<p>I’m in my last semester and have fulfilled all of my EE degree requirements. Hence, I’d like to take an easier courseload, and perhaps explore some fields outside of my major.</p>
<p>A prime example of a “Mickey Mouse” class would be Leon Chua’s EE 129 (Linear Info Processing): there are only 2 “projects” (more like one-afternoon homework assignments) for the whole semester, and no exams. The class averages are consistently above 3.95 out of 4. It’s the easiest class I’ve taken since junior high school.</p>
<p>I’m not expecting to find another class that’s this easy, but I’d like to rule out any core EE class with weekly problem sets, killer exams, bell curve grading, etc. I also don’t like classes with excessive memorization (bio, psych, etc.) or lots of writing (lit, history). Some math or science background would be nice.</p>
<p>I’ve already taken BA 102A/B, 103 (and am unlikely to clear any upper-div waitlists); Engin 120, 190; Psych 1 (equiv), 160; Soc 3AC; and South Asian R5A/B. I’ve never taken Econ, though from what I’ve heard it’s far from a cakewalk.</p>
<p>The classes you mentioned at the bottom of your post, are you saying those are also mickey mouse classes? Could you give a few more details on Psych 160 and Soc 3AC?</p>
<p>I would recommend Legal studies 190 with Shapiro. It’s a 4 unit course that meets once a week for 1.5 hours (even though it says 3 hours on the schedule of classes, he never takes that long.) Each week, he goes over the public policy elements of a supreme court case and you just need to take notes on what he says and read about the case in the textbook. There is no homework and no midterms, but there is a final where you’ll be asked about 3 cases. It shouldn’t be hard to get an A and is definitely passable if you take it P/NP.</p>
<p>No. With the exception of perhaps Eng 120, I wouldn’t consider any of them as “Mickey Mouse classes.” I listed them only to keep others from suggesting classes that I’ve already taken.</p>
<p>I took Psych 160 over the summer, but it was with someone affiliated with Berkeley (as opposed to an instructor from some local community college). I got an A, but it was more work than I thought it’d involve. There was a lot of reading (600+ page text) and a lot of memorization. Every exam consisted of multiple-choice questions, short answers, and essays. The essays were graded very harshly, and if you missed certain “buzzwords,” you got docked a lot of points. Grading was done on a standard 10-point scale (90-100, 80-89, etc.) and class averages for the exams were consistently in the mid- to low-80s.</p>
<p>I took Soc 3AC with Brian Powers, who will be teaching next term as well. He’s quite possibly the worst instructor I’ve ever had at Cal, and I’m not exaggerating. I didn’t learn a thing in his class, since his lectures consist of pure rambling. (See the comments about him on ratemyprofessors.com) There are three required essays, and their prompts are extremely unclear. I switched to P/NP after getting a solid B on my first paper. After that, I just stopped going to class, BS’ed all my papers without reading the texts, and got a B-, which translated to a “Pass.” This is extremely ironic, no? There are only something like 20% A’s per class, so it’s far from a “Mickey Mouse.”</p>
<p>Hope this helps. As for myself, I’m looking for easy A’s as well as easy coursework. My GPA got hammered after four semesters of upper-division EE classes, and I’m trying to recover as much of it as I can. I’ll look into Legal 190, but I generally dislike classes with just one final and no “progress checks” throughout the term. This way, if I do poorly, I can drop the class or change to P/NP before it’s too late. Thanks for the suggestion, though.</p>
<p>UGBA 101A is easy. I skipped most lectures and discussions, read the textbook, and did problem sets (there were 6). There was one midterm and one final. The concepts are extremely intuitive if you are good at calculus. Grading was fair, too.</p>
<p>ESPM 50AC is even easier. Just attend the classes, and do some of the readings, and you’ll do well on the exams. 75% of the class gets A, according to pick-a-prof.</p>
<p>Hist 151C with Vernon was all right. The readings were short (mostly online, maybe 10 pages per lecture), Vernon is a pretty good lecturer, the midterm was not too hard, and when I took it we got to choose between taking the final exam and writing a term paper. </p>
<p>Can you talk a bit about what Engineering 120 was like?</p>
<p>I can assure you that classics and history are not my strong point. ;)</p>
<p>Doesn’t BA 101A require Economics 1 or 2 as a prerequisite? I’ve only taken basic high school econ, not even AP level.</p>
<p>Engineering 120 is a watered-down version of BA 103, covering about two-thirds of the material taught in the Haas version. Engin 120 is more math-intensive, with a heavier emphasis on quantitative understanding, but you really don’t need any math beyond high school algebra. Having taken both, I always advise others that if they want to learn real finance, they should take BA 103.</p>
<p>Does anyone else find that CampusBuddy really sucks now? I don’t know how it was before the refresh, but there seems to be no easy way to actually VIEW the grade distributions for a class.</p>
<p>From what my friend told me last spring semester, she said it was easy. I believe that Bulloch is teaching this time, and he was amazing and fair in Classics 121. I believe the class requires you to memorize fun Greek classic tales and shouldn’t be anything to stress over.</p>