<p>it’s not that the classes are that difficult; there are just many more things competing for your attention than sitting in the library all day. you’ll have to make some tough choices – study or 3 am roberto’s run for carne asada fries? or beach? or impromptu trips to ralph’s for froyo?</p>
<p>college isn’t all about grades – don’t stress out yet!</p>
<p>@reagan: The people? The same bastards that make it necessary for me to put in 4 to 5 hours a day of study time in Geisel to be able to keep a decent GPA.</p>
<p>It’s not unheard of having “superstar” students come in and barely squeak by with a 2.0+ GPA…</p>
<p>I’m all for letting in more idiots. They’ll lower the curve, and just make things easier for me in general.</p>
<p>Too many, though, and they’ll make their major impacted (re: Bio)</p>
<p>@ astrina: who needs to go to ralphs for froyo when you can get it on campus? =D</p>
<p>My general opinion of the average UCSD student is that he/she is honestly not very brilliant, and in fact average. They tend to understand the material just enough to pass the class with only a mild (if any) interest in pursuing the subject matter any further than necessary. Ambition is definitely not a word I’d use to describe the students here (which means yay for lower curves!). Therefore GE classes are very easy IMO.</p>
<p>That being said the hardest classes I’ve ever taken are classes designed to be weeder classes, which means they want a certain proportion of students to drop out of a certain class/major/career goal. For me that would be all the classes that are prerequisites for even more classes that are prerequisites for the classes I am finally interested in. (like chem, ochem, etc.)</p>
<p>Sorry new admits I didn’t mean to scare you! Classes are just a lot more overwhelming in college. But you’ll handle it. Seriously don’t stress out, enjoy the last bit of your senior year!</p>
<p>IMO classes here are easier than in high school.</p>
<p>^really? LUCKY! what did you take this quarter</p>
<p>I agree with one eye. In high school you had yourself to compete with. In college you just have to compete with people who are only here because there was nowhere else to go after high school.</p>
<p>Overall the classes (some of them anyway) got harder but the classes are curved a lot more nicely.</p>
<p>i_lose’s guide to a 4.0GPA (…well, a 3.9 is close enough) in a science major</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Go to class. Even if the class is podcasted. Especially upper div classes where tests are based more on lecture than on the book. Take decent notes. If you can’t stop yourself from falling asleep/nodding off, note the time on the clock and try to keep taking notes.</p></li>
<li><p>Take advantage of resources, i.e. TA sections/office hours, old exams, podcasting if available for the moments you fell asleep in class. I don’t usually go to prof office hours since it’s more intimidating and a lot of students who come want to suck up and ask questions that are irrelevant to the course…</p></li>
<li><p>Skim the textbook even if the professor already says it’s based on lecture. Helps clarify concepts and there are pretty diagrams!!</p></li>
<li><p>Start studying in advance…midterm in a week? Start casually reading over your notes or textbooks ‘for fun’…don’t get all crazy about it since you won’t retain any info. The purpose of this is to familiarize yourself with the material. Same goes with consistently attending a section. Even if you fall asleep, you’ll still have picked up something before you fall asleep or during. :P</p></li>
<li><p>Write pathways, important info and whatnot out on paper over and over until it’s solidified in your brain. Sort of like rewriting your notes. To be environmentally friendly, use the backs of TA handouts before tossing them away!</p></li>
<li><p>Have some fun. Seriously. The quarters I did the best in, I played hard and I studied hard. I did the worst when I had no fun and just studied/slept.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>As for humanities majors…well. I just went to office hours and harassed them to look at my paper. :)</p>
<p>So to answer your question, no it’s not HARD to get a good GPA as long as you put some time into your classes and make a serious effort to study. And study right. No point in studying 24/7 if all you’re doing is reading the book over and over mindlessly.</p>
<p>Well I went to a pretty competitive high school where I was one of the dumber people there, so that might be why I find UCSD a lot more relaxed academically. I’m also only a first year, so I’m only taking lower div. classes. My GPA isn’t that great either (3.5/3.6-ish), but overall I’m getting far more A’s than I did my freshman year of high school, and my GPA is better than my high school frosh weighted GPA. </p>
<p>Anyways, fall quarter I took:
Math 20C
Physics 2A
Vis 84
Warr 11A (Scholar’s Seminar)</p>
<p>And Winter Quarter I took:
Math 20F
CSE 12
Psych 60
Warr 11B (Scholar’s Seminar)</p>
<p>Warr 11A and 11B were my hardest classes, but they’re on par with any honors english class I’ve taken. 20C and Psych 60 were pretty easy, and 20F was also easy although I didn’t do as well as I should’ve in it. 2A wasn’t easy, but I worked quite a bit on it and did well, and CSE 12 was pretty hard, but I somehow magically got an A. Vis 84 is the most unusual class I’ve ever taken, but I took it pass/no pass so I didn’t put much effort into it. </p>
<p>I’m sure though that classes will get a lot harder later, esp. with Ochem and 181 and whatever…><. Still though, frosh year in college is quite a bit easier than all my years in high school. Also, the curves/grading are pretty generous so far (CSE 12, Physics 2A).</p>
<p>aahh. i got accepted to ucsd and i’ve been worrying if i could handle the curriculum too. is it difficult to take 12 units minimum a quarter and get a good gpa? (btw, what exactly is a unit i.e. how long does it last and how many units is in a course?) I’m going into a general bio major; is it hard to get a good gpa in that major? how about muir writing courses? (i heard their hard!) sorry for all the questions!</p>
<p>almost all lecture courses are 4 units (3h lecture a week + 1 discussion), labs can vary from 3-6 units, and some writing courses (H1/H2) are 6 units as well (3h lecture + 2 discussions), but the latter’s just a reflection of the [supposed] intensity of the class.</p>
<p>really, we can’t tell you how easy or hard something’s going to be. only you can decide that for yourself.</p>
<p>oh i see. thanks! how long does one course last?</p>
<p>for the duration of the quarter …</p>
<p>if you meant lecture-wise, lectures can range from 50mins to 80mins, to nearly 3 hours. discussion sections (about 1-2/week…) last about 50mins as well. some labs can last…many hours =( but only meet once or twice a week. it depends a lot on the amount of units it’s worth. i took a language class and it was mandatory class EVERY DAY…50 min discussions MWF, 80min lectures TUTH. =(</p>
<p>12 units is the bare minimum for a full-time student, and if you can’t handle that…not good. then again, if you’re in ucsd, you did SOMETHING right, so you should be ok. i feel like 12 units is pretty “chill” and always leaves me with a lot of time to play. 12 units is probably about 12hours of class/week…and if you think about that, 12hrs a week is nothing.</p>
<p>also, i’ve heard/read somewhere that the average gpa for UCSD was somewhere around a 3.0…haha getting and maintaining a high gpa can be difficult, but not impossible, given that you’re willing to commit the time and effort needed for it. 3.5+ can be hard because you know, sometimes there are just those subjects you’re not good at…you’re getting As in your major classes, but Bs in your GE classes…sure, your major GPA will be awesome, but your overall? not so much. if you have a 3.5 plus and receive a B, it might hurt because a B translates to only 3 “gpa points.” maintaining a 3.5+ basically means, receiving A- or above…always. my roommate used to complain about A- dragging her GPA down… i was very envious hahah</p>
<p>Earning a high GPA in any science major is relatively difficult I’d say, since some people are competing for med school, and other grad schools. My Chem 6B professor curved the A to a 79% last quarter because there weren’t enough A’s in the class. I’ve found that in my general Chem classes, about the top 10% earn A- or higher.</p>