<p>I transferred last year and I know the struggle you guys are going through. Feel free to ask anything Cal-related and I'll give you my honest opinion.</p>
<p>BTW. I am double major in English and History</p>
<p>DOes it make you more or less competitive to use AP scores for major prerequisites?</p>
<p>xcaliberse
To be honest I am not sure, I am assuming that it does not make a huge difference in considering admission.</p>
<p>BUT...
It will make a difference once you get to the university. You get credit for the course, but not the units which can be beneficial as it allows you to take more classes. I know taking more classes does not seem like a good thing, but once you transfer you will see many courses you want to take.</p>
<p>It is one less class you need to take for the major, but if you do well in the class it can help in your Major GPA.</p>
<p>What is the process of declaring a double major? Is it possible to change majors at orientation within the same college (Calso?)?. Thanks</p>
<p>why did you choose Cal over other UCs?</p>
<p>i'm thinking of majoring in history at Cal. what did you like about the major? how are the classes? what are your career prospects?</p>
<p>SkWz</p>
<p>When you submit your application to Berkeley you are actually applying to a school (letters & science, natural resources i.e). Once you get to the university you can declare your major with your department at Calso or you have until Spring. You can declare a second major up until the semester before you graduate (which I wouldn't recommend - registering for classes purpose).</p>
<p>freshhhh87</p>
<p>I love Cal. I choose it because it is truly amazing. For my program (English), the department is very reputable. It is number one tied with Yale and Harvard. I think that Cal is the ONLY public school where the education rivals an Ivy league school. I can't put it into words - It's an experience. The first time I visited the campus I fell in love with the atmosphere, the people, everything</p>
<p>balletdancer22</p>
<p>I really love the History department. I have taken some amazing professors. I highly recommend Hollinger and Henkin (if you are into American history). The department is passionate - I know it seems like a weird way to describe it. The people in the department love what they do.</p>
<p>History is my second major, meaning I am using it as a supplement to my English (my concentration is American Literature). I think that History and Literature go hand in hand. Eventually I hope to be a college professor, currently working on Grad School Apps.</p>
<p>youramonkey1441
Advice on chem??!!?? let me get back to you. I am not a science person, but have plenty of friends who are in chem. I do know they complain a lot (but everyone does). It also seems very study session orientated...it seems like many people stick together and help each other study.</p>
<p>The Upper Div Vs. Lower Div was something I battled. I am not a big lower div person. for the most part the classes are large and require discussions. The lower divs I have taken have been my least favorite classes. I think they are tougher and more demanding than upper div classes. Upper divs seem a lot more fun and personal. Most UD require one paper, a midterm, and a final, the LD are usually 2-3 papers, midterm, paper, and maybe a project. This is my experience from English and History.</p>
<p>the hardest part was adjusting. People can be very snobby and it got to me. I thought I wasn't good enough. Also, a lot of people study and never want to go out - "studying" is a very common answer when you ask people to hang out.</p>
<p>Hey hockee as a transfer, dont you declare a major in the L&S or are u also going in undeclared? I know for freshmen applicants u have to go undeclared but is it different for transfer students? How will they have a sense of which major you want to be?</p>
<p>xcaliberse
You go in undeclared until you go to the actual department and declare. I declared the beginning of my 2nd semester, so when I would look my DARS (degree audit report - kinda like transcript, but tells you all the requirements needed for graduation) it would showed me as undeclared my first semester. Yay i know this was a shock to me and is a very confusing process. So for my first semester I was an undecalred L&S student. When you get accepted, you get accepted into the college.</p>
<p>yeah i visited berkeley awhile ago (my sis is an alum) and the place kicks some major ass! The campus is amazing and the area in general is full of history and fun. I wouldn't mind going there if i got in.</p>
<p>First of all, this is so AWESOME of you!! I'm an English/American Lit major as well. Cal is a priority to me. Thanks for taking our questions.</p>
<p>Question...
