Ask vicissitudes: Spring Admits (FAQ included)

<p>thanks for answering my post, but also,
If spring admits apply for housing later than fall admits, would the applications be processed later (then how would they handle requests)? And if the requesting a roomate thing didnt work out, it wouldnt lower their or my chances of getting housing anyway right?
Oh yea, and i plan to turn in my FPF deposit in person on monday. Thats still plenty of time right? (i was kinda worried cuz April 12 is just over a week away) and please dont let there be tons of ppl who sent it in by mail over this weekend; would those be processed first? Hopefully there wont be a long line to turn it in or anything when i get there.
Yea, i realized im so obessed about not making it in time, partly because i submitted my UC app at like 10:30 pm on the last day (contributing to my paranoia that maybe im a spring admit cuz my app was one of the last ones looked at and they couldnt decide? pretty much unfounded, but i still dont want anything to go wrong now)
Anyway, after that long tangent,
A seperate thread about dorms would be good, also with a FAQ?</p>

<p>so wait theme housing is near guaranteed right?</p>

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<p>Yeah I believe the housing apps for the FPF students are processed later and you’ll be contacted with an offer later. If you end up not getting the roommate you requested I don’t think it would lower your chances of getting housing (their housing is guaranteed).</p>

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<p>I hear it’s not that hard to get theme housing.</p>

<p>thanks, vicissitudes, for all the great info. Can Spring Admits participate in the overnight visits in April? If so, how do you go about signing up?</p>

<p>My S who is currently a 3rd year was a Spring Admit. vicissitudes' info posted here has been spot on. From what I've observed:</p>

<ol>
<li>FPF is a good way to start at CAL. Small classes and small overall group. If you are considering it, I suggest you sign up as soon as possible. Worse case, you lose your deposit if you decide to do something else. No one knows when the slots will fill up, so just do it.</li>
<li>One strategy to housing is to apply to a theme house. S got housing this way.<br></li>
<li>If you are in FPF, they provide some info on housing possibilities</li>
<li>The Spring Admit stats are NOT included in the stats CAL publishes.</li>
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<p>Oh, and did I say that S was on the Dean's Honor List last semester? (shameless parent bragging). Spring Admits are in no way 'lesser than'. It is what you do at CAL that matters, not your HS record.</p>

<p>For those who were admitted to CAL this year as Spring Admits, congratulations on your acceptance. Good luck with your decisions and planning</p>

<p>what's theme housing? can you apply for both theme housing and dorms?</p>

<p>I read on their website about the FPF program requirements....There is a minimum 2.0 GPA requirement in order to enroll for the fall. Does this mean that, with the heavy curving at Cal, if you dont get those grades, you dont get to continue @ berkeley? </p>

<p>Isn't that almost like gambling then? Isnt there the possibility that your grades don't quite make it, then you have no choice but to try to transfer to another school....and the other school probably isnt going to cut you any slack on those bad grades simply because you came from cal? </p>

<p>I'm so confused!! ><</p>

<p>I thought curves were for weeder and impacted classes. What reason would they have for purpouse failing 10% of the class in gen req classes?</p>

<p>What? I thought they curved every class in the UC system...except for maybe the lower UCs</p>

<p>i got accepted into spring</p>

<p>i was wondering how hard are the classes in the extension program compared to the real classes at cal?</p>

<p>also im planning to apply to haas, will there be the UG prereq class at the extension program? will it be just as hard as the real class at cal since its a weeder class?</p>

<p>Here's the link to theme housing
<a href="http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/themeprograms.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/themeprograms.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It is a part of the regular dorm housing</p>

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<p>I think you can, and I would imagine you sign up the same way the fall admits do. Personal opinion though: I don't think it's worth it. You stay overnight at orientation anyway. The only advantage might be if you're still pondering over which college to go to, but even then I think Cal Day is enough for you to get a feel for the campus.</p>

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<p>I think you mean...you need a 2.0 GPA in FPF to enroll at Berkeley in the spring semester. There's really no need to worry. For the most part the classes at FPF are pretty easy and I'd be surprised if someone actually got below a 2.0 (unless they tried to? I dunno why?).</p>

<p>It's really not like gambling at all because let's say you get below a 2.0 but Berkeley still lets you enroll in the spring. Well if you can't get a 2.0 in FPF you probably can't get a 2.0 at Berkeley which means you'll be put on academic probation and then flunk out anyway. Same scenario applies to other schools. Let's say you decide to attend UCSD instead. Well if you get below a 2.0 there you'll also flunk out. So this policy is really no different from any other college policy.</p>

<p>But anyway, I really think it's next to impossible to get below a 2.0 in FPF so don't worry about it.</p>

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<p>Nope, many classes are actually graded on a straight scale. The grading in FPF tends to be pretty lenient so if a class has a curve it's not one of those killer curves that fails 30% of the students.</p>

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<p>I really think the classes at FPF are noticibly easier than the ones on-campus. Some people say differently. If you're one of those pre-med/pre-Haas/engineering/other-hard-major people then obviously the classes you'll be taking on-campus will be harder. If you're going to major in an easy major then perhaps the classes you'll take on-campus might not be harder. One notable class is Math 1B. That's an infamous weeder on-campus that many students need to take, but it's not a weeder in FPF at all. So if you need to take Math 1B I recommend taking it in FPF.</p>

