Hi everyone. I’m debating between taking 3 (12 units) or 4 (16 units) classes my first semester at college. I added up all the time that I’m expected to spend on schoolwork and with 4 classes it would be 40 hours a week and with 3 it would be 28.
If I only took 3 classes, I would be taking the minimum amount of units I can take to be considered a full time student.
I will be staying at home and taking them all online, if that makes a difference.
Quarter system? All recommendations I heard during my son’s orientation especially for the quarter system is to take between 12-14 units as a more gentler introduction to the system. Being on-line might be different but if you can take a lighter load and still remain on track to graduate on time, you should be fine.
Sign up for 4 and drop one of it seems like too much work. Or, if possible, P/NP one course. Hopefully you have a favorable reg time!!!
No, Berkeley is on the semester system.
5 classes/semester is the standard so taking 4 classes and dropping one if the workload is too much, is a good suggestion. As long as you stay on track to graduate in 4 years, you will be fine.
most non-lab courses are 3 semester units but your question is asking about numbers divisible by 4 - rather than 3… so, your question is a little confusing.
Most undergrad degrees take about 120 semester and 180 quarter units. So, to be on pace to graduate in 8 semesters - you need 15 per.
Since you are at UCB, I am sure you have a good number of AP credits so, I’d sign up for 5 which would be 15 units - (if one is a lab -16) As others suggest above, you can drop 1 if it proves too much, but, keep an eye on that pace.
All my classes are 4 units. And if I took four classes, it would be a 40 hour a week workload. Three classes is 28 hours a week. I don’t think I could handle five.
I don’t think I could handle five, so maybe I’ll sign up for four and drop one if it’s too much to handle? I just don’t want to get into the habit of dropping classes too often.
You need to average 15 units per semester to graduate in 8 semesters. If you take 12 units first semester, you have a 3 unit deficit that you need to “catch up” on.
However, if you have AP or college credit that is useful (and which you will not duplicate by taking a college course covering the same material), then that may help cover the unit deficit.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/california-colleges/2164300-help-me-pick-a-safety-in-california-p1.html suggests that you may have significant AP and college credit and may be a computer science major. If you are at UCB, are you in EECS or L&S? What AP scores have you earned?
For EECS, some sample schedules are listed at https://engineering.berkeley.edu/students/undergraduate-guide/degree-requirements/major-programs/electrical-engineering-computer-sciences/ (includes breadth requirements) and https://eecs.berkeley.edu/resources/undergrads/eecs/study-plans (may not include all requirements outside the major), but you may have to adjust them for your AP and college credit (UCB College of Engineering AP credit is listed at https://engineering.berkeley.edu/students/undergraduate-guide/exams/ ).
For L&S, see https://eecs.berkeley.edu/resources/undergrads/cs/degree-reqs-lowerdiv for planning your schedule to prepare to declare the L&S CS major; in addition, see https://lsadvising.berkeley.edu/degree-requirements for other L&S requirements to plan for.
I was planning on taking some classes in the summer to make up those credits. I’m in EECS, and as for AP scores I have Bio - 4, Chem - 4, Physics C Mechanics - 5, Calc BC - 5 (AB subscore - 5), Euro - 5, APUSH - 4, Lang - 4, Lit - 5, APUSH - 4, CSA - 4, Macro - 4, Psych - 5, Stats - 5.
I test out of Math 1A and 1B, the natural science elective, R&C A, Physics 7A, and two H&SS classes.
I was planning on taking EECS 16A, CS 61A, and Math 53 this semester, but I’m debating on whether or not to take Chinese 1X. I’m also not sure as to whether I should take Math 1B instead of Math 53 since it has been over a year since I have done any calculus.
4 it is then
If you are unsure about whether to skip Math 1B, try the old final exams: https://tbp.berkeley.edu/courses/math/1B/ . Note: Math 1B contains some introductory differential equations material; if you have good knowledge of the rest of the course, you may be able to study it on your own rather than having to retake the entire course, if you plan to take a future course that depends on it (see https://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/high-school-exam-credits ).
You can also check your knowledge of Physics 7A with old final exams: https://tbp.berkeley.edu/courses/physics/7A/ .
For Chinese 1X, you are a heritage speaker of Mandarin with little or no reading and writing skill, correct? If you have some reading and writing skill, you may want to check the placement test at https://ealc.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate/placement-exams .
Note: the CoE includes R&C under H/SS, so your AP credit would cover R&C A and one other H/SS course, meaning that you need R&C B and three other H/SS courses (including two upper division). See https://engineering.berkeley.edu/students/undergraduate-guide/degree-requirements/humanities-and-social-sciences/ .
Thank you! I didn’t realize that about R&C A and the other humanities classes. I think I’ll just review calculus on Khan academy.