<p>How much is there a focus (for students) on GPA? High school has been so focussed there, but does that continue at Cal? Or can students enjoy learning instead? If the focus is still there, is it more at Cal than other UCs (esp considering Davis). About to push the button on SIR for Cal, but don’t want GPA the priority to the exclusion of everything else (or to be in place where it’s the main priority for most).</p>
<p>Undeclared but will be a social science or humanities major.</p>
<p>I’d say theres a substantial proportion of students in the humanities and social sciences care very much about their GPA. But in general, people in those subjects are not GPA whores and take classes because they are interested in the subject.</p>
<p>Well, let’s put it this way. I think around 75% of the students at Berkeley came out with a 3.9uw GPA in high school. Nowhere near 75% of all Berkeley students gets a 3.9 GPA at Berkeley. Most people realize that they won’t have as high of a GPA and for most (who are not pre-med/pre-law/pre-haas) it’s not a huge concern. Especially among engineers, many just want to get above a 2.0 and get that degree. Students can very much enjoy learning instead, and there are courses that encourage that interest, such as seminars, DeCals, and “discovery courses”. However, most courses that most students take, they take to fulfill college requirements or major requirements, not necessarily because they want to take the course just for the sake of learning the subject. You can certainly do that though.</p>