Honestly, I have been surprised by college results, but after I just graduated I feel excited about college. However, I kinda feel scared, and now I think I should have SIR to another school (Cal Poly SLO, UCSB). Honestly I committed to UC Berkeley because of the independence and strong academics especially for my department, now I think I can’t handle it. I know I made similar posts, but now I still weird. The other people at my school going to Cal are MUCH smarter than me. My GPA isn’t that strong, and I have gotten ALL B’s in science and a few math courses (including AP Chem, AP Physics 1), and I only got a 3 on AP chem and 720 on SAT chem. My math is decent though (750 sat2, 800 sat math, 5 calc AB) but it is still hard. My SAT score (1490) is pretty good, however, but I spent a lot of money of extensive coaching, and even took the SAT 4 times (my last time was 1390) and ACT 3 times. Most people I know get like 1560/35 on their 1st try, without classes.
My EC’s are decent though, as I had a few small awards and officer positions, and my essays were a bit mediocre. I also applied to a less competitive major within engineering (like 8% acceptance rate overall), my major was probably like 15-20%.So, I definitely am not as qualified as most others at Cal, especially considering I am in engineering.
I also have to take a lot of Physics, which I am not that good at considering I probably failed the Physics 1 AP exam this year, and the class is really hard for me (and that’s only physics 1!). There’s also a lot of grade deflation at Cal, so my GPA will suffer SEVERELY.
I know many of you guys are gonna say: You got in for a reason or You deserve to be a Berkeley or With hard work you can still succeed.
I understand that it may be very hard for me to adapt to college and the hard rigors of engineering, especially at a top engineering school. I hear many horror stories of smart people doing bad, and even my really smart friend last year (ranked 3, had 35 ACT, 4.5+ GPA) end up with a sub 3.0 GPA this year. I feel like for me, the situation will be a lot worse.
Anyways, I will try my best to be prepared, but I am still really scared.
I have seen your many posts and you are always second guessing yourself. You had some great acceptance results despite your doubts and UCB would have not accepted you if they did not think you could handle the curriculum. Just embrace the opportunities you have been given, do not underestimate yourself and try to enjoy your summer. No one will tell you it will be easy but you will do fine so have some confidence in your decision.
@Gumbymom is absolutely correct. Berkeley wants you and they would not have accepted you if admissions, with many many years of experience, did not think you could cut it. Relax and enjoy the summer.
You will be fine. Go to office hours, start off with a small course load, set up an appointment with the Tang (counseling) center, and if you need help don’t be afraid to get some tutoring. There will be resources there for you…plus Berkeley/the east bay is a great place to be! Lots of day trips if you need a break from campus.
If it’s any consolation, my D got B’s in physics, despite never having taken it in high school. You just have to put academics first. That means: going to all of the lectures/discussions, joining study groups, going to drop-in tutors, office hours. They have a lot of resources available because it is tough for many, many, many people. Doesn’t mean you don’t belong there, doesn’t mean you will fail. It does mean you will have to dig deep and believe in yourself. And yes, you GPA will probably NOT be what you are used to. Welcome to Cal!
I just found out my AP scores, and I did pretty bad. I actually failed 2 of them sadly.
I did get a 5 on calc BC, so I can skip math1b.
However, I also got a 2 on AP Physics 1, not even Physics C! Many people I know consider this a joke course, and I did horrible, even though I tried hard and studied for the test. I don’t get credit regardless, but now I questioning my academic abilities, especially because I have to take 3 SEMESTERS of physics, and 1 first semester. Physics is interesting though, not as much as chem, but I feel like my weakness in the subjects outshadow my interests.
Even with a 2 on physics, how should I feel about taking Physics 1st sem and even majoring in a physics intensive engineering major.
On a side note, apparently UMinnesota is still accepting SIR.
There are A LOT of previous exams and solutions, and if you find the time and effort to go through and understand all these materials, it’s hard to not get an A.
update
So I currently am struggling my freshmen as I got a 2.2 last semester. Feels bad. First semester was alright but 3 technical courses destroyed me, as my overall GPA is 2.6. I even studied a lot for finals, but keep ending up with bad grades, as I even averaged C’s in physics 7a and 7b. I’ll try my best next semester to make up for my trash grades.
In other terms, I have made a few friends, not a lot but a few close ones. I plan on staying in the dorms next semester to make more. I haven’t done any EC’s yet, but will try to do some academic club or something next semester, or even research. Does anyone have advice for getting into research? Also will my GPA affect my chances of getting into such activities?
Engineering seems so hard, and I don’t know if I am even learning that much. I don’t even think my major has any CAD related courses, which seems necessary for engineering fields. I don’t know how I will get internships if I don’t really learn any technical skills. Engineering especially chemical/materials still seem interesting though. I will try to persevere but if I keep doing bad I might have to change to Econ or Data science, which also seem really interesting to me.
@SREE33 Econ is a capped major with a minimum GPA requirement of 3.0, and I have the feeling Data Science will become capped soon, but so far I think the GPA requirement is 2.0. So, I think that’s a good alternative plan.
Honestly, I have the feeling that Berkeley doesn’t give much opportunity to really digest the content needed to do well in the technical courses. I’m pretty sure I’d do very poorly in physics 7b or math 54, but I’m I’ve always done really well in less “hardcore math” courses such as molecular cell biology or programming. A lot of lab/research positions value that you can code, or that you can generate plots from raw data and interpret results. Keep all your options open, there are plenty of EC opportunities outside the college of eng. (such as L&S) that are available for all UCB students.
The 3.0 GPA to get into the economics major is for the prerequisite requirements, not overall. https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective/freshmen
If you have fulfilled MATH 1A and 1B with a 5 on calculus BC, then the remaining prerequisites are ECON 1 or 2, STAT 20, 21, (C8 and 88), or upper division, and ECON 100A, 100B, 101A, or 101B. If you like math, you may want to consider the 101-series with more math (prerequisite MATH 53).
I know someone who was becoming miserably overwhelmed by her engineering courses. She credits her tutor for totally turning things around for her. Can you afford to get a private tutor?
There are so many resources in the Engineering and CS lower division classes that are available - twice a week homework parties, office hours for both the TAs and the professor(s), mock midterms and finals, previous midterms and finals available online, lectures online, Etc. These are the free resources. Lots of people also offer to tutor for a few as well.