<p>“Also, taking 4 upper-division classes in one semester is hard if I only take 14 units? (my first semester at berkeley)”</p>
<p>I don’t see a need for any first semester Berkeley student to take four upper-div courses their first semester. It really doesn’t make sense to me. What courses are you taking and why?</p>
<p>Upper-div courses are <em>generally</em> more rigorous than lower-div courses, so yes, I think taking four your first semester at Berkeley is a bad decision. If the class is in humanities, you have much more reading than upper-div courses and higher-quality writing is expected from students. I can’t speak for mathematics/sciences or courses outside of the College of Letters and Science. Aren’t there any lower-div general interest courses or major pre-req courses you can still enroll into?</p>
<p>To answer your other question, AC coures are also usually on the easier side and so if there’s an AC course someone finds interesting (or one that fills both the AC and their major requirements/breadth requirement) then they might take it.</p>
<p>And I completely agree with everything in Rigoletto’s post. Wise words that too-many GPA mongering Berkeley students (especially pre-law/pre-med students) tend to forget.</p>