<p>I was having a hard time deciding which GE cluster I wanted to be in but ultimately I decided on the Evolution of the Cosmos and Life one. It sounded really interesting to me, and I also get to knock off the GE requirements in Scientific Inquiry (I thought my AP scores in Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Science were going to get rid of my GE requirements but then I learned at Orientation it doesn't. Boo!)</p>
<p>Which cluster are you in or planning to enroll in?</p>
<p>already enrolled in evolution of the cosmos and the universe :)</p>
<p>i think it should be a really interesting class and definately a great way to get the ge's out of the way</p>
<p>biotechnology and society </p>
<p>it sounded more interesting to me than the cosmos one and i needed some way to get rid of some of my science GEs</p>
<p>i plan on applying for "inside the performing arts." hopefully it won't be full.</p>
<p>biotech and society lec 1A/disc 1A</p>
<p>in my opinion clusters look worser than taking 3 ge classes...so no cluster</p>
<p>Any explanation to that?</p>
<p>well ill be honest and say all i know about clusters is that they are year long courses that will take place of 3 GEs and your seminar requirements. Id much rather take three classes that will broaden my horizon and courses that will also help take care of my major requirements. Granted if the cluster topic is something that you are really into or something thats helps with your major take it. Id much rather take 3 separate classes, one being a seminar (if thats possible). Also, what if one quarter down, you discover you hate your cluster class? you're screwed....just my thoughts...its all realtive though</p>
<p>I believe if you end up dropping the cluster class with one quarter down that you still will get credit for the class but you won't receive the seminar and writing II credit. I'm not 100% certain though. Anyway in my opinion, the clusters seems like a great way to fulfill certain graduation requirements, and a lot of them sound really interesting. Obviously you shouldn't take them if you're not interested since they do seem like rigorous courses.</p>
<p>you can drop the custer at anytime. if you finish one quarter, you get the credit/units for that quarter. if you finish two quarters, you get credit.units for the two quarters. if the clusters dont interest you, then dont take them. i didnt find a lot of courses from the GE list that interested me, so i picked a cluster instead. you can always test it out if one does spark your interest...as our OCs said to us: you either enroll in a cluster for fall quarter, or you never get a cluster....its basically a one time opportunity.</p>
<p>i hope mines not as boring as it sounds....i picked 60A...the US 1960's politics, society and culture. (it was the only one that fit in my schedule).</p>
<p>another benefit to clusters (according to the OCs from my degree planner excercise): you get priority enrollment since clusters are at set times and days for the whole year; so they want to make sure you can get classes that wont clash with your cluster times. (i forgot the order, but its before the seniors i think)</p>
<p>Does taking a cluster cut down on the number of classes you have to take for GEs? For example, you can take one cluster (3 classes over the whole year) instead of, say, 5 GE classes.</p>
<p>Where can I find a list of clusters? Are they filling up quickly? Don't want to miss a one-time opp...</p>
<p>i'm taking Work,Labor and Social Injustice cause the teacher is supposed to be easy and only one fit my schedule.</p>
<p>Clusters save you about one quarter or maybe none.
They give you
3 GE's
Writing II
and WritingII/Seminar</p>
<p>but if you took this all separately..
Writing II actually also counts as a GE, so basically the only bonus is an extra WritingII/Seminar credit. Oh and honors credit i guess.</p>
<p>anyone thinking about rise of east asian urban culture? or interracial dynamics? or history of social thought?</p>
<p>east asia one is cancelled. interratial dynamics looks to be the most popular cuz its almost full...192/200. hist of social thought i heard was the toughest one (lots of reading).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.college.ucla.edu/ge/clusters/%5B/url%5D">http://www.college.ucla.edu/ge/clusters/</a></p>
<p>I'd say that the main benefits is not so much about the 3 GEs it satisfies. The completion of the Seminar, Writing II, Honors Credit (up to 15 units of ~44 needed), and half of the Honors Collegium requirement are the best parts of the deal, in my opinion.</p>
<p>i'm taking the interracial dynamics cluster</p>
<p>im in history of modern thought</p>
<p>taking cluster 60A...U.S. history 1963-1974...don't know how hard it is...but sounds pretty darn interesting to me =-)</p>
<p>^^ woo high five. see you in lecture! lol :p</p>
<p>which discussion are you doing?</p>