Ask questions about Cal Berkeley here!

<p>No matter what you wrote down as a major, everyone admitted into the College of Letters and Sciences (L&S) is admitted as ‘undeclared’ - you have roughly two years to figure out what you want to have as your major. No rush.</p>

<p>Does and EECS major have a social life? Like maybe someone doing Electrical Engineering?</p>

<p>Haha. I live in Foothill, and its filled with EECS majors. They have lives. Seriously :).</p>

<p>Does applying undeclared hurt my chances of being accepted?</p>

<p>@CaribbeanChild, that’s a relief because I heard someone here say that UCB EECS majors have no life whatsoever. Kinda freaked me out, ha!</p>

<p>Also, how is the theater scene at Cal?</p>

<p>i did my application late so when I was entering grades and mistypes 2 of them and realized this later</p>

<p>it was only by 1 or 2 points, like an 89 to a 90, but still is my application completley jepordized?
I sent in my offical transcript around december so do i have to resend it?</p>

<p>Hi,
I was recently admitted into College of Letters and Science as Undeclared/Pre-Business. However, I would like to switch into College of Engineering and possibly studying Chemical Engineering. How would this be done? Would I be able to study Chem Eng straight away starting in September when the semester starts?</p>

<p>Hey guys, I’m an international student. I got accepted for EECS.
I wanted to know how easy it is for one to get a single room and are freshmen allowed to keep a car?
Also when does the fall session commence? </p>

<p>GO BEARS!!!</p>

<p>First day of classes are August 25th, move-in dates are dependent on the housing you are assigned. While the semester formally starts on August 18th, housing won’t be available and this date is relevantly mainly for staff and to define the start of services that are semester based e.g. when you pay for Fall semester access to the gym. </p>

<p>Cars are quite a headache in Berkeley, as the city surrounding the campus is as congested and car-unfriendly as you could imagine. Good idea to not bring one for your first semester, judge the situation for yourself and decide afterwards. There is plenty of mass transit and students receive a pass to ride all the buses in the area. other longer range transit systems allow easy access to cities further away, such as San Francisco, reducing the need for a car. university parking permits are mainly for special needs, such as disabled student parking, whether freshman or senior. There is a very nice category with specially reserved spaces on campus if you have the qualifications - the NL permit - given to the Nobel Laureates among the faculty. If you have previously won a Nobel Prize, contact the Parking and Transportation department. True, by the way, in spite of the unlikely relevance to incoming freshmen. </p>

<p>Single rooms are pretty unlikely as a freshman. Most students start out at cal living in a dorm, having one or two roommates. By the second year, most are living outside of the dorms, in spite of the housing guarantee for two years, as it is more convenient and less expensive to get an apartment or space in a coop. Move-in dates are most likely going to be August 20 and 21 with the specific day determined by the dorm building and room type you are allocated. </p>

<p>HOWEVER, international students new to Cal arrive earlier for a special program and orientation - August 15th is the beginning of the program for incoming international students and this site is a good start for you to read [FrontPage</a> | Berkeley International Office](<a href=“http://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/]FrontPage”>http://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/)</p>

<p>Good site to answer initial questions for all types of new incoming students: [Living</a> at Cal 2011-2012, UC Berkeley Housing](<a href=“http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/]Living”>http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/)</p>

<p>Cal is notorious for being extremely liberal. How prevalent is the liberal ideology throughout campus? Would a conservative feel overwhelmed?</p>

<p>Also, should I worry about Jerry Brown cutting Cal’s budget?</p>

<p>I can’t look at 100+ pages of posts (which reflects just how popular Cal is and curious we all are!), but I would like an answer to the following:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Are most freshman and sophomore classes huge lectures, then broken into smaller sections taught by TAs whose English skills are questionable?</p></li>
<li><p>Do Professors bombard you ideologically with their leftist viewpoints and essentially insist that you parrot them all back in order to get a decent grade?</p></li>
<li><p>Are all the Asians ruthless grade-grubbers?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there grade deflation?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I got admitted into both UC Berkeley & UCLA in biology. Which do you suggest I go to and please give me reasons. Thank you!</p>

