Hi,
I would like some advice from current or past students at Cal about my freshman schedule. I made a table with the classes I plan to take for my first semester at Berkeley (here is the link: http://imgur.com/UHZqGOZ ). If the link doesn’t work, then basically I plan to take Astronomy C10, CS61A, Introduction to Human Nutrition (NUSCTX10), and Sociology 3AC. Is this an ok schedule? My only worry is that as shown in the table, CS61A ends at 2:59 and Astronomy C10 starts at 3:00. Will it be ok if I miss a few minutes of lecture time? Also, how would the workload of these classes be? I heard Astronomy C10 was kinda hard, as well as CS61A, but the other two classes I’m taking are easy.
I’m a CS major in the L&S College.
Thanks, Rahul
Edit: The link doesn’t show up so access it by going to imgur (.com) and adding /UHZqGOZ
I don’t know about the rigor of those classes, but in general if your classes add up to 15 units or less, then you’re in good shape and it’s not too difficult a course load. Also, classes actually start 10 minutes after the scheduled time, so you have 10 minutes to walk between back-to-back classes; you might still miss some minutes if they are really far apart, which is okay.
Classes at Cal go by Berkeley time - this means that a 3:00 class starts 10 minutes later, at 3:10. So you’ll have plenty of time to get to class.
Keep in mind the CS61 series is rather difficult, so you NEED to do well in it to declare CS. So I recommend limiting your classes to only 3 for your first semester. I’d drop SOC 3AC, but that’s me - 17 units is a lot, especially for your first semester. You may also want to take a non-major course pass/no pass (talk to an advisor), to alleviate the workload, and join a club or something.
tldr; it’s not too bad, I know Nutrisci 10 isn’t too difficult, and C10/3AC are on the easier end of classes. But the adjustment from HS to college is pretty rough, and you’ll want to devote a lot of your time to 61A.
@goldencub It seems like he only has 15 units, not 17…?
If you were to drop to three you’d need a 1 or 2-unit decal to take the place of the class you drop, so you can keep the 13 unit minimum.
Personally I would say not to drop any of them yet - you can always drop one of the breadth classes at the end of week 5 if it’s too much work, or just keep all four and take one or two of them P/NP (the deadline for which is week 10). And they’re all pretty easy with the exception of 61A.
@thej77 Oh, you’re right. I thought CS61A was 5 units for some reason, and NutriSci 4. Yeah, it’s 15 units total.
That won’t be terrible, but if I were in your shoes, I’d take three classes your first semester, and take a decal, freshman seminar, or something to meet the 13 unit minimum. You should give yourself time to adjust to the pace of college, and CS61A will keep you busy (and you need to do well in it). That’s my opinion, though.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I’ll enroll in a decal and meet the 13 unit requirement instead of taking Astronomy C10.
GO BEARS!
If you take only 13 units, you will need to “catch up” 2 units later in order to make 120 units in 8 semesters, unless you come in with AP or other credit.
I have 19 AP exams so I don’t think that will be an issue 