Is there a theory group for undergrads at Berkeley? I noticed there is one for grad students, but am not sure if it is SELECTIVELY for grads. I am planning on applying to the Letters and Sciences for CS (rather than EECS) so that I have more freedom to focus on math, as well as CS. How many theory courses are available to an undergrad? Would I be able to take graduate courses as an undergrad?
http://guide.berkeley.edu/courses/compsci/ shows the following CS theory courses:
COMPSCI 170 Efficient Algorithms and Intractable Problems
COMPSCI 172 Computability and Complexity
COMPSCI 174 Combinatorics and Discrete Probability
COMPSCI 176 Algorithms for Computational Biology
COMPSCI 270 Combinatorial Algorithms and Data Structures
COMPSCI 271 Randomness and Computation
COMPSCI 273 Foundations of Parallel Computation
COMPSCI 274 Computational Geometry
COMPSCI 276 Cryptography
The 2xx courses are graduate level courses. Undergraduate enrollment in graduate level courses is based on instructor approval, according to https://eecs.berkeley.edu/resources/undergrads/cs/degree-reqs/enrollment-policy .
Note that L&S CS does not have direct admission. Students enter as L&S undeclared, and must earn a 3.30 GPA in COMPSCI 61A, 61B, 70 to be admitted to the L&S CS major. See https://eecs.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate/cs-ba .
Some math courses may also be of interest:
MATH 116 Cryptography
MATH 136 Incompleteness and Undecidability
MATH 170 Mathematical Methods for Optimization
MATH 172 Combinatorics
Go to http://theory.cs.berkeley.edu/ for more details. The Theory Lunch, Theory Seminar, and TGIF welcome anyone, grad and undergrad, any major. You can just show up and make friends.
The Simons Institute has a lot of workshops, talks, boot camps, … free of charge and for all students. My D (now a CS PhD student at UCB), when undergrad, got a research assistant position when attending a workshop at Simons and talking to one of a professors presenting at the workshop.
If you’re interested in CS theory, UC Berkeley is the right place, if not the best place.
You don’t have to be a CS major in L&S to take math courses. My D, an EECS, takes a lot of math course as an undergrad and as a PhD student.
Thank you both for the great information! @Pentaprism @ucbalumnus