Ask questions about Cal Berkeley here!

<p>Can we take enough APs in High school to graduate in 2 years? How many AP Exams would we have to take? Would you recommend this?</p>

<p>zhuangjieyi: No, there’s a max of AP units that will transfer and the only ones that really count for anything useful are things like Calculus/Statistics for the math requirement, Literature for the reading and composition requirement, or languages for the foreign language requirement (which you will probably complete even before you get to the AP level).</p>

<p>Collegegirl17: It really depends on the house. Are you interested in a particular house?</p>

<p>nybeath: Obtaining residency in California is a pain. You have to “establish intent to reside in California permanently” which has a lot of requirements. You are most likely not going to be able to do it because one of the criteria is establishing financial independence. </p>

<p>Here’s the page with info about that: [Legal</a> Residence Information - Office Of The Registrar](<a href=“http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Default.aspx?PageID=legalinfo.html]Legal”>http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Default.aspx?PageID=legalinfo.html)</p>

<p>As for reducing costs… live off-campus, choose a room (sometimes shared) in an apartment instead of your own apartment, eat healthy and eat cheap, don’t buy every book for your classes (you’d be surprised how many are available at the libraries – check first, of course), use the bus to get everywhere, take an on-campus job (work-study if you’re offered it) to cover as much as you can, … I’m sure there’s more, but that’s what I’ve got off the top of my head.</p>

<p>copied from my other post, sorry:</p>

<p>I applied to Berkeley undecided because I was unsure whether to pursue a career in computer science or medicine. Now I think i’ve made up my mind to study CS. But I read in the Berkeley EE/CS home page that “The computer science major under L&S is not accredited.” …***… So i want to transfer to CoE EE/CS.</p>

<p>I’m not familiar with the berkeley website, so could someone more knowledgeable provide me link or info on:

  1. how to make an effective transition to the CoE EE/CS?
  2. When should I apply to transfer?
  3. Which classes should I take to make the majors (CS and EE/CS) as compatible as possible, so i could make the transfer?
  4. general tips?
  5. Anyone explain that quote from EE/CS homepage? Why would anyone get a diploma BA that’s not accredited.</p>

<p>I know transferring is difficult, but I’ve spoken with several schoolmates who go to Berkeley and they confess the process isn’t as bad as some people make it sound. And it would only be difficult if it’s impossible; I know it can be done, but I don’t know how. Thanks for the help.</p>

<p>Also, if I do choose to pursue medicine, which major is most popular(successful?) among premed students? What designates a premed student? Could I do Comp Sci and pursue Premed? How? </p>

<p>haha, sorry for the chain of questions.</p>

<p>^ I would like to know how difficult it is to transfer into EECS from L&S as well!</p>

<p>I heard it was extremely difficult, if not impossible. There are rare occasions however…</p>

<p>For those looking to switch into the College of Engineering here is some info: </p>

<p>[Change</a> of College — UC Berkeley College of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/students/prospective-students/admissions/change-of-college.html]Change”>Change of college - Berkeley Engineering)</p>

<p>according to the site “In recent years roughly 60% of the applicants to most majors have been approved for admission. However, EECS programs, Bioengineering programs and Engineering Physics are the most competitive for admission.” so you guys might have a hard time with EECS…</p>

<p>From your own experience and from those of other students, how easy is it to get the classes that you want at berkeley? do many of the classes have caps? and how easy is it to declare a popular major? thanks!</p>

<p>Can anyone tell me is it right that you’ve to have fulfilled the breadth requirement before the end of your sophomore year if you want to major in business?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>yes, you must finish your breadth before the end of your sophomore year if you want to do business!</p>

<p>Is it relatively easy to get an on-campus job? I’m an international (so only allowed to work for Cal) and would like to work for a bit of pocket money etc., so was wondering how easy it was to get a job like shelving books in the library or something.</p>

<p>chococat: It’s not too hard to get the classes you want as long as you’re flexible with when you’re going to take them. The most popular and difficult to get in classes – particularly science/math pre req/weeder courses – are going to fill up very fast, so you have to be careful about timing that one due to the sequential nature of those classes. </p>

