<p>Already enrolled from Phase 1 at CalSo:
- Math 1A (4 units, prerequisite for CS or Haas)
- L & S R44 (5 units + R/C requirement + breadth)</p>
<p>Will possibly add (depending on the input I get) during Phase 2:
- NEStud R1A (4 units + R/C requirement)
- Poli Sci 179 (1-unit Pass/Fail)</p>
<p>14 units total.</p>
<p>Is this too light? I want to do CS, or maybeee Haas... and I want to study abroad for a year (India and/or Sweden perhaps... I've always been interested in those places, and apparently they would work just fine for CS). I will also want to minor in French Lit, but I'm fluent, so most of the prereqs don't necessarily apply, and I'll go straight to the upper-division courses later on.</p>
<p>I've mapped out some potential schedules for my freshman and sophomore year, and with this initial schedule I would definitely be able to accomplish the things I mentioned in that last paragraph, so that's not an issue. The prereqs would all work out. And like other entering Cal freshmen, I really want to have the balance between fun/play. My friends have told me about Cal, and I think I might check out some frats and see if they're for me. From what I hear, Pike & company sound like fun. I don't want to be too crammed with school work, but I also care a lot about academics & gpa etc.</p>
<p>Have you taken AP Calc? If you have, don’t take Math 1A/B. If you wanna do CS, take CS61A your freshman year Fall so you know if you’re cut out for it or not. If 61A is not just where you’re at, but you enjoy CS still, drop to CS3 and continue from there.</p>
<p>^my former CalcBC teacher (hard as hell) had told us to take Math 1A or 1B again (don’t remember which) even with good AP scores because Berkeley math courses are at a whole new level. my two cents</p>
<p>inconnu: Thanks for the reply. I took the AP class/test, but many people (like jyi90) nonetheless recommend dealing with Math 1A/B, and while I learned a lot in High School math, I want to affirm my Calculus foundation at Berkeley.</p>
<p>Oh, in addition, I definitely feel like I need CS 3 before CS 61A. Unfortunately, CS 3 is not being offered this fall…</p>
<p>Which of these options do you think I should take?</p>
<ol>
<li>I take CS 3 in the spring, then 61A(equivalent) in the summer of 2011, and continue with CS 61B in the fall of my sophomore year. A rather senior advisor at CalSo recommended this.
-or-</li>
<li>I take CS 3S this fall, then continue with 61A in the spring, and 61B in the fall of sophomore year. (CS 3S is a self-study version which I feel is VERY risky for me… especially dealing with an introductory-type course.)</li>
</ol>
<p>Either option would allow me to declare myself a CS major by the end of my sophomore year, as is expected.</p>
<p>It is fine to learn the basics of programming by self-study. In fact, I’d guess that’s how most students who know how to code but haven’t entered college yet learned.</p>
<p>I took CS3L last spring and it was mostly self-study for me anyways. I think it’s fine to take CS 3S self-study even though it sounds a little risky because you will go over that stuff in CS61A anyways.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Should I waitlist CS 3S?</p></li>
<li><p>If I waitlist that course, can I add something else in the mean time?</p></li>
<li><p>Why shouldn’t one take two R&C courses in the same semester? Is the workload that bad?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I would love replacing NEStud R1A with CS 3S in my Phase 2 plans. That way, I wouldn’t have two R&C courses in the same semester (as Grumpster recommends) and I wouldn’t have to take CS 61A during the summer of 2011.</p>
<p>Don’t be so straight-laced…Skip Math 1A/1B They’re graded harshly and most of the material is quite unrelated to CS. It’s foundational, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen in high school (except for the proofs which are pretty legit depending on who you get). And yeah, don’t do two RCs in a semester. The workload may not be too much, but it will be a lot of the same stuff over and over. You’ll get bored and stop caring. If you have the misfortune of two deadlines close to one another, you’ll going to be eating and drinking quotations and crap like that trying to validate some thesis you probably don’t give two ****s about.</p>
<p>I suggest enrolling in 61A right off the bat. Maybe you aren’t giving yourself enough credit, and you’ll be able to pick it up as you go along. I’ve seen many people pull it off (granted, they’re kinda superstars now and 61A was their blossoming period, but no one said you can’t be a superstar as well). If it doesn’t go well for you, maybe spots will open up in CS3. </p>
<p>I honestly think you should figure out whether you’re cut out for CS or not early on so you aren’t scrambling to find a humanities major that will take the least amount of effort to finish after wasting 1.5+ yrs trying to make CS work.</p>
<p>This is sort of a problem for someone who is interested in CS & Haas. For Haas, you usually want to take easy courses and get a strong high GPA. However, with CS, you don’t want to avoid taking hard courses (math, CS, etc) because then you fall “behind” (sort of).</p>
They’re graded harshly and most of the material is quite unrelated to CS. It’s foundational, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen in high school (except for the proofs which are pretty legit depending on who you get). And yeah, don’t do two RCs in a semester. The workload may not be too much, but it will be a lot of the same stuff over and over. You’ll get bored and stop caring. If you have the misfortune of two deadlines close to one another, you’ll going to be eating and drinking quotations and crap like that trying to validate some thesis you probably don’t give two ****s about.</p>