Choosing classes as an incoming Freshman

Hi, I’m currently in the process of choosing classes for the upcoming semester and completing the Golden Bear Advising final assignment. First off, I didn’t get such a good enrollment time (12:20 pm) and I’m stressing out about getting the classes I’m hoping to take. Do freshmen ever get most of the classes they want? How often do people not get any of their first choice classes? Also, how do you consider all of the possibilities/conflicts in your schedule if you don’t even know if you’ll get any of the classes you’ve chosen?
Also, I have seven classes in my shopping cart right now (just to be safe lol). If the discussion section times I’ve chosen fill up, will it automatically place me in a different one, or do I choose one while enrolling? Also, if that is the case, do we just have to figure out on the spot if there are any schedule conflicts?
Sorry for sounding frenzied and clueless! I’m just very lost. Any help and clarification would be appreciated!

Well, it depends on what classes you are trying to get. Even sophomore and juniors don’t get into all classes they want.

You just need to plan it all out the night before enrollment.

It will not automatically place you into a different discussion; you will have the option to select another one.

CalCentral will tell you if there is a schedule conflict.

It helps to have several scenarios planned out, especially if you are in a popular major. It also helps to be flexible with the days and times you are willing to actually take classes. D got all of the important classes she needed, but she was also willing to go to 8:00 a.m.'s and Friday classes; some kids aren’t so motivated.

What’s a little bit weird about discussions is that my kid is trying to take Math 1B on TTh 8am but wants the discussion also on TTh, say later in the afternoon. But the semi-automated college planning scheduler won’t allow it. It chooses MWF as discussion, and vice versa - if he chooses the MWF 12:00pm lecture, only then will it choose the TTh discussions. I hope there’s a way to override that when it comes time to actually register.

@ProfessorPlum168 This doesn’t make sense. Are these two different Math 1B classes, ie with different professors?There is usually not different lecture times for the same class. I’m thinking your child is looking at a one class with TTh 8 am lectures and MWF discussion, and also looking a different professor who has class with MWF lecture and TTh discussions.

@ProfessorPlum168 Yes, now that I’m looking at the schedule of classes, there are two Math 1B classes as you can see here. Different professors, different class times.

https://classes.berkeley.edu/search/class/Math%25201B?f%5B0%5D=im_field_term_name%3A789&retain-filters=1

I think the reason the lectures and discussions are scheduled on different days is to expose the student to the subject matter throughout the week (vs. stacking everything into a MWF or TTH). My D has taken 3 semesters of math, and they were spread across the week so she had either lecture or discussion every day. Not necessarily true for other classes like bio or physics, but maybe the math department has found that their method of forcing the “every day” schedule is more successful.

I wanted to be hands off on things but I finally decided to delve into things and see what the actual times were for that particular class. It turns out that for one of the sections, the MWF 12pm one, most of the discussion sections were already closed and only a few were left. Whereas most of the discussion sections for the TTh 8:00am section was still open, of which there were a couple of late afternoon TTh ones open as well as a bunch of MWF ones. I guess I also was thinking that the discussion groups were tied to the class itself as opposed to the class/section.

The 8am section of a course tends to fill up more slowly than other sections.

@ProfessorPlum168 How/where are you seeing which sections are open or closed. For me I just chose my classes then got a schedule generated for me, which I imported to my cart.

If you do the old fashioned route by not using the planner, ie browsing via classes.berkeley.edu, each class will show the number of seats available and the number left, plus other stats.

Do freshmen ever get most of the classes they want? There might be enrollment dates before pr after yours, like the day before or after, so that also makes a difference. If it is late, you might stress, so keep an eye on your discussion sections a few hours before to see how filled up they are. If you click on the blue numbers in your cart, you can switch the discussion or lecture to a different time from a long list with several pages. Also, make sure to check the box labeled waitlist if full on the information page that pops up when you import or change discussion times. It’s on the right side, middle of the page but slightly up.
How often do people not get any of their first choice classes? Yeah, depends on your enrollment time.
Also, how do you consider all of the possibilities/conflicts in your schedule if you don’t even know if you’ll get any of the classes you’ve chosen? You spend a lot of time on the colorful planner until it looks pretty. It won’t let you enroll in classes that have conflicts.
Also, I have seven classes in my shopping cart right now (just to be safe lol). If the discussion section times I’ve chosen fill up, will it automatically place me in a different one, or do I choose one while enrolling? You have to choose a new one. Once again, click on the blue number after you’ve imported and there’ll be a list of other times and whether they’re full/waitlisted/open. Don’t forget to WAITLIST IF FULL.
The information page includes how many seats are available and how long the waitlist is. About 10% of people get off the waitlist. Labs you will know the first week whether you get off or not. They’re hardcore and have a lot of rules about waitlists. Upper division, small classes, classes without discussions, breadth classes if you sit on the waitlist long enough they’ll probably let you off eventually, especially if you email the professor a lot. Big intro classes with discussion are probably pretty close to 10% but discussions get a bit complicated when you’re on the waitlist. With waitlists, a lot of people give up pretty quickly. If you sit in the class for a while, the waitlist shortens and you have a better chance of getting in.

Aargh what is my kid doing wrong? Trying to add Math 1B TTh 8am-9:30am with discussion TTh 12:30pm-2pm. The discussion time clearly shows up as being available on the website. Yet that combo doesn’t exist when trying to add, and it doesn’t show the discussion as disabled.