<p>Ok so I am an international student who went through the Academic Orienteering, and it was very vague on the AH&I requirement page as they said "the purpose the requirement is to give US RESIDENTS a solid background knowledge on US history..." or something like that. And at the bottom of the page they said this "For internationals: If you have accumulated at least 90.5 semester units (senior status) and hold a current, non-immigrant visa (F is the most common) and an I-94 departure record, you may ask to have your AH&I requirements waived by presenting your visa and I-94 to the Office of the Registrar in 120 Sproul Hall before the semester in which you will graduate." </p>
<p>So what does this mean? Does it mean that I can go through 90.5 units without taking the two courses that satisfy the American History requirement and the American Institution requirement, and then waive it before I graduate? Because God help me if I have to take two more courses that I am absolutely not interested in on top of the gajillion breadth requirements that are already jam packed into my 3 year schedule (I am a physics major looking to graduate in 3 years lol). </p>
<p>Also, after the first year, do internationals get the same tele-bears phase I & phase II dates as everyone else? It seems unfair that they charge us so much tuition and we can't even pick courses that we want because some of us can't attend calso. Furthermore, how are some of the spring courses filled already? I thought tele-bears only allows you to enroll in the directly upcoming semester (fall). I am finding it very hard to plan out my schedule as all of the ones I am interested in are filling up very quickly. Should I just give up trying to graduate in 3 years? I thought that physics was on the lighter side compared to engineering/pre-med but this pressure of fighting for classes is proving me wrong... help me please</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the first half of your post. So someone else might be able to help with that.</p>
<p>But, when you go to pick classes on Telebears for Spring, your appointments will be ‘like everyone else’ in that they will depend on how many credits you have, (to a certain extent) AP credit, and randomization. Telebears appointments in your future won’t have anything to do with when/if you went to CalSO. Also, what makes you think any Spring courses are full? The schedule of classes for Spring isn’t even out yet. If you’re looking at the online schedule of classes, the stuff under ‘Spring 2011’ is from this past spring semester, and does not reflect the upcoming Spring 2012.</p>
<p>ok, thank you so much. I was pretty stressed out before from trying to figure my way through this process from scratch, but now I’ve settled down. Yes you are right the spring courses are referring to this year’s not next year’s.</p>
<p>So based on that information, I have another question. THe R&C class I want to get into, German R5A, is obviously full as a month of calso’s have passed. And that class is basically the only class I want to do to fulfill the requirement as I heard it’s the easiest (none of the other courses interest me, unless any of you guys know of an interesting course lol). English reading/writing is really my weak spot as so I want to avoid courses where there is a lot of book reading and writing essays. Should I just give up trying to get into a good/easy R&C class for fall and try to get into it for spring of this year, as then it’s going to be fair for everyone to enroll? Do they even offer first part R&C courses during spring? Thanks.</p>
<p>re: AH&I, yes, you can just go on without it until it’s time to graduate.</p>
<p>I do think that it’s annoying for internationals (and out of staters) who pay so much more and yet have the worst incoming freshman Phase 1 times.</p>
<p>For Spring enrollment, you’re probably looking at the Spring 2011 schedule, which has already passed. The Spring 2012 schedule won’t be out til October or so.</p>
<p>As for R&C courses, I really don’t think you can avoid intensive reading and writing. All R&C courses make you write lots of essays. The grade distribution really depends on the GSI. That said, I have heard that you should really avoid English, Comp Lit and Rhetoric courses, whereas any R5 course is somewhat easier.</p>
<p>If you try to wait for Spring, it won’t be much better, because even when it’s “fair” for everyone to enroll, as a freshman you will still be in the last spot and the classes will still be filled. I don’t think the spots filled up in CalSO. Rather, I think sophomores and juniors who still haven’t fulfilled the requirement quickly snapped up slots in April, because from now on you have to be done with it by soph year. Try for another R&C class. If you’re going to be picky as a freshman, good luck with filling your schedule.</p>
<p>P.S. Physics in 3 years is no biggie among the internationals. You’re not even doing a double 
My advice is to be ready to attend classes at unpopular times of the day (8-10am, 4-6pm). Also, have tons of alternatives for your breadth courses - you will almost never get into the class you want in your first few semesters here.</p>
<p>^ why is it unfair? The fact that they pay more doesn’t mean that they deserve better phase 1 times.</p>
<p>Thanks for that info, now I know that I can’t be so picky with classes. And that is reassuring to hear that physics in 3 years isn’t that uncommon; depending on how hard i’m willing to study, I might even throw a math minor in there :P</p>
<p>and marix123, I didnt’ say that internationals deserve <em>better</em> phase 1 times because we pay more, I’m just saying it should be fair enrolling times for everyone, regardless of one’s ability to attend calso or not. Anyways, this comment was just to vent out some of my frustrations of finding good available classes</p>
<p>If berkeley asks for courses that aren’t offered in your country, will that affect your application?</p>