College of Engineering Questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>For students who are/were in CoE at Cal:</p>

<p>-How many APs did you take? What AP credit did you receive?
-What classes did you take freshman year?
-How did/are you satisfying Humanities and Social Studies Electives? Any suggestions?
-Is the Freshman Summer Session at Cal worth it or would it be better to take classes at a local CC?
-Did you take any Pass/Fail classes? Any suggestions as to what to take?
-Any classes to avoid?
-Anyone take Calc BC and do Math 1B?</p>

<p>I'm planning to major in MechE and I'd really appreciate any imput that can be provided. I'm pretty confused by the whole Humanities and Social Studies requirement and the R&C courses requirement.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>An afterthought:</p>

<p>Are there a lot of courses at 8 AM?</p>

<p>I am REALLY bad at waking up (thank god my first period teacher is lenient on tardies because I'm late almost every day).</p>

<p>and does anyone have a 3 day weekend in CoE?</p>

<p>just curious, thanks.</p>

3

<p>bump</p>

<p>desperate for answers. :(</p>

4

<p>Don't count on 3 day weekends your first two years as an engineer. the last two years get better, at least for me. i can actually make it so that i have tuesdays and thursday completely free.</p>

5

<p>Not in the college of engineering but pretty familiar with it so I'll try to answer your questions:</p>

<p>
[quote]
-How many APs did you take? What AP credit did you receive?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Varies from person to person. Some people took AP physics so they skip out of 7A. Some people took Calc BC so they skip out of Math 1A/1B.</p>

<p>
[quote]
-What classes did you take freshman year?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Also varies from person to person, and especially from major to major. Some popular 1st year classes engineers take are: Math 1B, Math 53, Math 54, Physics 7A, Physics 7B, Engineering 77 (now Engineering 7), Engineering 28, Chem 1A.</p>

<p>
[quote]
-How did/are you satisfying Humanities and Social Studies Electives? Any suggestions?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Pick whichever one you like. Read the cataloug, ask around.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Is the Freshman Summer Session at Cal worth it or would it be better to take classes at a local CC?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You really don't need to take classes during the summer at all. Relax.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Did you take any Pass/Fail classes? Any suggestions as to what to take?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Most courses can be taken for a grade or for P/NP. Some courses are only offered as P/NP. Thus, all courses (to my knowledge) can be taken Pass/No Pass. However, for your required courses they want to see letter grades.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Any classes to avoid?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Hard ones. They happen to be the classes required for engineers so you can't avoid them.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Anyone take Calc BC and do Math 1B?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Depends on the score on Calc BC, but yes many people do that.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
-Is the Freshman Summer Session at Cal worth it or would it be better to take classes at a local CC?

[/quote]

I'm REALLY interested in this question as well. My friend HEAVILY advised me to do the summer session because he said that it'll help me get used to the campus/college life faster, get to know professors (smaller classes during summer sessions), meet friends right away, and start the year out ahead of most people (in the sense that I'll have already been used to "college life," while most other Freshman will still be adjusting and stuff). However, the EECS student panel at Cal Day said that we shouldn't do summer sessions and that we should REALLY cherish our summer before getting into EECS.</p>

7

<p>why wouldn't you wanna enjoy your LAST summer of freedom???</p>

<p>summers during and after college is going to be filled with more summer classes, internships, job, etc.
I would say, just enjoy your last bit of freedom before you come. You'll get to study your ass off and adjust/meet ppl once you're here for fall:).</p>

8

<p>my freshman year:
fall: math 53, physics 7b, stat 134, french r1a, chem 1a
spring: e77, e45, math 54, econ 1, comp lit 41D (satisfies R1b)</p>

<p>I would avoid Math 1b and physics 7a from the stories i've heard</p>

<p>how i'm satisfying humanities requirement
R1A,R1B, econ 1, econ 100a, econ 100b, easy AC class</p>

<p>summer session? I'd wait till after your first year...enjoy your last free summer</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
I would avoid Math 1b and physics 7a from the stories i've heard

[/quote]

Shoot, what stories have you heard? I'm going to have to take Math 1B because I'm only taking the Calculus AB exam next week. At Cal Day the EECS student panel said that Math 1A/1B classes tend to be HUGE and consequently REALLY mess up your GPA :(</p>

10

<p>^ yea..but only if youre at the bottom half of the curve..</p>

11

<p>Well I'm taking the BC exam next week, so I'm assuming I should just go to Math 53?</p>

<p>Are you guys on pace to graduate in 4 years?</p>

12

<p>Math 1A is supposedly very easy, while Math 1B is very hard. I wouldn't worry about class sizes unless you need someone to hold your hand.</p>

13

<p>It's not the class size that makes it hard...it's the curve. I heard math 1b allows 13% of the kids to get any kind of A. I believe you need a 5 on Calc BC to pass out of both 1a and 1b, but if you do pass out, I totally recommend it. Of course, there are various head gsi's who also assign harsh curves. Math 53 last semester assigned 10% As and 5% A-'s, and I was blessed to have taken the course that semester.</p>

<p>Physics 7a is a lot of work. A lot of kids on my floor are taking it, and every Tuesday night they stay up late because homework sets are due Tuesday nights. I think the workload is a lot more intense than 7b, which I did almost no work for except cramming the night before.</p>

14

<p>From the website:
It is recommended that students with a score of 3 or 4 contact a non-major advisor in the Math Department or consider taking Math 1B.</p>

<p>So you can still pass out anyway?</p>

15

<p>bump</p>

<p>anyone know?</p>

16

<p>-How many APs did you take? What AP credit did you receive?</p>

<p>French 4
Calc BC 5
US History 5
World History 5
Statistics 4
Chemistry 5
Physics B 5
Comp Sci 5
Econ 5</p>

<p>-What classes did you take freshman year?</p>

<p>The only classes of interest for a MechE are of those that I took:</p>

<p>Anthro 2AC (really easy)
Math 110</p>

<p>-How did/are you satisfying Humanities and Social Studies Electives? Any suggestions?</p>

<p>I'd hunt around for stuff that you enjoy. There's such a range of courses that you can take that you can use what you do best in to satisfy these reqs. Anthro 2
Soc 3
English 135
are all classes that I'd recommend because they're pretty easy and satisfy a wide range of things (multiple categories).</p>

<p>-Is the Freshman Summer Session at Cal worth it or would it be better to take classes at a local CC?</p>

<p>Don't take classes. Prepare for your next semester's classes by webcasting and studying the textbook.</p>

<p>-Did you take any Pass/Fail classes? Any suggestions as to what to take?</p>

<p>Only class I P/Fed was EE301 because it was the only option. I'd say to save your P/Fs for classes that you're not doing well in by the middle of the sem (and aren't required courses). It's a good backup in case you picked a hard breadth that you won't do well in. It's also good for semesters in which you have a heavier load from your techs. I haven't used them because I find these breadth courses easy GPA boosters.</p>

<p>-Any classes to avoid?</p>

<p>Weeders (maybe). The reason is that weeders teach you fundamental knowledge that lays the foundation for upper div courses. Community colleges and APs can't prepare you as well as Berkeley's lower div weeders. I'd say to take then even if you've taken the APs because you'll have already been exposed to the stuff. Thus, it should be easier for you.</p>

17

<p>Thanks for the response!</p>