<p>I got a B in one of my major prereq classes. Luckily, I can still declare the economics major. I’m not too happy about the B, but my parents said it is a great job and not to worry, and that Berkeley is tough.</p>
<p>Now I got to thinking…would a B here (the final exam was a bit difficult imo) mean a higher grade at another school, like Davis or something? What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Also, I know you guys think that Bs are horrible (I saw that A- thread…), lol.</p>
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<p>The nuance would be: “Who’s doing the ‘considering’?” The sad truth is that med schools and law school adcoms do not consider a B at Berkeley (or anywhere else) to be an A at Davis. To them, an A is an A, a B is a B. The upshot is that, for the purposes of med/law-school admissions, it’s better to not take a difficult course at all than to take it and receive a poor grade. A corollary is that it’s better to choose a creampuff major. </p>
<p>PhD admissions, on the other hand, tend to be more cognizant of varying grading standards.</p>
<p>I wish. And a lot of people used to say that in high school so I was fine with getting B’s. And I got pretty much all B’s in AP classes freshman year until my friend came and encouraged me to get A’s. And i started getting A’s for the rest of the time, which I thought was impossible. If that’s your way of thinking, then just know you can get A’s as long as you work a tiny bit harder.</p>
<p>NO, it’s that simple. A B here is a B.</p>
<p>A B is A B for B.A.</p>
<p>reading this thread, this is all i’m thinking about:</p>
<p>[Use-mention</a> distinction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_mention_distinction]Use-mention”>Use–mention distinction - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>A B here is a B here. You really can’t compare grades across colleges. There’s way too many factors and qualities at play.</p>
<p>hm ok. i guess you are right. i was just referred to the level of difficulty here at berkeley compared to other schools, like davis or so, lol.</p>
<p>You can’t only focus on all the schools that are getting it so easy. There are schools that are less selective and more forgiving in terms of grading. There are schools that are more selective but have more generous curves. There are schools that are more selective and hardly give out any As to their students. </p>
<p>A B here probably translates to an F in Math 55 at Harvard.</p>
<p>Lol cairacs I hope your joking because everyone knows Harvard has the biggest grade inflation of all times…</p>
<p>It’s very difficult to compare grading trends between universities. That being said, I can guarantee you that typical “B work” at Cal does <em>not</em> translate to “F work” at Harvard. Just because a school like Harvard has a very low acceptance rate does not mean its grading is incredibly strict. In fact, as SoCalii mentioned (and any UChicago student will tell you), Harvard tends to have a reputation for grade inflation. Whether or not this reputation holds true is debatable - and in all honesty, it’s probably exaggerated, similar to how exaggerated Berkeley’s grade deflation is. Regardless, to answer the OP’s question…a B is a B.</p>
<p>I didn’t say typical B work. I said Math 55 at Harvard, just as an example of a very difficult class.</p>
<p>As someone who doesn’t go to Harvard, I have little knowledge of its classes and grading schemes so I’m not going to comment on them. My point is: people at Berkeley should stop complaining about grade deflation. It’s not the right mentality. Just work and aim for that A.</p>
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<p>Well, in caics defense, he did happen to (perhaps deliberately) choose arguably the most notoriously difficult undergraduate course at Harvard - so much so that it’s even been [deemed[/url</a>] “The hardest freshman course in the country” and one where Harvard (immodestly) [url=<a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/pamphlets/freshmenguide.html]pronounces[/url”>http://www.math.harvard.edu/pamphlets/freshmenguide.html]pronounces[/url</a>] it to be “probably the most difficult undergraduate course in the country”, and about which UPenn math professor [url=<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2006/12/6/burden-of-proof-at-1002-am/]David”>The Harvard Crimson]David</a> Harbater](<a href=“http://samjshah.com/2008/06/06/math-55-the-hardest-freshman-course-in-the-country/]deemed[/url”>Math 55: The Hardest Freshman Course in the Country | Continuous Everywhere but Differentiable Nowhere)has stated that “If someone applies to graduate school at Penn, and I see that he or she was in Math 55, that would certainly get my attention”. Harvard economist and perennial Nobel candidate [Andrei</a> Schleifer](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/6/4/andrei-shleifer-and-j-bradford-delong/]Andrei”>Andrei Shleifer and J. Bradford DeLong | News | The Harvard Crimson) stated that “Math 55 permanently disabused me of the idea of becoming a mathematician” and seems to have survived the class only through the help of his friend, now Berkeley economist Brad DeLong. The [url=<a href=“http://www.american.com/archive/2008/march-april-magazine-contents/why-can2019t-a-woman-be-more-like-a-man]AEI[/url”>http://www.american.com/archive/2008/march-april-magazine-contents/why-can2019t-a-woman-be-more-like-a-man]AEI[/url</a>] declared that “It is legendary among high school math prodigies, who hear terrifying stories about it in their computer camps and at the Math Olympiads. Some go to Harvard just to have the opportunity to enroll in it”. </p>
<p>While I agree with the sentiment that Harvard, generally speaking, is grade-inflated, I think we should have some respect for Math 55.</p>
<p>I actually think that Math 55 shouldn’t have been brought up in the first place – it’s really not a good course for comparison in any school. No grade for any class will ever translate into something other than an F in Harvard’s Math 55, so what’s the point of bringing it up? Let’s instead focus on the normal classes in Harvard (and other schools) that are comparable to Berkeley’s.</p>