I think he has time to figure it out - can you get him through the first semester.
In the end, he’ll have a job in life. Double majors may matter, they may not. Minors are often more for skill building or for personal interest (as are double majors).
I don’t think he needs to schedule everything now - but #1 seems a solid option unless he’d love math as part of those “extras”. My son thought of math - even as a minor - but stopped. If he had it, I don’t see his “engineering” options as even more.
That said, 75% of engineers don’t have engineering jobs so…
You do have to enroll in some business classes to meet Haas prerequisites and also join clubs preferably in the freshman year. Agree that he can just a business class and see what he thinks.
The main math courses that are relevant to AI/ML are linear algebra and advanced statistics (e.g. bayesian). Applied math generally focuses on differential equations and similar. I think a business orientation would be better as businesses need tech and business savvy individuals to help them separate the reality from the hype when it comes to AI. This doesn’t necessarily require a business major; having business-oriented ECs along with the EECS major can be enough for, e.g. consulting.
Thanks. It makes sense linear algebra and statistics are part of the eecs curriculum. Secondary business admission at Berkeley is competitive and needs a significant investment of time for extra courses and ECs and might not make sense at this point. S25 wants to take a business course or two and decide for himself.
My advice is not think of this as a major selection problem, and more like a course selection problem. S22 is EECS and considered double majoring with Haas and/or stats but when you double major across schools the overhead of mandatory school level graduation requirements build up and take space in a crowded schedule.
In general, EECS + Haas is a pain because it takes away bandwidth to develop any level of depth in EECS foundations and spreading oneself thin across the BBA curriculum. S22 instead focused on taking UD calculus based micro and macro econ since those were the 2 courses that he wanted to explore. Not committing to HaaS or another additional major also allowed him to explore IEOR 22x financial engineering courses and 16x optimization courses.
I recommend committing to one major (EECS) and then exploring select courses from the other majors.
Thanks for the advice. This question came up in the context of enrollment for freshman semester next week. The first three courses are set, but for the fourth course he was struggling to make up his mind. But like others above have suggested, he could take the business course and decide which path to take later.
CS 61A – The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
MATH 54 - Linear Algebra & Differential Equations
DATA C8 – Foundations of Data Science
UGBA 10X Principles of Business OR HIST 100AC - Special Topics in US History
His advisor suggested to take only 2 tech courses, but it is ok as DATA C8 seems light for a tech course.
I think it’s fine for someone with strong study habits to take 3 techs if they aren’t all super tough ones. My kid took 3 techs each semester freshman year and it was fine. Study habits make all the difference though, I think. The kids he saw struggling were often the ones who had an easier time cruising through high school.
If it feels too tough your son can always drop something in the early weeks of the semester. Just pay attention to deadlines.
3 Techs are very much doable especially if the 3rd is Data 8 but the advisors generally tell people to start with 2 and give themselves a semester to get used to the Berkeley rigor and pace.
Math 54 should not be a high workload course for a student strong in math, but note that it assumes some introductory differential equations knowledge from Math 52 (former 1B) that is not always covered in calculus courses.
Not sure what Data C8 workload is like, or whether associated C88 courses are high workload.
Humanities and social science courses could be high workload, if they involve voluminous reading or large term projects.
My DS25 is planning to enroll CS70, CS61C, and EECS 16A for Fall25. The pre-requisite for EECS 16A is MATH 54. He took LA and Diff. Eq. in 11th grade. Based on assist.org, he should get credit for MATH54. However, UCB doesn’t evaluate CCC transcript until December. Will he have problem enrolling EECS 16A?
BTW, he is taking CS61A and CS61B in the summer. It’s not that bad.
He should not have a problem enrolling in 16A, but if he still doesn’t have the prereq shortly after classes start, he may need to contact the teacher to avoid being dropped.
Formally Enforced Prerequisites: Some EECS/EE/CS classes have formally enforced prerequisites. This means that the system won’t allow students to enroll unless they have completed the prerequisites with a passing grade (C- or higher). If you have completed a prerequisite at your community college and the system won’t let you enroll, please contact ee-scheduling@eecs.berkeley.edu or cs-enrollments@eecs.berkeley.edu for assistance. As of Fall 2024, the only CS courses with formally enforced prerequisites are CS 169A, 169L, and 186.
Informally Enforced Prerequisites: Other EECS/EE/CS classes have informally enforced prerequisites. Students will be allowed to enroll regardless if they’ve completed the prerequisites. Shortly before classes begin, the instructor will provide a report to staff showing who has/hasn’t completed the prerequisites. Students who haven’t completed the prerequisites will be dropped. Students who want an exception should contact the instructor.
For CC courses they do the evaluation quickly. You can contact the math department if you want it done quickly.
In my son’s case he had an online chemistry course and the chemistry department responded within 2 days with the evaluation and the counselor made a note on his file. But the results were not good as they gave him credit for just CHEM 1A and asked him to do the lab!
Enrollment Site (Calcentral) crashed a few minutes before his enrollment time. More proof as to why there was no waitlist movement!
Update: S25 will live and learn. Seats that were open when the site went down were somehow close to full when he accessed it again in an hour. They need to plan this better.
Got 8 out of 15 units CS 61A and DATA 8
Waitlisted for 6 units MATH 54 (position 3) and UGBA 88 (position 6)
Could not waitlist for UBGA 10X as it was over the max waitlist positions(125)
I think the seats going from plentifully open to almost full happens routinely and is independent of this outage issue although y probably didn’t help your son.
On lower div courses the number of waiting freshmen/sophomore pool is quite large and there is always this big surge at the start of an enrollment slot.
Good news - he would likely get into both those waitlisted classes.
If he hasn’t done already, ask him to check out Berkeleytime