<p>Hi, I'm entering as a freshmen this fall and I need to submit my courses to the CoC by May 20.. not entirely sure which courses to take for ChemE major.</p>
<p>This is what I have right now:
C96
Chem 4A
Maths 1A
English R1A</p>
<p>What do you think, and should add a breadth elective?</p>
<p>The suggested schedule for Chemical Engineering majors on page 15 of the [2010-2011</a> College of Chemistry Guide](<a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/publications/chem_10_11.pdf]2010-2011”>http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/publications/chem_10_11.pdf) lists a breadth elective in first semester. Page 38 lists eligible breadth courses. </p>
<p>If you have AP Calculus credit, see the [Math</a> department recommendations](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/courses_AP.html]Math”>http://math.berkeley.edu/courses_AP.html) about which Math course to take. If you can take a more advanced course than Math 1A, you will free up space for additional technical, breadth, or free electives later on, and be able to take Physics 7A and 7B a semester earlier.</p>
<p>If you have either AP English with a score of 4, you do not need to take an R&C A course like English R1A. If you have AP English Literature with a 5, you do not need to take R&C A or B, unless you are double majoring with something in the College of Engineering (in which case you still need to take R&C B). Other AP credit for the College of Chemistry is on page 42 of the guide.</p>
<p>I’d highly recommend adding a breadth course, to prevent overloading in your 2nd,3rd, and 4th semesters.</p>
<p>Hi I’m also going to be a ChemE freshman next year too. </p>
<p>I think a lot of it will be determined based off of the amount of AP units you can get, the link above lists all of and what you can skip with the AP tests so you should plan around that. I personally plan on getting rid of my AC requirements early on and use it as a easier class to ease my way into college.</p>
<p>Also, it depends on if you wanna ease into classes at Cal since I’ve heard from friends its completely different in difficulty compared to high school…</p>
<p>My planned schedule looks like this</p>
<p>ChemE C96
Math 53
Physics 7a
Chem 4a
Music 26AC</p>
<p>
lolol thats a really hard schedule. switch physics or math for an R&C course.</p>
<p>If 4A’s the way it was when I took it, that’s a good schedule if and only if the 53 and 7A professors are known for being easy, or if you’ve already got a good grasp of mechanics and some experience with multivariable.</p>
<p>If you want to do well in 4A, you’re going to want to go to a LOT of office hours, and every possible review/optional section (usually Wednesday nights, every week).</p>
<p>(Quote : TYPICALASIAN</p>
<p>I personally plan on getting rid of my AC requirements early on and use it as a easier class to ease my way into college.)</p>
<p>What do you mean by this? Can you explain how to do this? I am also an entering Freshman in the fall.</p>
<p>He’s talking about taking Music 26AC in the fall so he gets the requirement out of the way.</p>
<p>Honestly, if you’re doing Chem. E., I don’t think there really is a way to ease yourself into Cal unless you start your serious coursework in the Spring (presumably via FPF). If 4A’s on your schedule and it’s anything like it was when I took it (and I know it’s at least taught by the same guy), your fall is going to be a lot of work regardless of the rest of your schedule.</p>
<p>TypicalAsian’s schedule involves weekly assignments for at least 3 classes, near-weekly formal lab reports for 4A, and weekly quizzes in 53. I know that may not sound like an exceptional amount, but bear in mind that each homework assignment will take from 3-6 hours, and that you’re essentially boned in 4A unless you attend a LOT of the help sessions (e.g. office hours) held outside of lecture*.</p>
<p>*Again, unless it got a LOT easier than it was when I took it.</p>
<p>Expanding on that - all Berkeley undergrads have to take an AC course, for…well, no particularly salient reason.</p>
<p>I actually heard that the College of Chemistry doesn’t offer spring admits at all during admission. So, if you started planning for anything in CoC… Chem 4A is a must haha.</p>
<p>I hope I have a good enough grasp of physics to handle it. I was actually contemplating on skipping Physics 7A with my AP credit, but after checking the course listings… 7B is already full for the fall semester sigh. I actually picked this schedule after my friends that have taken these courses, except Chem 4A, thinks its manageable. Maybe thats why… they didn’t take Chem 4A haha. I wanted to get an R&C but most of the ones I’m interested in were already filled up.</p>
<p>As jonnosferatu said, the AC requirement is an American Cultures requirement that must be fulfilled for all students on the Berkeley campus. Any class that has the ending of AC means that it will fulfill this requirement.</p>
