<p>CS 3 and 61B are the lower-div CS courses offered in lab format, and comparing 3L, which I took last fall, to regular 61B, I must say that I heavily prefer the lab-based format.</p>
<p>All CS courses have labs. Lab format basically means that there is an online instructional system, UCWISE, that walks you through each lab and checks your code. UCWISE is a complete educational system.</p>
<p>Non-lab format means that you'll be doing labs off printed instructions from your course reader, and your TA will be going around the lab to check off every student in his section. This is a very time-consuming process, and in my 61B labs, my TAs often take almost the entire two hours checking people off, leaving little time for students to get individual help. If you finish early, you also have to wait until you get checked off so that you could obtain the necessary credit. You must do all the compiling and error-checking yourself, as there is no UCWISE-equivalent to do it for you.</p>
<p>The final advantage is that lab-based classes allot one extra hour per week to labs, and that time is directly taken from lecture. So, instead of 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of lab a week, you'll have two hours of lecture and four hours of lab per week. This is actually good, because CS, like driving, can only be learned by doing it. All of the background theory (which professors tend to focus on) can only help you so much on exams, when you need to apply what you've learned to write actual programs. What's taken from lecture should be on UCWISE, too.</p>
<p>Bottom-line: take lab-based format (L suffix) courses whenever possible. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>For seniors, I have a question. Here's my tentative schedule for next semester:</p>
<p>Physics 7A
CS 61BL
Math 1B
Chem 4B</p>
<p>Is that a doable workload (cliche, cliche)? Or am I doing too many technicals for one sem? Should I stick/replace something with a humanities, y'think?</p>
<p>For reference, I'm Engineering - Undeclared, and my current workload is:</p>
<p>Math 1A
Chem 4A
CS 61A (heart this class)
French R1A</p>
<p>I'm doing the Math 1 series, because Berkeley doesn't recognize my (international/Indian) educational system. -.- But I'm not complaining - great GPA booster. =D</p>
<p>Math 1B can be very rough. A lot of people do not pass the class despite having done just fine in 1A. You should heed our advice and avoid it like the flu.</p>
<p>61B is a notch harder than 61A and carries a much more intensive workload. Expect three substantial (20-60 hour projects), and weekly 2-6 hour homework assignments which are graded on correctness and are assigned alongside the projects. While 61A starts off rather slowly, 61B dives into Java immediately ("head first," as the textbook's title suggests) and you're expected to learn the language and all of its complications by the sixth week or so. Clearly, Java is not Scheme; even students who had background in the language find the course extremely fast-paced.</p>
<p>I don't know much about Chem 4B, since I'm not a chem major, but I did take 1A and it seems that much of the material is comparable. Why don't you enroll in the 1 series if you're not in the College of Chemistry?</p>
<p>Physics 7A is introductory, but not easy. If you want to earn a good grade, expect to be spending a <em>lot</em> of time doing extra problems from the worksheets and Portable TA. This class is very big on understanding the material -- you'll need to be able to apply what you know to solve problems you may have never seen before.</p>
<p>(a) By the time I got to apply for it in Phase II, Chem 1 couldn't fit into my schedule,
(b) I'm leaning towards Chemical Engineering, and
(c) I love the course.</p>
<p>How do I avoid the Math 1B course? I mean, I do realise I should, but I don't know how. :( And I don't know if I should, since it's a prereq.</p>
<p>Thanks for the perspicacious advice though. I think I'll postpone CS61B to a later sem, and take an R1B course instead. I would like to finish the R&C requirements early.</p>
<p>Did you score a 5 on the AP Calculus (BC) exam? If so, you could start off with the 5X series (53, 54, 55). I and most other engineering students I know do just that.</p>
<p>That's just it, Student - I didn't take the AP exams because I can't. T<em>T I'm from an entirely different system of education (the Indian system). I'm from out of the country, and they won't recognize my Math qualifications. T</em>T</p>
<p>I hear terrible things about 1b. Is it seriously as menacing as people make it out to be. i like to think I am pretty good at math...but then again so are most people at cal. I guess I'll find out next semester.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does anyone know anything about the workload of EE20? I've heard that they now don't have a final....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It used to be worse, IMO, but Ayazifar is cleaning up the course and making it more organized from what I've heard. 4 midterms, no final, one problem set and lab per week. A moderate course in my opinion.</p>
<p>
[quote]
According to some released admissions data I browsed through a few months ago, EECS acceptance rate hovers around 10%.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Can u please share the admission data? Where did u find it? i searched and searched, but can't find anything that's based on major.
I don't think i'll apply to something as low as 10%.</p>