<p>I registered for these classes: ChemE 140, Math 53, Physics 7B, C96. (I took general chemistry, math, and physics at a community college during high school.) I've been talking to a couple of Engineering majors and they said to completely avoid upper division classes first semester of your freshman year. Does anyone have any insight to offer on this subject? I'm not sure if I should get out of ChemE 140 and I need to decide today or tomorrow the latest. Also, is it possible (and a good idea) to take the class P/NP? Or should I just wait another year (it's only offered in the fall)? Any comments would be much appreciated, I'm really, really stressed out right now. Thanks much!</p>
<p>Keep in mind that if you take an upper division class now, you will be competing against upper division students who probably have better study/test taking skills than you currently have.</p>
<p>I guess. I'm taking two uppers right now (I'm a first year as well).</p>
<p>I would say that most freshmen admits should probably avoid almost all upper-divs in their first semester. Some of them may be just so good at everything that most it won't matter what they take, and some are paricularly good at a certain subject, or have extensive training in it already (making it reasonable for them to do something upper div here first semester). There may be a particular upper div which is reasonable for you (or whoever) to take, although some advise that freshmen avoid all upper-divs in their first semester.</p>
<p>You should probably take Chem 4B instead or another lower division Chem class for a grade. That's just my opinion though.</p>
<p>(Chem 4B or 1B is a prereq, as well as Physics 7B, which you are taking.)</p>
<p>two worth considering:
1. chemE 140 is supposed to be a pretty hard class--it's one of the chemE weeders
2. You're only taking 3 "real" classes (chem C96 is the 1-unit "what kinds of cool stuff do chemists and chemical engineers do?" course, right?), so you should be able to devote a bit more time to your classes than students enrolled in 4 (which most of the students in chemE 140 will be). whether you actually do is dependent on your personality.</p>
<p>^^ Yeah but the 3 "real" classes seem tough enough for a first semester. Even if he just took 4B, it'd be challenging.</p>
<p>A lot of people complain about Chem 1, and it's supposedly a joke.</p>
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I registered for these classes: ChemE 140, Math 53, Physics 7B, C96.
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<p>Wow, 2 notorious weeders (ChemE140 and Physics 7b) and one quasi-weeder (Math 53) in your first semester. </p>
<p>I wouldn't do it, principally because if you screw up, whcih can very easily happen with weeders, you'll land on academic probation after your first semester, which will put you on the path to being expelled completely. I would take a bunch of other non-weeder classes in your first semester if, for no other reason, to build up a "GPA-cushion" so that you can survive the weeder wars. The first rule about surviving Berkeley, especially Berkeley engineering, is a simple tautology - do whatever you can to avoid flunking out. </p>
<p>The sad truth is that some people who flunked out of Berkeley could have graduated, but they just didn't play the game right. For example, if you take extremely difficult weeders in your first year, you may get expelled in your first year for not having a high enough GPA, when in fact, if they let you stick around and take more (easier) courses, you could have then pulled your GPA to above the passing level. But since you've already been kicked out, that option is closed. It's like losing the game before it's even really started.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the advice and input.</p>
<p>How does this sound: I audit ChemE140 until the drop date and actually take Eng 77 (Programming), Physics 7B, Math 53, and C96? I will miss atleast 1 ChemE lecture a week because of Engineering 77. I'm not sure if this makes my problem more complicated or less. One way of looking at it is there is no pressure to continue with ChemE because I can drop it (after 3wks) if I need to. On the other had that's 18.0 units of work (all w/mid-terms around the same time) which I think totally unrealistic. Either that or drop ChemE completely and focus on Eng, Phys, and Math (which is kind of where I'm leaning because I just got out of my first real Math and Physics lectures).</p>
<p>Your last sentence.</p>
<p>Add a DeCal, seminar or P.E. course for fun.</p>
<p>I agree. The latter three sound tough enough by themselves. How many units are those?</p>
<p>Turns out the Eng and ChemE classes overlap alot, so I will be taking the programming class this semester and waiting on ChemE. Hopefully I'll be able to add Eng 77 (fingers crossed). It's too bad I couldn't do both though, because they seem very interesting. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice.</p>