed me to realize my goal for the first semester - this is getting personal, but I’ve felt that all my life I didn’t spend effort in the places where I should have and sort of ended up as a jack of all trades, so this is my journey to become truly outstanding in what really is the most convenient path (simply take all your classes as seriously as you can, and then some!).

I wouldn’t attribute it to natural genius (which I don’t really think exists at all) or anything like that; in none of my classes was I that one person who got 100s on every frickin test and was the rank 1 whiz. My first few midterms started out slightly above average, second midterms significantly above average, and then on the finals I killed it (except for in CS, lol). With each test my resolve simply grew stronger, and I studied harder (In retrospect, there was still PLENTY OF TIME I had left over to do other things. I DID NOT push myself to the very limit; I believe that’s an incredibly difficult thing to do, but gets closer in reach with increased determination. And I believe that that’s what gives rise to greatness). I’ve found that listening to pump-up music during a mundane activity, like walking to class, helps SO MUCH to visualize yourself achieving whatever high-flying goal you have. My imagination actually ended up helping quite a bit, lol!

So to anyone who feels discouraged, that could be the primary source of your discouragement to begin with! I can say from personal experience, that ambition (and passion) is one of the most powerful assets.