<p>Hi all. :)</p>
<p>I have a question directed to students who are already attending Berkeley.</p>
<p>How how is it to get the classes you want/need to take at Berkeley? I am considering Berkeley as a possible choice during my college applications process. Is it overcrowded and difficult? Is it like war? Or is it relatively easy?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Well as a freshmen it can be a little difficult. If you have sophomore or junior standing your freshmen year (from AP's or community college courses) it can make it alot easier. If you don't, it isnt THAT bad as others make it seem. For me, the more difficult thing is not whether i get into the class but whether it conflicts with another class/discussion. That seems to be much harder to deal with because you can't control what times that classes/discussions are. But with getting into a class many people drop out the first couple of days so there are usually slots open. Plus there is a waiting list that many people usually come off of after the first week of classes. The professors and GSI's are very helpful when it comes to getting you into the class and if you are communicative and open to having classes at different times then you should be fine.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response msagaski!</p>
<p>I also have a few questions about majors.</p>
<p>How do majors "work" at Berkeley? If I were to apply for Biology, or Chemistry, or possibly Electrical Engineering as a major during the applications process, does that mean I am required to stay under that major when I attend Berkeley?</p>
<p>I have a cousin who attends Washington University in St. Louis, and she tells me that at WashU, the major you apply as does not affect you AT ALL when you are admitted. She said that when you are admitted, you actually decide your major AFTER you actually enroll. As a result, I have heard some people apply as a major that is not popular, making it more likely that they will become accepted. Only after being admitted, do they pick the major that they really intend to major in.</p>
<p>Can anyone explain to me how the "major process" works at Berkeley? Or UC's in general?</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>this is my 2nd semester here as an engineering undeclared major (going to switch to eecs soon though)</p>
<p>in the beginning, things may be tough because freshmen have the lowest priority. what happens is that people register for "safety classes," meaning that its just a backup plan, but these still count as enrolled people. so it may appear to you that the class is full, but once classes start, these people drop it and many seats appear. </p>
<p>personally, the <em>only</em> issue i had was when i tried signing up for english 135ac; the class was full, and people on the waitlist were processed by the english department. it is a popular upper division class. this means that english majors got the spots first, regardless of the waitlist number. i was like #3 on the waitlist, and eventually i was dropped from the course. i contacted a person in the department, and i got a course control number- a "code" that lets anybody join a class, usually given out to few people at the professor's request.</p>
<p>if i was an english major (not engineering), then i wouldve easily gotten in; however, i doubt you will have this problem since most people dont take upper division classes outside of their major until 3rd/4th year.</p>
<p>besides this, i have been able to register for my classes without any trouble; just wait a few days after classes start, and there will be plenty of seats</p>
<p>as for declaring your major, it depends on what college has the major. for example, biology (integrative or molecular cell) is in the letters and science college; from l+s, its hard to transfer to the college of engineering, BUT, you can pretty much switch to any major in L+S with ease. for example, if you signed up for biology, but then decided to switch to history, all you would have to do is fill out a form</p>
<p>there are some impacted majors though, which require an admissions process; for example, business (haas) and computer science</p>
<p>if you apply to the college of engineering when you filled out your app, then you can switch, like l+s, to almost every engineering major except for bioE and eecs; these require an admission process. if you apply as engineering undeclared, you can choose any engineering major, so long as you maintain a certain gpa.</p>
<p>also, if you are an engineer, you can switch to l+s as long as you are not a failing student</p>
<p>if you apply to any l+s major except for the impacted ones while doing your uc app, it will <em>not</em> have an impact on the decision.</p>
<p>The only thing that might have some bearing when you apply is which college you apply with. If you apply as an EECS major under the College of Engineering and are accepted then you are in the college of Engineering. You can switch to any major within the college of engineering (ie Bioengineering, Mechanical, etc). You can switch to Letters and Science but i think you have to fill out paper work and whatnot. All that said, it is much easier to switch from College of Engineering into Letters and Science than the other way around, but it is definately possible. When you apply, the only thing that also might have bearing, once again, is which college you apply to. As noted, the College of Engineering a little more competetive and thus the acceptance rate is slightly lower than the College of Letters and Science. However, within the Letters and Science and within the other colleges as well, it does NOT matter which major you choose on your application. In addition which major you choose on your application does not have any bearing on what major you will actually have later on. You need to complete certain per-requistes in order to apply for a certain major. During the application process, however, it does not matter which major you choose only the college you apply to. Once you are in Berkeley certain majors are more impacted than others. For instance, economics in the College of Letters and science is considered impacted because of the vast number of people that apply for that major. Because it is impacted you need a certain GPA while at Berkeley to be admitted to that major. I think for Economics you need at least a 3.6, which is a somewhat difficult GPA to accmomplish. Other impacted majors include psychology, cognitive science, social welfare, and a couple others. Once again, you can apply for these majors during the application process and it will have not affect on whether you get into Berkeley or not. </p>
<p>Many people think that if they apply for EECS in the college of Engineering and if they get in that they can switch to any other college they like. While this is true, i would only apply to the college of engineering if that is TRUELY what you are interested in, not because of the above statement. If you don't get into Berkeley, and you were not interested in engineering then you would be at a serious loss than if you had applied to the college of letters and science and were admitted.</p>
<p>For Haas majors (business) that is another story. You apply to the college of letters and science as whatever you want (or i think even any other college) and then you apply to get into Haas the beginning of your sophomore year. Once again, you have to take a certain amount of per-requistes to apply for Haas and you found out whether you got in the end of your sophomore year.</p>
<p>For you specifically, biology is in the college of letters and science, chemistry has its own separate college (but there is also a chemistry major within the college of letters and science) and engineering has its own college. While it probably isnt that big of a deal, you should definately decide which college you want to apply to. Personally i would apply to college of letters and science, but if you really want engineering then go for it. Hope that helps</p>
<p>Thanks for the long and informative responses, h*** and msagaski. Your posts have aided me greatly.</p>
<p>How is competition at Berkeley? Msagaski, you said that Economics requires at least a 3.6 GPA, which brings me to another question (sorry for jumping around and not staying consistent in topic): How difficult is it to maintain a high GPA (like >3.6)?</p>
<p>Is competition fierce? What is the average GPA at Berkeley? I hear there is a lot of grade deflation at Berkeley in comparison with other universities. Is it difficult to maintain a high GPA because classes are curved? Are most classes curved -- if so, are they usually set pretty high by overachieving students?</p>
<p>One route I might take is majoring in either Biology or Chemistry (perhaps double majoring) in order to take the premed route so a high GPA is basically a must in order to attend medical school.</p>
<p>Anyways, I'm basically asking how is competition/GPA's at Berkeley?</p>
<p>Thanks to all who answer my questions. I'm a very curious student who has only recently become interested in college admissions this year. :)</p>
<p>average gpa is 3.2
average science/engineering gpa is probably much lower</p>
<p>science/math classes are always almost curved- top 25% get a's, next 40% get b's, etc. (set by the department)</p>
<p>berkeley isnt a good school for premed because your gpa will be low, and a huge factor in medical school is gpa, regardless of school</p>
<p>what bout for pre-law students? do they have a good grad school acceptance rate?</p>