@ProfessorPlum168 We are in a similar position, due to my daughter having around 40 AP credits. That’s a nice spot to be in, as it gives her some different options – dual major, early graduation – but I am focused on the “take 13 credits and get your sea legs” approach, even if it means she takes the full 4 years to graduate.
@JoelShoe having the 40 credits will allow her to actually take a lower load probably for the entire freshman year, if she wanted to. A nice option to have.
Do note though, if you looked in another thread in the Berkeley sub forum on AP credits, it is very likely that a good number of those credits may never wind up being used, ie after 4 years your kid will probably wind up with 140+ total credits instead of the 120 that is needed to graduate. You’ll really have to be a good planner in order to squeeze the most out of those AP credits. My kid had a ton of AP and DE credits - at the end of his freshman year he’ll be at 113.4 credits lol. (29 is the expected min number after year one I think).
disneygirl14 The 5 CNR people that I found all separately agreed that on a scale of 0-10, their stress levels were 6. The L&S control group said that their stress levels were 0, 7, and 11, so on average, CNR people have just slightly less stress. One of my roommates is switching to one the humanities CNR majors because Microbial Biology is stressing her out. I think she’s minoring in art too. They also said that advisors in CNR were definitely better. You have to meet with your advisor every semester to talk about class schedules.
Sometimes I think that you can tell by talking to a person whether or not they’re in CNR. They’re sort of distinctive people. Other times, I can’t tell. Vegetarians are in CNR 75% of the time. They’re also sort of tight knit where CNR people all recognize the names of other CNR people.
I’ll try to find more people. However, I should probably stop using scales because I just listened to https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=700743108
and apparently ranking pain/stress makes you more in pain/stressed.
We’re not stressed, then we tally up everything that we have to get done and then we’re stressed. So I need a new approach.
JoelShore The other option is taking 16-18 units first semester and it’s all downhill from there. 
@disneygirl14 I’m going to sit in the dining hall for the next 3 hours and I currently have a table of 6 CNR people. They say Society and Environment is not stressful at all. They seem to mostly be stressed about their non-CNR classes (like breadths). They say there’s a lot of places in Berkeley like Santa Cruz but not a lot of places in Santa Cruz like Berkeley. Any more CNR related questions?
If I register for an online summer course at Berkeley and fail it, will I be able to retake it during the school year to make it up?
Also, if I take a course at a local community college and fail it, would I be able to just not submit the course to Cal and pretend it never happened? Then Cal would never see it right? Not that I plan to fail, just curious on how this all works.
@CH1CK3NMAN for your first question, yes you can take the class again if you fail the class. In fact, sometimes students intentionally fail a class for this reason. Sort of like dropping a class, except that drop deadlines are pretty early. Do note that in some cases the failing class, even if you retake the class, does factor into your GPA.
For your second question, you might be able to get away with it since you will have already sent all your transcripts, but if you applied to any other school in the future, the school(s) would see the grades.
I sort of thought you had to send all college grades to Berkeley ethically, and because they’re all tied with your social security number, so I don’t know how that would effect resumes later on at least, whether it would be a lie if you left it out of your education on your resume.
I’ve heard of a few people failing a class rather than getting a C- so that they can retake it and replace it in their GPA/transcript.
@ProfessorPlum168 What do you mean apply to any schools in the future? I was kinda asking like if I was taking summer classes this summer before I enroll and if I fail would I be okay just not sending them the community college transcript to get the credit for the class?
Right now I’m thinking that I could probably just not send the transcript and I’d be okay but I’m wondering now that if I decided to take another course at a community college a following year, that if I sent the transcript for the summer course the following year, that they might see the failed grade from the previous year? Or are transcripts for community colleges based on terms and not holistic?
@CH1CK3NMAN what I mean is let’s say you fail a class in CC. Since Berkeley has already accepted you and you have turned in your transcripts, they may or may not check your grades again from other places. But if you apply for grad school or transfer to another school, it’s a certainly that that school will find out.
@walter924. Thank you for your research and crowdsourcing. Nothing else yet!
For OOS, what do people usually do when it comes to moving in - Do you order online and have them delivered at the dorm or do you bring everything with you? Is there any service with a fee that makes OOS student’s life a little easier? TIA
@Nhatrang
It’s not worth it. Just go to Target. Way cheaper and you really don’t need all that stuff. It’s just the ease of buying it as a package instead of shopping separately.
Do you know which dorm yet? Probably not.
Microchill is worth it and it’s cheaper the earlier you get it but coordinate with roommates or you end up with 2 or none and returns are sort of difficult.
Thanks @Walter924 Will check out Microchill.
BTW, Microchill is not needed for the Blackwell dorm as every room has a microwave and mini-fridge. Perhaps for other dorms as well.
when can you start booking dorms? I’m not committed yet but am planning to later (with regents), and I’m not sure if I’m late to registration for dorms already
@hopefulcalbear Last date for housing applications is May 2nd. Berkeley housing staff told us that it is not on a first come first serve basis.
Which hotel is the best one to stay during moving week if cost isn’t relevant?
@Nhatrang We prefer the Hotel Shattuck Plaza. Centrally located to most of the dorms and shopping.
Thanks @autumnspast - Is the Shattuck hotel nicer than, say, Claremont Hotel or The Berkeley City Club? We will rent a car so driving within 15-20 mins isn’t a problem for us. Thanks for the info!
@Nhatrang Naturally you will be hard pressed to find something nicer than a Fairmont property.
We chose Shattuck based on the proximity to the campus, restaurants and shopping. We are OOS so we wanted to be able to walk around and get a feel for the place. There is a parking structure across the street so that made getting the car convenient. I do want to point out that you are on Shattuck, so you will see some colorful characters, which I believe adds texture to the Berkeley experience.
We stopped by the Berkeley City club twice to see the property and both times guests were complaining to the front desk about something, so we left. Probably doesn’t mean anything but we did note it. Not sure what their parking situation is like.