<p>Hey, can any current Berkeley students enlighten me on something about the Law and Economics course? (Undergrad, L&S - is it even an undergraduate course?)
Is the aforementioned course more law intense or economics intense?
I am very much more interested in economics but would want law as a ‘backup plan’.
Do you guys think its a good idea?</p>

<p>If you are asking about Legal Studies 145 - Law and Economics I as well as Legal Studies 147 - Law and Economics II, these are courses created and hosted by the Legal Studies department, thus the focus is first from a law context however here are the two course descriptions, showing that there is more than a trivial tie to economics but not enough to have any economic coursework as a pre-requisite:</p>

<p>Legalst 145 - The course will apply microeconomic theory analysis to legal rules and procedures. Emphasis will be given to the economic consequences of various sorts of liability rules, remedies for breach of contract and the allocation of property rights. The jurisprudential significance of the analysis will be discussed.</p>

<p>Legalst 147 - Government uses many mechanisms to influence the provision of goods and services. Economists and lawyers have developed a critique of these mechanisms which has prompted substantial reforms in recent years, e.g., deregulation in transportation. The course examines this critique.</p>

<p>Compare that to the related course Legalst 146 - The Law and Economics of Innovation, which requires Econ 1 or similar microeconomics coursework and has the description:</p>

<p>We will discuss how the creation of knowledge, artistic, literary, and musical works are supported in a competitive economy especially in the digital age. We will discuss intellectual property, copyrights, trade secrets, trade marks, and geographic indications, in historical and institutional contexts. We will consider the problems of competition that arise in the digital economy, such as Google Books, the Microsoft antitrust cases, and search advertising.</p>

<p>In all three cases, while these are upper division (junior and senior level) legal studies courses, the economics aspect appears quite rudimentary, in some cases not even requiring the initial freshman level econ coursework. </p>

<p>The major is an L&S undergrad degree program that is powered in part by the law school faculty but is not a pre-law program nor is it aimed at legal career training. It is an academic program that analyzes and critiques the legal system, understanding the principles and issues but does not dive into the details and processes that a legal field worker would require - for that, one would enter a law school after graduating from this major. </p>

<p>This is law intense and would probably be a good elective course to take for someone who is aiming at economics but also might consider the law for a career, because it addresses some of the intersection of two of your areas of passion, but not because it would provide a bridge from economics into law (or vice versa).</p>

<p>How far away are the units from most classes? I guess I’m a little confused…but are the residence halls even on campus at all? I’m getting the impression that they are slightly off campus? Also if you are walking around a lot, how is Cal in terms of safety? I know that Berkeley isn’t exactly the best area…</p>

<p>i was just accepted into cal, and on my application i listed i would be taking independent study honors spanish V because it wasn’t offered at my school for second semester (we are on a block schedule–four classes a semester, 8 classes a year). However my principal recanted and did not allow me to independently study…i know i have to notify admissions in writing, however, could this potentially jeopardize my offer of admission?..also on the “conditions” list it says that one must receive no grade lower than a c…is a c a 69.5%-79.5%…i am not sure because at my hight school, a c is an 79-86</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

<p>hello!
i got accepted to ucla this fall 2011 by the college of letters and science.
when i was applying, i was confused between choosing mathematics or business as my major… and since the business option was not there… i chose maths.
now the problem is i am more interested in doing business than maths.</p>

<p>is is possible for me to change my major to business?
also, in the acceptance letter, it is written that i got accepted by the college of letters of science only, without any majors mentioned.</p>

<p>i also heard that we can only take business at the junior year? is it true??
honestly i don’t really understand the way it works and all…</p>

<p>can anybody please help me…</p>

<p>thank you very much :D</p>

<p>If you’re admitted to the college of letters and science, you’re automatically admitted as undeclared regardless of what you put on the application. You’ll declare your major after your second year.</p>

<p>@misstammiex3 thank you very much!! does that mean that i can study business for sure?
omg i’m so happy!!</p>