<p>I am interested in learning more about the English Department at Berkeley. Does anyone know any good things about the professors, the classes, the programs, and the students? I've heard that the English department is strong. I would greatly appreciate if others can share their views and experiences. Thanks.</p>
<p>do an advanced search at ljseek.com for the lj community "ucberkeley". i sorta remember this being asked before there</p>
<p>R U kidding? Cal has the #1, #2, or #3 English department in the country, depending on who you are asking (a resident of Cambridge, New Haven, or...)</p>
<p>Go Bears!</p>
<p>can you elaborate why Cal has the best english department in the country?</p>
<p>its arguably one of the top 3...check the rankings...</p>
<p>English is ranked #1... check it out at <a href="http://www.usnews.com%5B/url%5D">www.usnews.com</a></p>
<p>For more info on English at Berkeley, go to <a href="http://www.english.berkeley.edu%5B/url%5D">www.english.berkeley.edu</a></p>
<p>English is famously good here at Berkeley and it's fairly popular. My roommate is a major (and also doing an education minor), and a friend is doing an English minor. They have both really loved their classes. english.berkeley.edu is a fairly helpful website if you want to be acquainted with the major and the course offerings. </p>
<p>There's the 45-series prereq you have to complete before you're allowed to declare. 45A is really old stuff (Canterbury Tales, etc), then 45B (Pride and Prejudice, etc), then 45C which is modern (Lolita, etc). The one thing I repeatedly here from all English majors is to not feel compelled to take these in order. A lot of people take 45A first, thinking you should start from the beginning, and the class seriously turns off a lot of people from continuing with the English major because it's not a very easy or engaging class (unless you really have a love for reading Beowulf). Most people I know like 45C the most, so you could try that class maybe your first semester to get a feel for the English Dept. </p>
<p>As for professors, there's really some fantastic ones. When you sign up for classes, check rateyourprofessors.com, and once you're on campus you'll hear the buzz on which profs are the best and you can also join the English Undergraduate Association. I heard Bishop is brilliant.</p>