<p>What is the average gpa here? I’m shocked how low my grades have been after my first year (3.4, 3.2, 3.0 or 2.9). I plan to major in one of the sciences and I took both the honors sequences for calc and that science so I didn’t expect high grades, but is this really low? I do have strong extracurriculars to show for it so I’m not too worried about relying heavily on gpa but how much emphasis do grad schools place on gpa for pure science majors?</p>
<p>I heard that the mean GPA for first year is around 3.3-3.4, so you didn’t do too badly.</p>
<p>GPA is supposedly really important for professional schools, not so important for Ph.D. programs.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard that science and math majors generally have lower GPAs than humanities or social science majors. (If you look at the GPAs required for honors by each major, this seems to bear out.) So it’s probably fine.</p>
<p>I found my first year frustrating grade-wise as well. I’m fairly satisfied with my grades, but the frustration comes because I feel like I’ve maxed out my abilities. I couldn’t really have put in more effort to get better grades. I left myself ample time to get everything finished, and I put academics before anything else. I actually edited papers instead of writing the last word and hitting the print button two seconds later. I didn’t skip classes, and I went to office hours if I was struggling with something. </p>
<p>I don’t really think I could have done much more, which worries me now that I’ll be taking harder classes. There’s a pretty even mix of posters on CC who say either a) first year grades don’t really matter, and your GPA goes up once you’re done with the core, or b) the easiest grades will come your first year, and your GPA will drop when your classes get harder. I don’t really know which to believe.</p>
<p>Both of my kids saw their GPAs increase significantly as time went on. It was a combination of taking more classes in things they actually cared about and of actually learning stuff that improved their performance.</p>
<p>It may be, however, that the hard sciences don’t work that way – you seem to spend much more time taking larger introductory or intermediate classes, the classes are all strictly curved, and as the people getting Cs first year leave the field, the “C” line moves up and catches more people who were previously Bs. Etc.</p>
<p>Second year grades were lower here – no disasters, but he took two full-year Core sequences this year plus two heavy-duty math major courses each quarter. Was involved in a couple of major/career-related ECs with leadership roles. Also was a math junior tutor, which required attending the lecture for that calc sequence – in effect, it was like taking a fifth course. Biggest distraction to the grades, S says, was the independent research he’s been doing (and getting a solo paper published).</p>
<p>Have talked to him about getting under a prof’s wing for the research and getting some structure/grades to reflect those efforts (which he since arranged), and to perhaps take three courses occasionally.</p>
<p>He is happy, managing his life, has taken advantage of amazing opportunities and is successfully launching. It could be a LOT worse.</p>
<p>It depends what courses you are taking, science courses are usually going to be harder than say business ones.</p>
<p>I guess S fine-tuned his time management skills during Winter quarter of first year as grades set into a pattern that hasn’t changed much after 2 years (all 4 class quarters with a balance of science major and Core classes).</p>
<p>Will agree that study/time management skills are essential. S has acknowledged that he has to be more proactive in this regard.</p>
<p>He’s also said that he always studies in the library (mostly Reg, sometimes Harper) and not the dorm. Easy to do if you live in MaxP. Now that he moved off-campus a few blocks away that may change.</p>
<p>^Didn’t change for my kids at all, and they lived a mile away. Home is for home, the Reg is/was their office.</p>
<p>Ha ha – the Reg is S’s playground! He does do a lot of work there (does not use his dorm room for anything except sleep), but lest the prospies be scared away, there are also study groups that meet under blanket tents and the dim glow of their laptops. :)</p>
<p>I had a similar experience my first year. I think what’s really important is balancing your classes. I went all-out my first quarter, took four demanding courses. Obviously, it didn’t turn out so well. So, starting in the winter quarter, I had one easy class (moved from Honors Calc to regular), one moderate, and two demanding. Because of the first quarter, I didn’t do incredibly well, but I didn’t do horribly either. </p>
<p>I would especially be careful when choosing HUM/SOSC classes, especially if you’re a science major. Go read the evaluations, ask upperclassmen, and find out which classes are easier and which professors are easy graders. Then, you can focus more on the Honors classes you’re taking.</p>