vicissitudes

Psychology is a major in the College of Letters and Sciences. Unfortunately it's impacted, which means they don't have enough space for everyone who wants to major in psychology. Admission to the major is determined mainly by your grades in the pre-requisite courses. A running joke is that people who don't know what they want to major in major in psychology, but don't worry, I don't think there's much truth to that. Many who major in psychology seem to want to start/work in clinics. The general introductory course is Psychology 1. Definitely take that and see how much you like it. It's offered in FPF as well. Here's a link to their website with pre-reqs and other info:

http://psychology.berkeley.edu/undergrad/about.html

collegekid2007

A running joke is that people who don't know what they want to major in major in psychology

That is somewhat true with me. I wanted to major in international studies, but UCB doesn't seem to have that major. Then, I wanted to major in sociology, but i read somewhere that it is not broad enough? I want to go to law school, but I don't want to do the regular poli sci, legal studies thing. Any advice about the major?

Since i am a spring admit, I want to take some of the pre-reqs for psychology major at a CC. I am planning to take the hard classes (or "weeders")....but i don't know which class are competitve. Do you have any ideas?

vicissitudes

It's okay, just major in something you're interested in. Sociology seems okay, I think there are pre-laws in that. As long as you do the pre-reqs for Law School, have good grades and good LSATs, you should have a good chance. Major doesn't really matter.

Psychology 1 isn't that competitive. For the other pre-reqs your choices are broad enough that you can get into a pretty easy class. Take a few classes in majors you are interested in and see which one you like.

Zee17

For FPF students, once you're enrolled in the program, should you apply for housing right away? I know it's a lottery system for fall freshman admits, but is it the same for the spring admits? And do we get all the leftovers after the fall admits get their dorm choices?

editrice

Zee17, there is a chat going on right now for fpf (until 5pm). go to your myberkeleyapp events tab and follow the link. you can get some real-time answers there.

vicissitudes

It's also a lottery system for spring admits. You don't really get the leftover dorms. What happens is they will allocate a certain number of spots for FPF students, and that number may rise and fall depending on the demand for housing from fall admits, but it's not like there will only be bad housing left. You'll still have all the options fall admits have, and it depends on the lottery system (and also your location).

LeftistHominid

With the bleak appearance of this housing stuff it seems like a might as well put Asian American Studies 20A on my course selection form. My original idea was to swap out something only if I was denied a housing contract and decide to do APATH

d=]

when you say housing for fpf students is by lottery AND location, does one factor outweigh the other? for example, since i am from ny, am i automatically guaranteed housing since ny is really far from ca? or do i still go through the lottery system?

hockeyplayaa

so if u dont end up getting housing and u have to live in a off campus dorm how are they? does the social atmosphere suck at those?

vicissitudes

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't think your chances of getting housing is bleak. Last year 250 out of 650 were initially offered dorms, and more spots opened up later on. The years before that almost every FPF student got dorms. Berkeley may have adjusted and made more housing available this year, but no one knows, so you can't really say what your chances of getting housing are. Just wait and see.

Yeah, location definitely outweighs the lottery system. However, those who live far away still have to go through the lottery system to see if they get their first choice of dorms, etc. Also, I wouldn't say you are guaranteed housing, but your chances are good. The trend I see is that those who live farther away tend to get housing. I know this girl who's from Texas though, who didn't get housing. So, I'm not exactly sure how they decide who gets housing or not either.

You have several options which I mentioned in this thread already, apartments, theme housing, etc. Theme housing is just like dorms. Apartments are definitely less social. However, there are many other places to be social besides just the dorms. I know people who live in the dorms and know maybe a handful of people in the building. It's because they don't put in the effort to be social. So it depends on how much you try more than your living environment, although if you are social then the dorms simply make it easier for you to meet people.

darkmaster911

is it possible to sublet an apartment for a semester and then get my guaranteed housing for spring

_laine

i didn't send in my enrollment for FPF. i don't know why but i was waiting to send that in until i decided i was going to go there. i didn't want to waste $100. i had no idea spots filled up that fast. it says that the enrollment form is already closed. what else can i do??? will there still be spots??

i think i'm just going to end up going to UCSD if i don't have any chance to get in FPF...

vicissitudes

It's possible to get an apartment for a semester and move into the dorms 2nd semester, but from what I can tell, you are not guaranteed housing for spring. I haven't seen anything on any Berkeley website say so, and in fact they suggest the opposite. So until I see something definitive, I'm assuming that you are not guaranteed housing for spring. But you can always apply for housing in the spring and some people get in.

Spots do fill up fast. However, there's a waitlist that you can put yourself onto. There are students who sent in the deposit and reserved a spot even though they didn't know which college they would attend. Some of them will choose another college which means spots will open up. Send FPF an email if you want to put yourself on the waitlist:

http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/fpf/enroll_checklist.html

cathersx3

errr this may not particularly be concerned about spring admits.....anyways. it says that im missing the US Citizenship Certification Form and the Parent Income Verification document...well it said on the site that they already sent a form but i hadn't received anything so i emailed someone and she said that she would request them to send it again (just about the parent income form....i forgot to ask about the citizenship one ughhhh. unless its the same form?) . I still haven't gotten anything even though it's been a week...

does their financial aid offer stay the same whenever you turn it in? i mean...if a person turns all of their stuff in in the beginning vs. someone who turns it in late...would the first person get more...? it may be a stupid question....but im paranoid now since i still haven't received anything =/

vicissitudes

The financial aid should stay the same whenever you turn it in. Berkeley usually takes a while to get things done so just be patient.