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<p>The problem with this is that ALL L&S students are judged using the same GPA cutoffs. Yet the fact is, some L&S majors are graded far harder than others. Physics and Mathematics, for example, are graded very harshly. Certain other majors, which shall remain unnamed, are not. Yet the Physics and Math students are forced to present the same sort of GPA as everybody else in L&S in order to attain Dean’s List or these honors distinctions.</p>
<p>What Berkeley should do is have individualized GPA cutoffs for each particular major. For example, the Physics students need such-and-such GPA in order to get on the Dean’s list, whereas students of some cheesepuff major will need a much higher one. Or even better, these GPA cutoffs should be individualized for each particular student, depending on what courses they took. For example, to get onto the Dean’s list you have to present a GPA that is in the top 4% for the specific selection of courses that you took. So there would be no more cherry-picking of easy courses by people who are close to the cutoff just to push them over the top. With my proposal, if you take easy courses, then the GPA you have to obtain will increase. In other words, the more grade-inflated your courses, the higher the GPA you will have to attain.</p>