1. Did you think about attending UCLA or UCI? The English departments there are very outstanding also, I hear. Do you have any English major friends at UCLA perhaps? Any comparable experiences?</p>
<ol>
<li>What did your first upper division semester in English consist of? I mean specifically, from time periods, novel titles, genres.... to discussion styles, what the professors require of you. Were your classmates entirely genius writers that read books 24/7?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks again :)</p>
<p>Ahh, yay, someone who's got firsthand experience in the English department. </p>
<p>How would you compare your English literature/survey/writing classes to those from community college?</p>
<p>Kinda curious because I've taken quite a few English classes to transfer into the English major and... well, to be honest, I've felt that some of my classes have been a letdown. I hope this doesn't reflect too poorly on me but I've found most of my classes entirely too easy. I don't know if my teachers are just really easy graders or what, but as a result, I feel like I'm not really learning much because I don't need to put forth much effort to do well in the class. I'm really hoping UCB (or any of the other UCs, really) is different.</p>
<p>pskate</p>
<p>Both UCI and UCLA are amazing schools and I did consider both (especially since I never thought I would get in to Cal). I lived very close to UCI so that was a turn off for me. I did not realize the wonder of their program into I visited their perspective student day. My issue with UCI is that it doesn't feel like college, but high school. I am still curious to know where students are between classes. There does not seem to be much student life.</p>
<p>My first reaction was I did not like UCLA, but I learned to like it. There was something about UCLA that irked me. They have sooo many Pre-Reqs. I have heard from one of my professors here (who taught at UCI) that UCLA has the most traditional English department in the state, if not the country. They want you to know everything - which isn't bad.</p>
<p>I'll answer your second question in another reply.</p>
<p>Thanks for the good info Hockeelover. It's great to hear the positive response about Cal's History department ( Esp. about the American History profs ). I'm a History major who plans to focus on US History after 1877. </p>
<p>Have most of your History classes been the large lecture style taught mainly by GSIs? How do you feel about this style versus the smaller more personal teaching at the CC level.</p>
<p>My first semester classes
I took 16 units..ya i know.. I was crazy</p>
<p>Eng 45A: English literature from Chaucer to Milton
Books: Canterbury tales (in Middle English), Spenser's Faerie Queene, Donn's Poetry, Milton Paradise Lost
Req: 3 papers, A recitation of first part of Chacuer's prologue in Middle English dialect/accent, a Final, and discussion</p>
<p>ENG 45C: Mid-19th to 20th Cent Lit
Books: Ms. Dalloway, Picture of Dorian Gray, Turn of the Screw, Things Fall Apart, Dubliners, Sound and Fury, A BUNCH OF POETRY: Eliot, Browning, Pound, Dickinson, Whitman, Hardy, Harlem Ren., Yeats, Wordsworth, Wilde..and more
Reqs: 2 papers, midterm, final, discussion</p>
<p>ENG: 136 Mysteries of the American City
Books: Mathew Carey, “A Short Account of the Malignant Fever, which Prevailed in Philadelphia, in the Year 1793,”Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, “A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People, During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia, in the Year, 1793,” John Edgar Wideman, “Fever,” in Fever: Twelve Stories
Lydia Maria Child, from Letters from New-York, Fanny Fern [Sarah Payson Willis], from Fern Leaves from Fanny’s Port-Folio, Edgar Allan Poe, “The Man of the Crowd” “The Mystery of Marie Roget” George Thompson, Venus in Boston, Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener; A Story of Wall Street,”
Reqs: 3 papers, 3 midterms, Final, discussion</p>
<p>His 132B: American Intellectual History since 1865
Books:‑‑Volume Two of David A. Hollinger and Charles Capper, eds., THE AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION, Mark Twain, ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, Harold Frederic, THE DAMNATION OF THERON WARE, F. Scott Fitzgerald, THE GREAT GATSBY, Robert Penn Warren, ALL THE KING'S MEN, David A. Hollinger, POSTETHNIC AMERICA
Reqs: 1 paper, midterm, final</p>
<p>Kemikaruu</p>
<p>The lower divs are very similar to CC classes: very basic lit survey classes. A lot of stuff people think you should know (look at 45A and 45B above)</p>
<p>The upper divs are a lot more specialized: You get more specific and read more obscure stuff. I was not too fond of the lower divs, but find the upper divs amazing.</p>
<p>This sem I am taking
American Lit 1800-1865, History of the English Language, Mark Twain, and one lower div.</p>
<p>I am enjoying this sem a lot better and learning a lot more</p>
<p>nijikon5</p>
<p>I think the History department tends to have larger classes, but all the history classes I have taken have been cross listed with other departments, so this could be unusual to my case. GSI do not actually lecture (except freshmen classes). There is a lecture and discussion component for some classes (most LD and some UD). Discussion is led by GSI's so lecture can meet MW and you can have discussion on Friday. So one lecture can have about 6 discussion sections with each section having about 20-30 students if it is big or as little as about 10 for smaller courses.</p>