<p>Hi, I'll be starting my freshman year at Berkeley in the fall and was wondering if anyone could recommend a first-semester schedule for a potential engineering student. I took a lot of AP exams in high school but didn't pass any of them so I'm not going to be able to skip any classes unfortunately. I'm considering both EECS and Mechanical Engineering so I want to make sure I make progress toward both of those degrees during my first semester at Cal. After looking at quite a bit of literature, here is what I have come up with:</p>
<p>-- Physics H7A (only got a 2 in AP Physics B but I like physics and want to be challenged)
-- Mathematics H1B (despite my 1 in Calculus BC, I'm really good at math and I don't think 1B will be quite rigorous enough)
-- Computer Science 61A (for the EECS degree...)
-- English R1A (I've heard other R1A's are easier but again, I want to be challenged)
-- Engineering 7 (in case I decide not to do EECS, I will need this class)</p>
<p>All together I believe that's 20 units. I know a lot of people are going to say that's way too many units for first semester but I'm smart as **** so I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle it.</p>
<p>One other question, just how smart (in general) are Berkeley engineering students? Not to sound arrogant but despite what I've heard, I think that my analytical thinking skills are a lot better than those of most engineering undergrads at Berkeley. Just my opinion though.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your feedback and I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>I dare you to take this schedule.</p>
<p>Please don’t share accounts.</p>
<p>Assuming that you are actually an incoming frosh who is borrowing an account from a current student who is finishing his/her frosh year (as indicated by posts like <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1486645-phase-i-phase-ii.html#post15756381[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1486645-phase-i-phase-ii.html#post15756381</a> ):</p>
<p>Before you take Math 1B or H1B, review the Math 1A final exams to make sure that you know all of the Math 1A material. See the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1305840-freshman-math-faq.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1305840-freshman-math-faq.html</a> for links to the old final exams.</p>
<p>Also, if you have no AP or other credit that fulfills Math 1A, you’ll need to take Math 1A anyway. You might be a top math student at your high school, but if you got a 1 on the AP test, that is far below the expectations of colleges that may allow you to place out of the first frosh calculus class(es).</p>
<p>A more realistic frosh schedule in the absence of any AP, IB, A-level, or college credit would be:</p>
<p>Math 1A
Chemistry 1A/1AL or 4A (required for ME, fulfills elective science for EECS)
Any two of:
CS 61A (required for EECS)
Engineering 7, 10, or 28 (required for ME)
R&C A (e.g. English R1A or other course)
other humanities or social studies course (see <a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/requirements/hss-humanities-current-list/HSS%20NEW%20REQ.pdf[/url]”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/requirements/hss-humanities-current-list/HSS%20NEW%20REQ.pdf</a> )</p>
<p>Also, if you are not in the College of Engineering, be aware that it can be difficult to switch into the College of Engineering.</p>
<p>Take E7 in the spring. I promise that other 4 courses will still be challenging.</p>
<p>You might be “smart as ****”, but remember that everyone else here is the exact same way. Most of the engineering students were the best at their highschool, just like you. There are some students that are fine taking 20 units at a time, but you really shouldn’t be trying that your first semester. Go for 16 credits, and if it still seems easy do 20 in the Spring.</p>
<p>mememoi, Einstein quotes, “i’m not more gifted than the average human being… you see that it is not a matter of being more gifted but a matter of being more curious and maybe more patient until you solve a problem.”</p>
<p>A little modesty would suit you better.</p>
<p>The schedule itself isn’t too bad if you have some affinity for each subject. Not sure about how much background you have in each topic so it might be a bit a bit of work, but still manageable for someone who doesn’t have too much background.</p>
<p>Your schedule is “easier” than that of the typical student who takes honors math/physics classes in that others tend to stack more theoretical math/physics classes. If you don’t have a decent background in programming/CS, this would probably be a pretty hard but manageable schedule. Otherwise, it’s on the “lighter” side for the types of people you will be seeing in your honors classes.</p>