<p>Hi, I'm a sophomore and my schedule for fall '09 looks like this:</p>
<p>Plan A:
Math H104
Math H110
Math 113 (Paulin, A)
Comp Lit R1B</p>
<p>Plan B:
Math H104
Math H110
Comp Sci 170 (Papadimitriou)
Comp Lit R1B</p>
<p>I was wondering if three upper division core math courses are too much to handle, especially when the midterm seasons hit. I have just given up computer science as my possible second major so I will only be doing mathematics. As a result, I doubt I will devote my time studying CS170 any more than studying my core math courses. Considering Papadimitriou isn't as liberal as Wagner in terms of handing out A's, I am afraid I won't be able to achieve one mainly because of the difference in time commitment between me and the dedicated EECS/CS majors who are giving all they got. My dilemma is this: If I have to spend equal or more hours than my core math classes to compete in CS170, why not spend it studying my major? Unless juggling three upper division math courses is too difficult and inadvisable, I will probably go with Plan A.</p>
<p>Thank you for your thoughts.</p>
<p>Honors courses can take extra time to work on. Replacing a math course with CS 170 isn’t going to make your schedule lighter. Depending on who teaches the honors courses in math, you may or may not find that schedule heavy or very doable. I don’t know much about those currently teaching them.</p>
<p>If you replace just 1 honors section with a non-honors, that schedule will become very doable. If your honors courses are just hard, but not time-consuming, it’ll be doable, but remember that they’re free to pile on homework for you in those, much more so than in the standard courses.</p>
<p>yes, unless you are a mathematics BEAST.</p>
<p>otherwise, you will probably end up studying all night.
it might work if you stayed off the 4chan, but that’s too much to ask.</p>
<p>and shame on you giving up your second major.
you should triple.<br>
math, cs, and physics. </p>
<p>i only say this because I CARE TOO MUCH.</p>
<p>you, sir, are a beast.</p>
<p>It really boils down to how smart you are and how much effort you’re willing to put into it.
I have known some insane genuises who can handle your schedule PLUS a fifth class with no problems. If you’re confident of your skills and know what you’re doing, by all means go for it.</p>
<p>I agree with mathboy98. Both schedules don’t seem all that different to me.</p>
<p>@mathboy98: How many hours/week per math class do you usually need to spend to be on top of your game?</p>
<p>@i<3YaoMing: Totally did not expect my ex-roommate to find me like this. XD</p>
<p>I took 5 technicals and 2 seminars (21 units) last semester and it turned out to be a disaster right after the spring break when the second round of midterms hit. Although in retrospect, they were all lower divs and I could’ve gotten everything under control had I spent more time studying during the break. Nevertheless, I learned my lesson to never go above 16 units if I want to stay on top and have a healthy life (my gums began to recede and I had a few nose bleed incidents on top of having headaches all the time due to lack of sleep and food). I do not want to repeat this again, so that is my main reason for asking. However, I do not mind occasional all-nighters. I just do not want to pull all-nighters (or 1-2 hrs of sleep/day) for a week or more at a time.</p>
<p>^^ You can’t ever be on top of your game if the honors teachers decide to make it really hard. They are smarter than you, all the grad students at Berkeley, and can make life hell for you if they want. In a regular course, the professors will follow a more set curriculum, though some will be more challenging. In an honors course, they need know no bounds. I’ve known honors courses to be easier than the regular courses at times, depending on professor. Usually, however, this is not the case, and at times they can be unreasonable workloads, and problems can be assigned that graduate students who’re very fresh with this material from taking prelim exams and such (the master test of elementary upper division math) are still unable to solve after a decent amount of time. </p>
<p>Being great at math helps you only so much. A hard problem is a hard problem, and it takes time no matter what. You just have to try to solve it, and it’s unwise to trust any specific timetable – you’ll have to work around all timetables to really succeed.</p>
<p>My rule of thumb for these things is to provide oneself with wiggle space. You decide what this space is to you, though – nobody can prescribe it to you.</p>
<p>@mathboy98: Could you explain what you mean by ‘wiggle space’? Do you mean like having extra time and having graduate student friends who can help you?</p>
<p>Mainly having extra time. There is nothing like time to help one solve problems – the most experienced professors have said that when they were undergraduates and graduate students, problems that would elude them would seem easier as they thought over time. You can’t force your mind to come up with the right thought pattern, after all, and things will sink in better if you’re not pressured.</p>
<p>I mean, I like math enough that I think I <em>could</em> handle over 5 math classes at once, but I’d not really absorb them. Time (plus being physically healthy) is the only magic factor that helps you absorb math well, beyond having some good degree of intelligence, in my humble opinion.</p>
<p>I do think your schedule will be relatively heavy, just because of how professors can really try to make the honors courses hardcore. </p>
<p>By the way, my opinion on hard problems: they’re good if you enjoy them, but you can learn the material without going through them. Someone who takes a solid 110 course with a good professor probably will have as good command of the material to proceed as someone who took H110. The H110 class is specifically for those who want to spend extra time solving hard problems about the subject matter. Keep these things in mind.</p>