Help with Freshman first semester classes!

[jeweloh]

<p>Hi, I will be attending Berkeley in this fall as a freshman. I am majoring in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. I have very very little knowledge of how college works, so I'm being overwhelmed by this class research I'm doing. </p>

<p>I don't understand how the requirements work, what classes to take, etc. There are so many requirements like the seven breadth, major requirements, upper class, lower class, etc. I really don't know what they all mean and what classes I should be taking for my first semester. </p>

<p>Does it matter which classes for what requirements I take? I just have to meet all of them over the 4 years, right? There's nothing that says that I must meet my department requirement my freshman year, or anything like that? Then what do you recommend I take for the first semester? How many units should I take?</p>

<p>I just need some general explanation, tips, advices. Specific advices are good too. I would just really appreciate any kind of help. Thanks a lot!</p>

[totalcaprice]

<p>Well, I'm also an incoming freshman, so I don't know too much but I'll try my best...</p>

<p>Declaring</a> the MCB Major You should read thoroughly for your requirements. Lower division is basically classes that are #1-99, and upper division is #100-199. A freshman isn't allowed to take upper division classes until sophomore year. </p>

<p>For the seven breadth requirement, Degree</a> Requirement-L&S Requirements Basically you need to take 7 classes (you cannot fulfill using AP credits but you can transfer credits from community college. The breadth has to be fulfilled in order to graduate. The 7 classes cannot be used to fulfill more than one requirement. There's a list of classes that you can take that fulfill the requirements. You also need these three requirements.
* Reading and Composition
* Quantitative Reasoning
* Foreign Language
(you can read more about it in the link...)
Degree</a> Requirements-Summary of Degree Requirements Berkeley also requires a American Cultures class....required for everyone despite what college they are in...</p>

<p>You don't need to meet department requirements your freshman year, but you should declare in your junior year or as early as you (want/can?). First year, you should take two breadth classes a semester, and take one-two in your major prerequisites... and so forth...To be considered a full time student, you need 13 units. 15-16 is considered a normal load. 18+ units is overkill (but I'm not a student yet, so can someone confirm this? xD)</p>

[jeweloh]

<p>Thank you so much for the reply!!
Yea I was doing the research and saw most of the links you gave me. But I was still so confused lol So for the seven breadth requirement, how many units do I need for each category? And so you mean I should take one or two from the lower-division prerequisites from here?: MCB</a> Major Requirements - At a Glance</p>

<p>So I'm thinking about taking Chem 1A (or Bio 1A idk), a math class, psychology, and econ. But I don't know exactly which course to take for the last three. Any recommendations? Any easy classes/professors?</p>

<p>Also, should I take an English or literature class sometime in my four years? I hate English :(</p>

[totalcaprice]

<p>There isn't a specific amount of units you need for each breadth. You just need to take a class that is on each list (7 classes) [Degree</a> Requirements-Seven-Course Breadth Requirement<a href="click%20each%20section%20for%20each%20of%20the%20seven%20lists">/url</a>. But usually they range from 3-4 units a class. </p>

<p>Also use <a href="https://berkeley.courserank.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://berkeley.courserank.com/](&lt;a href="http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirements/breadth7.html%5DDegree"&gt;http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirements/breadth7.html)&lt;/a> to look up the classes you want to take. This website has students rating classes/teacher, and statistics on the % of As, and etc. Also use ratemyprofessors.com to look up teachers. You might want to search through Berkeley's forum here to see if any students talk about classes. Some classes are weeder (I think Bio 1A might be?) which means they are way harder than they need to be b/c so many people need to take it as a prerequisite.</p>

<p>For english..if you didn't take english AP Degree</a> Requirements-Reading and Composition Requirement, you will have to take an English class. I would avoid English R1A-R1B and comparative english. I heard the language classes (French etc, are easier, so take one of those to fulfill your requirement). If you did get a 5 on the English Literature, you fulfill your english requirements and you wouldn't have to take english classes.</p>

[jeweloh]

<p>Thank you so much!!! The websites are exactly what I needed!</p>