<p>Hey everybody! :) . So, my CalSo is this Monday and I've finally broken down my schedule to these classes. I just want an honest opinion on whether the classes are manageable, any personal experiences or stories you have or heard from others and whether I'm on the right track. I'm intending to major in Public Health and Economics. I know both are capped,so my chances are slim, so my alternative major is Integrative Biology. But, I really want Public Health :) .</p>
<p>Schedule:
History of Art R1B ( Could possibly change to Slavic. Still confused about that, so please give any suggestions :) )
Math 16A (I know I need Math1A for Integrative Biology, but my calculus teacher wasn't really good and I don't think i
learned much despite earning an A in the class as this teacher curved a lot,so I'm starting at Math 16A )
Chem 1A (With Professor Arnold. I heard he is ok. Did anybody have him? )
Chem 1AL (I think i have my lecture with Professor Marsden)
Sociology 1</p>
<p>Would it be correct that your have AP credit for R&C A but not other subjects?</p>
<p>Take Math 1A instead of 16A if you want to keep open the option of integrative biology.</p>
<p>For math placement information, you can try this placement test on precalculus concepts needed for calculus:
<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam”>http://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam</a></p>
<p>In addition, you can try the old final exams for Math 1A to see what material you know from high school calculus:
<a href=“Exams | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley”>Exams | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley;
<p>You can go to the department web sites of departments offering R&C courses to see if they list instructors and reading lists. Choose an R&C course with readings that look interesting to you. Keep the syllabus and reading list for future reference in case medical schools question your R&C courses that are not in the English department.</p>
<p>No Economics 1 if you are interested in majoring in economics?</p>
<p>^ Actually, I was thinking about doing Economics 1 in Spring if possible? And thank you so much for information. I’ll really try to look into it. The thing is most of the R&C courses I liked are already full according to Schedule Builder 
. So, I’m stuck between deciding on Slavic and History of Art. </p>
<p>Should I postpone R&C for a semester and just take it in the Spring?</p>
<p>Note that the economics major just needs a 3.0 in its prerequisites for admission, so it is not super-difficult to get into. Certainly, it is not as difficult to get into the economics major as it is to make a medical-school-acceptable GPA.</p>
<p>^ Thank you and you’re right. I really do need a good g.p.a to pass classes. Let’s just see how everything works out :)</p>
<p>I strongly recommend Chem 1A in the spring. In the fall, Chem 1A has nearly 1,000 students taking the class and there’s too much competition and it’s more cut-throat grade distribution. You can check it out yourself on schedulebuilder.berkeley.edu to see the grade distributions in the past and there’s a noticeable difference between the fall and the spring.</p>
<p>If you are interested in Public Health, then you should take some Public Health course as soon as possible and see how you like it. Pretty much all PH are upper-division courses, but that doesn’t mean a freshman isn’t allowed to take it. In fact, there tend to be more engaged learning with more engaged people in the class and I generally had better experience with upper division classes than lower division classes.</p>
<p>As for choosing your R&C, visit each department’s website and look up what’s going to be the team. I know there’s a lot of talking around that certain departments’ R&C are easier than others, but that entirely depends on the instructor who drafts the syllabus and read and grade your essays. The best thing you can do is choose the class that has the theme that interests you the most.</p>
<p>Anyway, welcome to Berkeley. It is a fun place to be if you want to make the best out of it.</p>