<p>As for Haas, you could fulfill the calculus requirement, or the breadth requirements. I think that's it. There's no Undergraduate Business Administration 10, Statistics 21, Economics 1/2, or CS classes. But the breadth requirements for Haas is a pain so it's good to get those out of the way.</p>

<p>when does the spring semester starts (what month?)
january?</p>

<p>I'm almost sure that I want to go to Berkeley, and if I do go, I definitely want to be in FPF. I'm still not positive though (I still need to visit UCSD, my other choice) so I don't want to officially enroll. How can I just reserve a spot? The acceptance website doesn't say, and keeps insisting that I have to pay a SIR to enroll. Do I have to pay the SIR to reserve a spot in FPF? And can the reserving a spot be done online?</p>

<p>So how does everything in general work for spring admits going for FPF? Are the orientations at the same time as fall admits? How much housing and for which semesters is it guaranteed? What classes would an engineer typically take for FPF? I also don't really understand housing for FPF students. If I don't get a dorm, do I have to find an apartment or something on my own outside of Cal if I don't do themed housing?</p>

<p>As a Spring Admit, is there any chance that, when some fall admit people decide not to attend UCB, that there will be room for us in the fall semester? The whole Spring thing is making my decision very difficult since I got in for Chancellors at UCSD for bio.
I noticed on the website for FRF that there's a $4050 charge, but I'm confused. Does that mean for the overall freshman year I will pay about $24,000 plus the extra $4050? And, is it possible to take Math1B before Math1A?</p>

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<p>No, you don't have to pay a SIR to enroll. You just need to send in a $100 deposit to FPF to reserve your spot, along with an enrollment form. You have to mail them in though; can't do it online. Here's details on how:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/fpf/enroll_checklist.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/fpf/enroll_checklist.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Notice that you only have to do steps 1 and 2 to reserve a spot.</p>

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<p>The orientation for incoming Berkeley students is called CalSO (Cal Student Orientation) and for fall admits there are several from early June to mid July. There is a CalSO just for FPF students and that's after all the fall admit CalSOs. You can find the dates on the website below(click on Fall 2007 admit for FPF CalSO date):</p>

<p><a href="http://services.housing.berkeley.edu/NSS/Content/Welcome.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://services.housing.berkeley.edu/NSS/Content/Welcome.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Housing was already mentioned in this thread but I'll reiterate: Fall admits are guaranteed two-year housing. For FPF students your first semester is not guaranteed. However, I believe unlimitedx mentioned in another thread that housing for spring semester is guaranteed. Your second year should also be guaranteed. As for how likely it is for you to get housing in the fall, it's hard to say. Last year 250 spots were initially offered for 650 FPF students, and I think more got housing offers later after being on the waitlist. The years before that almost all FPF students got housing. If you don't get dorm housing, you could do theme housing (which is almost the same), Tau House (it's like a mini-dorm close to campus), nearby apartment (Telegraph Commons, etc. they're pretty close and have other Berkeley students living in them), or maybe co-ops. There are a lot of options. Also, you could transfer into a dorm in the spring semester.</p>

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<p>I think chances are very slim that any spring admit will be given enrollment in the fall due to underenrollment. The $4050 charge is the tuition. The tuition for a semester at Berkeley is about $3700, so it's a little more for FPF. The $24000 is a total cost that's made up of: $6400 tuition (for 2 semesters), $12000 housing and meal plan (for 1 year, based on a double), living costs, book fees, transportation fees, etc. As for math, you can skip Math 1A and go to Math 1B, but you can't take Math 1B and then go back and take Math 1A.</p>

<p>Thanks for the CalSO site vicissitudes. It seems as though I won't be able to make it, since I'm going to be gone the whole July. Do you choose classes when you attend the FPF CalSO? If so, how would someone like me choose classes?</p>

<p>I've also taken a look at the classes offered for FPF, and it seems that if I go to Cal, I will be behind 1 semester in Computer Science and Physics for engineering. Is that a major problem in any way?</p>

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<p>That's too bad, CalSO's a good place to meet some people. Anyway, you actually don't need to attend CalSO to sign up for classes, unlike all the fall admits. The way you sign up for classes is by filling out a form that you print from the FPF website and sending it in through mail. Lucky you. :)</p>

<p>As for classes, I'm not sure what your major is. I think engineering majors either require Physics 7A,7B or Physics 7A, 7B, 7C. In either case you can finish those in 3 semesters. As for CS...there's the CS61 series which is CS61A, 61B, 61C. Mostly engineering majors don't need to take all three (EECS might, too lazy to look up now). Anyway, very doable and many engineers don't even bother taking any physics/CS classes until spring semester anyway. I think I mentioned in my first post that if you're an engineer you might get behind a little but what that really means is just you won't be able to get some classes out of the way early. Hey, there's always summer school if you really need it.</p>

<p>Haha, I got admitted for EECS so I guess it's all 3 Comp sci classes for me:(. After looking at the catalogue for FPF classes, it literally seems like there is nothing I can take that's even related to engineering. The only one was Math 1B, but I looked around and AP credit can get me out of it. Any suggestions on classes to take?</p>