Types of classes to prepare for Grad School

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

Do the types of class one takes in undergraduate play a factor when the person applies to grad school?

Let’s say I want to pursue Statistics for grad school.
I chose to take Philosophy 12A, Math 53, Stat 20, and Nutritional Sci 10.
Nutritional Science 10 is well known for being an “easy class,” (but let’s be honest here, many if not all Berkeley classes are hard) but I do not want to come off as lazy when I apply to grad school. I would like to take this class because a friend of mine suggested it, and the topic intrigues me. If all goes well, NutriSci can boost up my GPA and fulfill my Biological Science breadth. I know that GPA is a major factor, but I have yet to find an article in regards to types of classes.
Would the Grad admissions see this as a person “not challenging” himself?

2

The quality of your application essay stating your interest and the work you’ve done for a research group are much more significant along with letters of recommendation. Taking Nutri Sci 10 will not kill your chances at all as long as you’ve taken other relevant statistics courses.

Also, getting into grad school isn’t as difficult as it appears to be, at least compared to getting a job - it comes down to do you want to go in the first place and what would you like to focus on.

3

If you want to do a PhD in statistics, your most important course work will be your upper division statistics and math courses.