<p>I will probably ask my academic adviser about this, but I’d like to hear any stories if you have them. I am currently a junior, and I can definitely finish my requirements a semester early. </p>
<p>It’d be cool to take an entire semester of art classes or w/e after I’m finished with all my ChemE major and IEOR minor requirements. (I may end up taking more IEOR classes, though, since I inherently enjoy the subject.) </p>
<p>ALSO…what are some nice easy fun interesting classes that I can add as filler to my schedule and buffer to my GPA (not that GPA would matter at all in my last semester)? I want to take something along the nature of Astro C10, Astro 3 (?), Nutri Sci 10, maybe Nutri Sci 108A…definitely Art 8, if I can ever fit in that 6 hour studio.
What are classes that one “must” take at UC Berkeley?</p>
<p>Environmental Science 10 is an option, but I looked at a past midterm, and I’m wondering if I can find something more interesting. </p>
<p>I’m not sure why you’d want to pay Berkeley tuition if you can graduate. Why not graduate a semester early and stay in Berkeley and take classes at BCC or look into auditing classes at Berkeley? This is my daughter’s plan.</p>
<p>yeah i heard of this one kid who finished all of his degree requirements, so they kicked him out of Berkeley with this weird, almost humiliating, ceremony where they forced him to walk for like 100 yards while 1,000s of people watched him, then they called out his name and handed him an official certificate that basically told him that he couldn’t enroll in classes anymore and he had to leave the university.
it was inhumane.</p>
<p>i think they called it, what was it now… “graduating”</p>
<p>Graduating isn’t the sole point, is it? Preparing yourself for the future is the real point, as far as I’m concerned. And that can certainly mean going above and beyond basic graduation requirements. Usually those are enforced as a standardized guideline, with the expectation that Cal students will frequently go above and beyond.</p>
<p>Whenever possible, just auditing courses is a good idea, but not when you still stand to gain a lot by being registered.</p>
<p>Note that the limits are different in other divisions (L&S, Engineering, Business, Natural Resources, Environmental Design).</p>
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<p>The extra semester won’t add any student loan debt?</p>
<p>If you stay an extra semester, consider taking upper division electives, or lower division courses which have no equivalents at community colleges, to make the most out of your extra semester.</p>
<p>As far as astronomy goes, you may want to consider Astronomy 7A/7B over 10 or C10, since you have the needed physics background. (Note that Astronomy 10 equivalents are commonly offered in community colleges, but Astronomy 7A/7B equivalents are rare or nonexistent in community colleges.)</p>
<p>It’s not exactly an “extra” semester…? More like a leftover. I can finish everything by December 2012 next year. Most of my classmates (who are freshman admits like me) will finish Spring 2013. I could have finished a year earlier if not for the IEOR minor.
As for loan debt–my tuition is 100% paid for. I’d still need to pay for rent, which kind of sucks…but with a prior internship and another one lined up for next summer, I’m feeling more or less secure for a well-paying job upon graduation. <em>knock on wood</em> </p>
<p>FILIPPENKO – Yes, I am hoping that he will fit into my fall schedule.
As for Astro 7A/7B~ Should I be confident that I will do well in the course without too much effort? Sorry, I need to account for possible senioritis. I will consider it, though. As long as I’m interested, I should be okay.</p>
<p>Astronomy C10 / L&S C70U with Filippenko is in Wheeler Auditorium, capacity > 700. No one will notice if you sit in the lectures and audit the course without being officially registered for it. There are probably lots of other courses that may be interesting enough to you to audit (and you don’t have to wait until next year) that you can just sit in on the lectures without registering for them.</p>
<p>However, a course like Art 8 is something that you would want to take “for real” since it involves studio / lab, rather than just listening to lecture. (Art 8 does not have any community college equivalents, according to [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) .)</p>
<p>Seems like a waste to graduate early just to go back to audit classes at Berkeley/take classes at community college. I’m going to be done with my chemistry requirements a year early, so I’m sticking around to take grad courses and continue my research, and my folks back home are totally okay with that. It’s also like we should enjoy our 4th year at Cal because quite frankly, time moves by way too quickly and before we know it, we’ll be out in the real world D:</p>
<p>Why is staying an extra semester a horrible idea? Law schools hate it when you graduate early for non-monetary reasons. They want to see 4 solid years. </p>
<p>I spend an extra semester taking fun classes.</p>
<p>Remember that you will NOT graduate unless you put yourself on the list during your last semester. There is no system that looks at your requirements and would recognize you were ready, then automatically report you to some administration to cause you to be forced to graduate. </p>
<p>The only mechanisms that exist are the ones that block further registration after you hit certain maximum unit levels defined by your college and of course depending on whether you have more than one major. Up until you hit that wall, you can keep reporting for additional semesters. Not sure about finaid limits, other than probably eight regular semesters, but you are the one that decides if Fall or Spring is your last semester, simply by declaring yourself a degree candidate in the semester you want. If you are not a candidate and not yet exceeded the unit maximums, you can register and attend classes to your heart’s content.</p>
<p>AP credits do NOT count towards the unit maximum cap, only units taken as a college course.</p>
<p>You can take as many units as you want for your first eight semesters (if you entered as a freshman). It’s after those eight semesters that the unit cap becomes a problem.</p>
<p>I could have graduated a semester early (Fa10 instead of Sp11), but I stayed because
A) I wanted to finish my honors thesis
and
B) IB decided to offer a TON of awesome classes that semester (e.g., IB 113L IB C155, IB 161*, IB 173/LF, IB 183/L) (though I couldn’t and wouldn’t for sanity reasons take them all).</p>
<p>*Yes, no matter how tough this class was and how disorganized Slatkin was, this class was awesome (mostly the Nielsen parts though)</p>
<p>I’m not sure why most people want to graduate early… I mean you only have 4 years to be a college student before real life kicks in and we all have to grow up. I can understand if you are going to grad school, but still, getting out early to go to work seems like no fun. </p>
<p>Have you guys actually put in 40-60 hr work weeks? mmmm I’ll enjoy my youth while I still have it. Party, travel, meet women, all the fun stuff. Life’s too short to spend working away in a cubicle. But if you guys accept the American workaholic culture, then please, be my guest and slave away!</p>
<p>I can’t wait to graduate already myself…I’m CS and I definitely enjoy what I do. I just hate putting in so much time for all these other elective courses which I know I’m eventually going to forget anyways. And I definitely put in more than 40 hours a week already with doing hw + studying. But hey, work doesn’t feel like work when you enjoy what you do
Plus I got a programming friend who’s in the working field already. He definitely prefers the working life than college life especially the part where you don’t have to worry about homework or exams on the weekends.</p>
<p>After I graduate with a certain degree. Can I enroll back into UC Berkeley to obtain another degree in a different area and only do the major requirements?</p>
<p>For graduate or professional (e.g. MBA, JD) degree programs that do not have strict undergraduate major requirements, certainly. For some other graduate programs, you may be admitted after completing an undergraduate major in a different but related subject (e.g. BA math -> PhD economics, BS EE -> PhD CS).</p>
