<p>I know the councelors at orientation will give some sort of direction in terms of what classes to take, but I'm just not sure where to start looking at the catalog. Can a current student or someone who's been let me know how to narrow down the hundreds of classes to the ones I should be looking at?</p>
<p>-Ender</p>
<p>pick a major, look at its lower division requirements, and enroll.</p>
<p>for your other class(es), pick another department that interests you, and enroll in a lower division intro class in that department.</p>
<p>you should by then have 3-4 classes picked this way.</p>
<p>there's hundreds of classes because at a large U they can support an amazing breadth of scholarship and teaching. If you're planning a major with a bunch of prerequisite classes (engineering, biology, etc) then most of your classes are going to be pretty much determined. But other than that, you need to filter thru and find out what sparks your interest. Having other people do the filtering for you puts their biases and preferences in place of your judgement, not something I'd recommend. </p>
<p>One thing I'd suggest, though, is create a "master plan". In 4 years you'll have completed a major, sure, but what else are you interested in learning in college? Make a road-map now and return to it each quarter, revising as necessary. Maybe you want to study abroad. Or take literature classes. Or delve into history. Learn about physics in a physics for non-majors class. And so on.</p>
<p>Or look at the GE list and take some GEs.</p>
<p>If you have a major, check out some of the pre-reqs on the department website.</p>
<p>Decide if you want to start your foreign language requirement if you haven't already placed out of it (or anticipate that you will).</p>
<p>Again, look at the GEs, check out the ones that interest you most, consider the clusters, etc.</p>
<p>Look at the registrar (registrar.ucla.edu) and check out what's even been offered this quarter and what classes are still open.</p>
<p>Read up on some of the Fiat Lux seminars to get idea of which one you might want to take for a fun, light one-unit class.</p>