I was admitted to UCB L&S (undeclared-will declare CS) and was wondering if it is possible to take community college courses over the summer term so I have less courses to attend as a freshman at UCB (lower costs, ease the course load, etc). Is it even doable? How can I find out which courses will actually allow me to skip in college?
Thanks very much!
Taking some Calculus I & II courses would be great if you don’t have a 5 from BC Calc and save yourself from taking Math 1A and 1B.
If you do have a 5, go with Linear Algebra & Differential Equation courses which will cover Math 54, but you should first figure out if your community college courses can replace Math 54.
@UpMagic I found that calc was a pretty challenging class in high school (took calc BC, will take exam but I expect a 3-4). Does this mean I shouldn’t use the ap credit to skip the course (in case I want to retake it)? This is assuming there’s more advanced calculus after the first year of calculus. If, however, calc isn’t a required course in the future then no way I’d want to retake it in college. Thanks!
A 3-4 is good for Math 1A only.
You should certainly try to use AP credits to skip whatever courses applicable, but unless you get a 5, you will be required to take Math 1B unfortunately. You rather retake it in community college rather than in Berkeley.
3-4 on AB or BC would only let you skip Math 1A.
It is a good idea to try the old final exams for Math 1A to check your knowledge of the material, so that you can make a more informed decision about whether to skip it using your AP credit. See https://math.berkeley.edu/courses/archives/exams .
L&S CS require Math 1A, 1B, and 54. Math 54 is linear algebra and differential equations, which may be available in community colleges as one course or two courses. See http://www.assist.org . CS 70 is basically a math course (discrete math and probability theory), but there do not appear to be any community college discrete math courses that are equivalent.
For CS courses, only Laney College has a CS 61A equivalent, and it is not offered in the summer. CS 61B may be findable in some community college, but probably hard to find in the summer.
Otherwise, summer courses would be most useful as general L&S requirements (reading and composition, L&S breadth), or as prerequisites for advanced courses in other subjects that you may want to take.