<p>what's the difference, & which one is better? i stumbled upon this wonder while reading the "what to do before orientation" thing for calso</p>
<p>also, i noticed when choosing, for example, a math 1a class, there are lecture classes & discussion classes... do i need to pick each a lec & dis class?</p>
<p>freshman seminars -- official classes taught by faculty, eligible for letter grades</p>
<p>decal - classes taught by fellow students, eligible only for pass/no pass credit</p>
<p>For classes that have both lecture and discussion, you indeed must register for both a lecture section and a related discussion section.</p>
<p>oh wow okay!</p>
<p>thats what i thought
thanks a lot!</p>
<p>you can't sign up for decals until the school starts</p>
<p>check DeCal</a> : Welcome! for detailed information, syllabi, etc. about the decals. currently, you can look at some of the spring 08 decals offered.</p>
<p>thanks
also, when we sign up for our lecture classes, we sign up for our discussion classes at the same time right? or do we pick discussion ones later?</p>
<p>Discussions and labs are attached to the lecture sections. The only exceptions are if the lab itself has a lecture section like Chem 3AL.</p>
<p>Info on freshman seminars:
Freshman</a> & Sophomore Seminars at UC Berkeley
Apparently, some you can take for a grade, some are P/NP.</p>
<p>These are amazing opportunities.</p>
<p>DeCal seems like the dumbest idea ever. If you're paying tens of thousands of dollars for your education, wouldn't you rather take a class from a professor with years of education and experience, rather than a person two years your senior.</p>
<p>bartleby, kids at berkeley are amazing
one of the greatest things about college is learning from your peers
maybe its just not for you...</p>
<p>Oh, it definitely is a great thing. I just don't see why you need a class to learn from them. I learn from some of my friends and acquaintances just by talking to them when we hang out, do lunch or dinner, or in classroom discussions. I've been exposed to nuances of Kirkegaard's philosophy and Marxist theory by friends I've talked to that I would not otherwise have learned about.</p>
<p>But at the end of the day, I can't take seriously a system that needs to warn on its front page that teachers may not accept sexual favors in return for grades, and I can't take seriously a system that grants a person without any formal credentials power over me. The very beauty of learning from your peers in the model I described is that it's just learning for the sake of expanding your intellectual horizons - your attitude won't show up on any transcript.</p>
<p>Perhaps just take the class for the sake of taking the "class"? Like you said, think of a decal as a series of conversations with friends - to "expand your intellectual horizons". </p>
<p>Plus, I don't think decals are considered real "classes" - I bet they're just fun, stimulating forums . Could be wrong though.</p>
<p>Jeez man, chill out. Hopefully once you come to Berkeley, the latent haze in the air will calm you down. Anyways, DeCals are a nice chill way to learn things you'd never learn if you had to dig up a professor or something to teach them. You can learn stuff like Chess, how to solve a Rubik's cube, read and discuss glorified slash (<em>cough</em>darkfantasies<em>cough</em>) or learn to play Starcraft.</p>
<p>Oh, dude, don't worry about me; the Cali green has been keeping me calm through most of high school. ;)</p>