<p>Other large classes:</p>
<p>Biology 1B - 810 students
Nutritional Science 10 - 723 students</p>
<p>Other schools with large class sizes:</p>
<p>Cornell University
Psychology 101 - 1,600 students</p>
<p>Virginia Tech
Geography 1014 - 3,000 students</p>
<p>How</a> big is the biggest class in Berkeley? - YouTube</p>
<p>Huh, you’s think Bio 1A would be more popular than 1B…</p>
<p>As of this writing, 1079 enrolled out of 1098 capacity in 61A and 86 out of 105 capacity in 61AS, according to the on-line schedule:</p>
<p>[UCB</a> Online Schedule of Classes: Search Results](<a href=“http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?p_term=FL&x=0&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&y=0&p_course=61a&p_dept=cs]UCB”>http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?p_term=FL&x=0&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&y=0&p_course=61a&p_dept=cs)
[UCB</a> Online Schedule of Classes: Search Results](<a href=“http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?p_term=FL&x=0&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&y=0&p_course=61as&p_dept=cs]UCB”>http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?p_term=FL&x=0&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&y=0&p_course=61as&p_dept=cs)</p>
<p>Seems like the popularity of CS is not unique to Berkeley. The introductory CS course for CS majors at Stanford is also huge with 68 discussion sections:</p>
<p>[Stanford</a> University Explore Courses](<a href=“Stanford University Explore Courses”>Stanford University Explore Courses)</p>
<p>Enrollment in Stanford’s CS 106A was 700+ students last fall:</p>
<p>[Stanford</a> Daily | CS106A enrollment reaches record high](<a href=“http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/10/04/cs106a-enrollment-reaches-record-high/]Stanford”>CS106A enrollment reaches record high)</p>
<p>Keep in mind that Stanford has only 1,690 frosh this fall, so if 700+ enroll in CS 106A this year, that would be more than 40% of the frosh class. (Note that the Stanford Daily article shows that historically, a similar number enroll in CS 106A for the winter and spring quarters combined.)</p>
<p>At this rate, programming will no longer be lucrative.</p>
<p>What are the reasons for the surge of popularity in CS?</p>
<p>Silicon Valley is a hot place to work, and you can get there with a CS degree from Berkeley/Stanford. Why go into traditional law/med/finance/consulting when you can potentially make a fortune in tech? You don’t necessarily need a graduate degree, plus you can work a comfy 40 hrs/week and make almost/over $100k out of college.</p>
<p>The alternatives are not really that great…</p>
<p>Law - three years of extra schooling, uncertain employment even at T14, high cost, stress
Med - lots of extra schooling, super high cost, stress, big commitment
Finance - uncertain future b/c of regulations, stress, lots of hours
Consulting - less pay than finance, lots of travel</p>
<p>^And getting Hilfingered and spending long nights programming doesn’t induce stress? It all depends on the person, but a CS or EECS major will definitely be more stressed than someone majoring in say English. </p>
<p>With the Tech Fever plaguing college undergrads, software engineering will no longer be profitable.</p>
<p>Hilfinger will only last for 1 or 2 semesters, and you can probably avoid him if you want.</p>
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<p>No one remembers the tech bubble crash, while CS majors did relatively well for post-graduation jobs in the most recent downturn and recovery.</p>
<p>Ignoring this chat about CS, why does Virginia Tech’s Geography 1014 class have so many people??</p>
<p>A lot of majors require this class at UCB to fulfill prerequisites. Just to name a few: cognitive science, CS, EECS, operations research and management science, engineering mathematics and statistics, and engineering physics. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about the students enrolled because my friends at UCB say that CS61 is a make or break class, and a lot people will drop it. This is all also because some people do not have any exposure to CS and do not understand the proper thought process or have the patience for it. Also, there are those cheaters who look up codes on Google.</p>
<p>Here is a description of VT’s Geography 1014 course:
[Geog</a> 1014 - World Regions](<a href=“http://web1.cnre.vt.edu/boyer/geog1014/World.html]Geog”>http://web1.cnre.vt.edu/boyer/geog1014/World.html)</p>
<p>According to [Virginia</a> Tech Undergraduate Catalog](<a href=“http://www.undergradcatalog.registrar.vt.edu/0204/ucdGeog.html]Virginia”>Virginia Tech Undergraduate Catalog) , that course can partially fulfill a VT core requirement in Society and Human Behavior, and that Geography 1014 has a prerequisite of Geography 1004. However, [Area</a> 3: Society and Human Behavior | Curriculum for Liberal Education | Virginia Tech](<a href=“http://www.cle.prov.vt.edu/guides/area3.html]Area”>http://www.cle.prov.vt.edu/guides/area3.html) lists numerous other courses that can fulfill the core requirement.</p>
<p>[Timetable</a> of Classes | Home | Virginia Tech](<a href=“http://mnr.cnre.vt.edu/Courses/timetable.html]Timetable”>http://mnr.cnre.vt.edu/Courses/timetable.html) lists that course as an on-line course with capacity 1,999; it does not list actual enrollment. Its prerequisite, Geography 1004, is a regular course with capacity 250.</p>