<p>ChemE C96
Math 53
Physics 7a
Chem 4a
Music 26AC</p>
<p>I’m not sure how much work ChemEC96 is, but from what I hear this is the standard schedule… math + physics + chemistry + humanities</p>
<p>Most science/engineering majors take 3 technicals / semester (at least for the first year or two when we’re trying to get rid of lower division courses)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Since many Chemistry and Chemical Engineering courses (including Chemistry 4A and 4B) are offered only fall or only spring, and neither FPF nor community colleges offer Chemistry 4A or equivalent (community colleges typically offer Chemistry 1A equivalent courses), a spring admit to the College of Chemistry would have a hard time graduating on time.</p>
<p>As far as difficulty of courses and schedules, there are a few different angles:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Difficulty of the material. Some engineering and science majors find technical courses easier than many humanities and social studies courses.</p></li>
<li><p>Workload. Courses with labs, heavy computer programming, or big term projects can be substantially more work than other courses. For example, chemistry, physics, or engineering courses with labs can be much more work than math courses, even of the same number of units. Humanities and social studies courses with big term papers or large amounts of reading can be unexpected more work than anticipated.</p></li>
<li><p>Grading. Some courses may not that hard to get high grades in due to generous curves, while others may be harder to get high grades in even if the material is easier or the workload is less.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
</p>
<p>Honestly, if you CAN AP out of Physics 7A, it might be worth a look unless you have a good professor. 3-4 technicals per semester is something I do/have done and don’t find exceptionally stressful, but 4A is (or at least was) a very different beast. There’s nothing wrong with taking one less class your opening semester and then making it up over the summer (very easy to do with Physics, and possibly a better choice given how terrible most of Cal’s physics professors are).</p>
<p>ChemE C96, Math 53, Physics 7a, Chem 4a, Music 26AC: more or less the same exact classes I took in first semester at Berkeley in addition to some arduous extracurricular activities. </p>
<p>Compared to the upper-division technical courses I took this semester, those classes listed above were simply boring and tedious. It is certainly not as difficult as the classes you have to take in the future as a ChemE, but I have to say it might be too much for some incoming freshman; the material is simply un-interesting. Take it at your own risk; you should not underestimate any of the classes above except ChemE C96 and maybe some Music 26AC as long as you attend all of the lectures and stay awake.</p>
<p>I’ll give you an advice from my past experience; take Math 53 Frenkel and watch his lectures through webcast or YouTube instead of actually attending it. I also had his 3:30-5:00 lectures back in 2009 and always found myself sleeping. He gives out fairly easy tests and grades generously too. Take that advantage while you spent majority of your time on Chem 4A.</p>
<p>Just don’t think like “Oh man I wanna be a good student as usual who gets straight A’s and I should attend all lectures”. This thinking applies no more in Berkeley as there are people who come to all the lectures and get crappy grade while skipping most of the lectures and still get A+ as you study and understand on your own.</p>
<p>Definitely second Frenkel for 53.</p>
<p>Auroux for Math 53!</p>
<p>I definitely second Auroux! I could not imagine a better professor.</p>
<p>Damn, these guys have good options. For me it was Frenkel or nothing, iirc.</p>
<p>I’m a current chemE major and TypicalAsian’s schedule looks solid. Chem 4a is going to be a lot of work and physics 7a isn’t too bad if you’ve already taken mechanics in high school. Also math 53 is fun to learn, especially with Auroux as your prof. And any humanities is easy as pie after having to deal with chemE courses.</p>
<p>One thing I recommend is taking Engineering 7 and math 54 before your fall semester of your second year. You’ll need those skills when you start taking chemE courses like chemE 140 in fall of sophomore year.</p>
<p>Congrats on being accepted as a chemical engineering major. You’ve got some tough times ahead, but it’ll be rewarding.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I’d say that E7 is strictly necessary before you hit 140, but I’d definitely recommend taking it concurrently or sooner based on talking to my Chem E. friends. Matlab is an insanely useful piece of software for these applications.</p>