<p>So here's a question. Does going to CalSo allow you to register earlier for classes than if you didn't go? And is it worth $300?</p>
<p>Yes and yes. Non Calso people have to wait much later to reg for classes; $300 covers food boarding and two days of tours and orientation - priceless information. and you make friends.</p>
<p>Ok, thank you mkapur - I guess I’ll be attending</p>
<p>Whoa. CalSo people have to wait until after orientation to register for classes?! That means that if I registered for a really late CalSo, I may not be able to get my first choice classes for the first semester?!</p>
<p>Registering for classes takes place on telebears.berkeley.edu during two phases. Phase I for freshman is during CalSO. For phase I, you can register for up to 10.5 units. </p>
<p>When I was a freshman I signed up for an early CalSO in June… although my Telebears appointments now are consistently later than those of everybody else. I wonder if having an early CalSO/Phase I for freshman year has anything to do with future Telebears appointments.</p>
<p>Does Phase I of Telebears open at the same time for every student? If so, then I would like to register for classes right when the portal opens - that way I would be able to get my first choice classes.</p>
<p>Phase I doesn’t happen at the same time for everyone… Can you imagine how overloaded the server would get if thousands of people tried to log on at the same time? </p>
<p>For CalSO, you’ll sign up during your orientation, and you’ll be assigned a Phase II day.</p>
<p>For every subsequent time you register, you’re assigned a day and time that you can access Telebears and register during Phase I and Phase II. Some people’s times are better than others, depending on class standing, the amount of units you’ve taken, and some randomization.</p>
<p>Just to make this clear: your Calso date determines the time of your Phase 1 of Telebears. In other words, sign up for an early one.</p>
<p>And @weebly, I had an early Calso as well, but I still generally have very early appointments compared to my classmates, so I doubt there’s any correlation like that.</p>
<p>What’s the difference between phase one and two? Can someone just explain to me what those are? And do we actually like submit the classes that we would like to take during our orientation? How are people’s experiences with getting first choice classes? My orientation is the latest date and I’m worried that I wont be able to get my first choice classes.</p>
<p>In order to increase fairness in access to classes, registration for each semester is broken into three phases. The key word is increase, as this helps but is not a complete solution to the challenges of fairness nor does it grant of ability to consistently register for the class you want at the time you want with the professor you want. </p>
<p>You can only register up to 10.5 units in phase I. That way, people prioritize the most important classes to them (both in an absolute scale and based on relative risk of it filling before phase 2). Every student has an opportunity to register in their highest priority classes before any student can fill out their schedule with additional units. </p>
<p>When phase I ends, phase II begins. This is when students register for additional courses to get up to their intended full load. The minimum workload is 12-13 units, varying by college, and the maximum is 19.5-20.5 again varying by college. There are exceptions by permission. </p>
<p>If a class does not have openings to confirm a place, it may have openings on the waitlist. If you waitlist a class, those units still count against the registration limits of the phase - for example, if you waitlist a 4 unit class in phase I, then you can only be confirmed in a max of 6.5 units. If you waitlist on two courses worth 7 units total in phase II, you can only be confirmed in 13.5 units. Waitlisting during phase I is relatively rare, but pretty common in phase II. </p>
<p>Once phase II ends, we enter the adjustment period which runs into the semester itself. This is where you can drop and add classes, clear from waitlists into a confirmed seat, and switch the section (days/hours). There tends to be activity in the waitlist up through about the first two weeks of school, but it could run longer since people can drop most classes without penalty as late as the fifth week of the semester.</p>
<p>You will create a list of your desired classes, both prior to arriving at CalSO and while there. You will get online and register for your phase I classes during the day. This will help you learn to deal with the practical issues. Some classes are scheduled in conflict with others, or at least some sections of a class are unavailable to you because they conflict with other classes that you are or will be registering for. In each case, you need backup ideas. At CalSO they try to help you through this process, working with you to have a set of possible classes and sections ready at hand for when you begin registering. </p>
<p>Yes, with a late CalSO you may not get all your first choice classes, certainly not your first choice section times. However, you learn to think differently about registration. It is not helpful to lock in a specific set of classes and times in your head before registering, as you are bound to miss on one or more of them. Instead, you learn to have a selection of classes and sections ready, in your own priority order, then you work your way through them. </p>
<p>Since there are many classes you will need to take before earning your degree, you adapt. If you started out intending to take a specific class to satisfy the history breadth requirement, but find it is full when you reach your registration appointment time, then you might instead book a class that will satisfy the American Cultures requirement, or a different pre-req for a major you think you might declare, or register in a class for a different breadth, or . . . With enough options planned in advance and a bit of flexibility, you will find that you CAN get what you need each semester, even if not the first choice plan you began the day with. This is how most students are able to graduate in four years, through this adaptive or flexible approach to the challenges of registration.</p>
<p>Cal assigns a telebears appointment time to you for each phase, a specific hour on some date, which blocks you from registering until you reach that time. You can go back later in phase I and change things, but once phase II begins you are again blocked until you reach your assigned hour slot for phase II. </p>
<p>The telebears assignment is loosely based on class level and total units and AP units, but has some random (and evil) behavior. Athletes, students in the official disabled students program (DSP), and the incoming regents scholars have the earliest times during each phase, then seniors, followed by juniors, and so forth down to freshmen. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that an entry class in some subject is not that likely to be taken by juniors and seniors, thus the typical freshman level courses are not all taken by those with the earlier times. However, there are classes that are so widely desired that they are the ones that fill the fastest - the pre-med/bio major courses like Chem 3A/3B and Bio 1A can be challenging to get into, for example - but most classes are not like that. Another category that fills fast are the more desirable times, from the typical college student perspective that 8AM is an evil hour best avoided totally. Frankly, many of the freshmen and sophomore level lecture classes are scheduled with early morning hours, so you may not even have a choice that involves a civilized time of day, but the discussion sections that go along with the class may have both good and bad times of day. Lastly, widespread beliefs that the German departments R&C classes are easier and grant higher grades leads to these filling right away, while the rhetoric/english/comparative lit department’s R&C classes are thought to be hardest and very critical graders, leads the German R&C to fill earliest.</p>
<p>Before I can schedule a telebears appointment, I need to go through academic orienteering. Is that true?</p>
<p>If you are an entering freshmen, your telebears phase I and II times for Fall 2011 are determined by the CalSO session you selected - that is the day you will register. </p>
<p>Academic Orienteering is preparation you will do in advance of arriving at CalSO - basically you learn a bit about the requirements, how to register, and develop a starting list of possible classes for your first semester.</p>
<p>When you arrive at CalSO, someone will act as an advisor and help you finalize your list. They may identify a particular sequence or some of the classes that are higher priority because they are necessary before you can take some subsequent courses, or flag requirements you missed. </p>
<p>When the appointed time comes, you will log in and do your registration, while you are at CalSO and can seek out help from advisors/helpers. </p>
<p>After this special first registration, you will see your telebears appointments for the upcoming semester show up on bearfacts, as they will for all other students simultaneously, on some date when the school runs the processing for the assignments. Bearfacts is the main system you access and it has a registration section and a telebears appointment tab under the registration section.</p>