<p>Wait for the schedule to be out! Nowadays it’s rarely about the course content that people sign up for. CS188 with Dan Klein teaching has a humongous waitlist compare to when Abbeel’s teaching, even though both are really good, but Dan is just on another level. Similarly, for CS161, people would pick Wagner/Paxson over Song, or 170 Papad/Wagner over Rao. That explains a lot about the crazy waitlist this semester for 170 or 161. </p>
<p>If you are a minor, your chance of getting into the class with a good professor is minimal. FYI, I’m a CS major who signed up for 170 during phase1 and I’m still on the waitlist for this semester, and the length of the waitlist itself is still over 100 last time I checked. I think CS162 is usually taught by Stoica during the Fall, and people usually pick Joseph over him, so you have a good shot of getting into the class. Similarly, Papad only teaches 170 in the Spring. Also, check out the 172-174, 150-152 classes if you are interested in the material. 164 with Hilfinger in the Fall is usually not crowded, if you think you are an awesome hacker and ready to spend all your time for his class =)</p>
<p>I’d predict that 188 and 186 will be SUPER crowded next semester. 188 because of the recent 700-grads from 61A who will have 61A, 61B, and 70 satisfied by then. 186 because it is not offered this semester, and Database is always a useful class to take. The rest you could probably phase 1 for and get in.</p>