Ask questions about Cal Berkeley here!

<p>If I live on campus, is a meal plan mandatory? Or can I opt out of it entirely if I never plan to eat in the dining halls? They can’t MAKE me buy a meal plan . . . can they?</p>

<p>It comes included with your dorms so yes they did make you buy the meal plan.</p>

<p>What do you have to say regarding the economics program at Cal, in terms of difficulty, etc? I really want to go to an Ivy League for grad school, so . . . I want to know how hard it would be maintaining a high GPA.</p>

<p>I’m not brilliant at math – just decent, but I hate it.</p>

<p>Wait, so if you take 1 or 2 courses over the summer at a community college will they count for your UC GPA?</p>

<p>If not, will they count for your UC GPA if you take the courses at Berkeley over the summer?</p>

<p>at CC - no
at Cal - yes</p>

<p>I’m a new transfer student for the fall of 09. I am trying to take summer school to get adjusted and get a class or two out of the way. But, I have a few questions/concerns.</p>

<p>Is it crazy to take 7 units during the C 7 week session? Is it possible to do it and do it well? I am coming from community college with a 4.0, but I know the workload will be significantly higher at Berkeley so I am concerned. </p>

<p>In order to be eligible for financial aid I need to take 6 units. So far I enrolled in a 4 unit course, sociology of culture. I’m also looking at a comparative literature course, too, which is a 3 unit course.</p>

<p>I was considering doing the comp lit as pass/no pass because it is not a major requirement (but does satisfy the American Cultures Requirement).</p>

<p>Suggestions/Comments/Advice?</p>

<p>7 units is normal for summer school. Classes are generally easier during the summer (more intense though).</p>

<p>For more info, check out the school supported <a href=“http://BerkeleyLive.net%5B/url%5D”>http://BerkeleyLive.net</a> to talk to a current Cal student about these things.</p>

<p>any math major people? I am a new transfer student too and thinking majoring applied math. How is the workload for math major? what is the difficulty level? I heard there will be mostly proofs, and less computations. And how’s the overall enviroment in math depart?</p>

<p>I’m an international student going to UCB through EAP.
Now I’m a sophomore majoring in Econ, and will become a senior next semester. </p>

<p>I very much like US and want to pursue my education there. So I’ve got this idea that if I can make it to transfer to UCB, rather than just go there for a year…</p>

<p>I’m wondering is there any international transfer students in UCB who went through EAP first? I mean, is there anyone, who transfered to UCB after their exchange program in Berkeley? </p>

<p>Thanks a million</p>

<p>eL-shijunzi: </p>

<p>I’m considering a math major right now because I just like the environment of the math department so much though I am learning toward pure rather than applied math. From what I can tell, upper div math classes are pretty difficult to manage and the workload seems somewhat heavy. Berkeley does have one of the best math departments in the world so its bound to be intense. For more info, on the math department, you should ask mathboy98.</p>

<p>eL-shijunzi – applied math’s requirements with be roughly the same as pure math requirements in terms of core classes, and the difference will be in the electives. There’s a large set of electives that you may gather from departments like physics, CS, engineering, etc, which will satisfy the applied math electives. For instance, instead of taking a geometry course, maybe you can take a signal processing course in the EECS department, heavy on Fourier analysis and stuff. You are required to take numerical analysis (Math 128A). </p>

<p>But everyone has to take the same four upper division core classes other than that. It is indeed about writing proofs. If you’re not comfortable with proofs, well Math 55 has been made a requirement for math majors – formerly only a discrete math course, this also now teaches math majors to transition to writing proofs, and should get you decently comfortable. </p>

<p>I myself never did 55 (I was before its time), and for the record, wrote my first proofs when I studied linear algebra. I find that’s a good place to get started, as the proofs in there will be most similar, I think, to those math majors will have to write eventually. As a note from me, I wouldn’t think of a proof as this mysterious sort of formalization technique. It’s just a clear way of writing out arguments, and you’ll get better at it especially if you pay attention to how your math books communicate what they do, so you can mimic their style to an extent. </p>

<p>Difficulty varies greatly among professors. You definitely have to put in some work, though it’s more how diligent you are and less how much time you put in. You can have lots of free time if you take a decent schedule and don’t overload.</p>

<p>When is the first day of school? Where can I find all the dates like when we move in etc.</p>

<p>[Living</a> at Cal - Welcome to Cal , Move In](<a href=“http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/welcome_to_cal.html#when]Living”>http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/welcome_to_cal.html#when)</p>

<p>thank you, mathboy98. I kinda get a sense of how math major goes at CAL. I am just feel a little afraid…hahah… For now, I am still thinking between stats and math, but more to the math side. We’ll see then…</p>

<p>And how is the people in the math department? Are they super competitive? I heard there are like a lot smart asians there that are not so nice.</p>

<p>Does SAT scores correlate in any way to performance in the classrooms at Cal? After hearing about the destructive force of weeder courses, I feel somewhat uneasy.</p>

<p>If I got 700s in SAT Reasoning math and in Math 2, should I be as anxious as I am?</p>

<p>Your anxiety level should depend more on the instructor and class you signed up for. Berkeley math is very different from SAT math in any case.</p>

<p>Hello, if I take all my AP credits + American Cultures requirement course, then I’ve finished all 15 units of the Breadth requirement for CoC by the first semester of freshman year. Does this mean that I have to take other breadth courses to full up the minimum 13 units/semester requirement, or do I take other advanced classes a little bit earlier in substitution? I’m quite confused and any help would be tremendously appreciated;;;</p>

<p>If I add a roommate to my housing app after it is due will we be put together? And how easy is it to switch roommates for somebody once you get there?</p>

<p>I do not know how it is for the College of Chemistry but breadth in the College of Letters and Science must be done at Cal or be transferred from another college or university (community college is okay). American Cultures is common throughout all colleges at Cal and MUST be done at Cal because it is a university requirement, although I believe you can use transferred credit for this too.</p>

<p>newnonstop19: There is no prescribed order in which you must take all of your credits. You simply have to take the GEs at some point before you can graduate. If you decide to start taking upper division courses early, that’s you’re prerogative; just remember you’ll have to come back to breadth courses later.</p>

<p>It’s generally a good idea to get the breadth out of the way as soon as you can so you don’t find yourself having to give up things you’re working toward in your major because you have yet to finish your breadth.</p>