I mean if you pass, you get the degree you're going for, right? I don't mean to say that I plan to do as shitty as I can just to scrape by, I'm just curious about this.

What does the degree matter in the equation? You are going after education to endow yourself and become a more wellrounded individual no doubt; social skills, interview skills and motivation play a big key in determining not whether you can get a job or not but whether you can get a job that is worth a damn.

Quite often companies look at your grades, and also if you're going to pursue a Graduate degree then they look at your grades.

i need to get an average of 65% to do biomedical engineering on top of my materials science degree

Isn't that just barely passing? At least at my school it is.

They don't really matter, unless you're considering grad school or looking to take advantage of certain programs that your school offers.

You simply have to meet the requirements of your program.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't try to excel at your studies. A recommendation from a professor can help you later in life.

sweet deal

nah, for us, a pass is straight 50%. though the thing is, having high grades gives you priority in choosing work placement

If you aren't making above a 3.5, you should consider other subjects. If you are getting below that, that kind of tells you that you aren't interested enough in the subject to pay attention and study well enough for it. I never understood that when I went to college. My biochemistry classes used to grade on a really low bell curve because everyone in there was trying to get into Med or Pharm school. I can't understand how people going to either don't just find something else. Med school is definitely harder and Biochem is an essential to Pharm. My upper division CS classes were the same way. That I really didn't get. Its not like you have to really read or memorize anything. Its just simple logic and mathematics.

But you still have a chance if you are stubborn about keeping your major. As Euda has said, a recommendation from your Professor and Department Head can override mediocre grades. Not horrible grades, but grades that are somewhere around average.

I have all A's right now, it was just pure curiosity.