<p>Nearly every class has an upper limit, but you can sometimes get the professor to overlook this and admit you by hand.</p>

<p>Within L&S, there is no such thing as a popular major you can’t declare. However! There are impacted majors, each of which has certain restrictions and hoops you have to go through before you can declare. Economics, for example: application + 3.0 or higher in prereqs. The admissions rate is about 67%. </p>

<p>Each other major only requires you to complete its prerequisites in order to declare.</p>

<p>Agneisse: I’m not familiar with the restrictions placed on internationals, but:</p>

<p>workstudy.berkeley.edu (I think most if not all of the positions at the libraries are work study)</p>

<p>jobs.berkeley.edu (Open to “external” applicants, but they have the occasional part-time job and they advertise the ones working for Housing & Dining, which is probably your best bet)</p>

<p>Another question (I have a feeling I’ll be having lots of these :P): If one is rather comfortable with the AP Calculus BC-equivalent material and intends to go into the sciences, would Math 53 be a wise choice, or is it better to start easy + potentially be bored in 1A?</p>

<p>@agneisse</p>

<p>I had the same question, but for Calc AB. I talked to a senior ME major the other day and she said she skipped both 1A and 1B. I think if you’re fairly comfortable, you should just skip 1A. She said that when she did, it gave her much more freedom in her schedule and she wasn’t confined to such a strict path, as well as giving her more class flexibility. As for me, I plan on just taking 1A since it’s been over a year since I’ve touched calculus. I would rather have a strong foundation in calc than sacrifice it for a flexible schedule.</p>

<p>This might be an obvious question but what’s the difference between Math 1A and 1B?
and what textbook do you use for Math 1A and 1B? I want to start looking into some calculus now since I haven’t been in touch with it in 5 months now. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>How hard is it to get into College of Environmental Design?</p>

<p>I am currently a 2nd NS major in CNR and want to transfer into CED and major in Architecture.</p>

<p>I submitted my application about a week ago , so when will I know if I get in or not?</p>

<p>Also I have a 2.9 GPA (not taken this semester’s grades into consideration), how badly would this hurt my chance of getting in?</p>

<p>What are some good backup majors that I can look into, so far I’ve been taken all courses related to Architecture:</p>

<p>everything up to ED 11B, taking ARCH 100A over the summer, have all 7 breadths done already, taking ARCH 170B currently. </p>

<p>If I don’t get in this year, then I don’t know what I’m going to do.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>How hard is it to transfer from L&S to CoC?</p>

<p>Also is roommate assignment in the dorms completely random (i.e. you can’t request who you want)? Do you have to fill out a questionnaire/otherwise get to request non-smoking rooms? Also are you given their names a few days beforehand so you can FB and decide who brings the ‘big’ things like kettles/toasters/swiffers or is it just everybody turning up on the day itself and saying hi then?</p>

<p>My D is accepted by Berkeley. As OOS student 50K a year with NO grants only 3K loan and 4k study work. And UMN give her 14K times 4. Does any one know the Berkeley financial offer letter will be the same?<br>
She almost decided to give up Berkeley. It hurts a lot both us.</p>

<p>She took a lot AP test at and before her junior year in high school.
Statistics 5, Calculus BC 5, Calculus sub grade 5,<br>
Chemistry 5, Physics B 5, Physics C mechanics 4,
US History 4, Euro History 4, Government & politics us 3,
Eng Lang/comp 3, Japanese 5, Econ-micro 5
At her senior year she is full time at U of MN TC as PSEO student.
(Post-Secondary Enrollment Options)</p>

<p>She took the following course at the fall semester:
Biology, Multivariable Calculus, Computer science, Macro-Econ
Also now she is taking:
Eng Lit. Intro Shakes, Differential equations and Linear Algebra,
History of science, Mechanics of Fly</p>

<p>And can she graduate at 2 or 3 years? It may cut amount of budget.</p>

<p>unwise to take bio1b, chem 3b/l, and physics 8a in 1 semester. 13 units?</p>