I'm an admitted international student! Please explain some things to me!!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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Hello guys! I’m unbelievably happy to be admitted to UC Berkeley Class of 2019!!! Now that the admissions part is over for me I’m trying to figure out the best way to succeed in my future education.

First of all, I got in College of L&S. I’m 100% sure I will be majoring in Computer Science.

  1. As I understand most of the US students coming to Cal already have multiple credits (from AP classes, IB, etc). I come from a regular Ukrainian school and didn’t have the ability to get any credits/units. What’s the best way for me to keep up with other students?

  2. I heard about some summer program called Freshman Edge. Will it help me? Is it worth taking? What should I do to make sure I graduate in 4 years, and generally do everything I can towards graduating in time?

  3. I read that there are many degree requirements (classes that I must take). I have also heard that you can satisfy some of the requirements by exams. Exams I have taken are SAT (CR 550( pretty bad sub-score, I know), M 750, W 750), Math II 750, Physics 680, TOEFL iBT 103. Can these help me in any way? Again, I don’t have any AP or IB credits to satisfy these reqs.

  4. For Foreign Language requirement: my first language is Russian. Is there any way I can use this to satisfy the requirement? Maybe some type of exam?

Sorry if some of these questions are too dumb. I was trying to google everything/search on CC but there are so much information that it’s too hard to understand anything. Plus most of the explanations are oriented on US students that are familiar with the credit/unit system…

I’m just trying to take it smart, so that I don’t waste time or have to take too many boring classes.

Thanks in advance :smiley: !!!

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  1. those AP classes give the students a little jump on registration. Depending on the major, they may or may not count for anything.

  2. I don’t know anything about that program but it might be beneficial for you to become acclimated to the program and take a course. It will cost you for housing and coursework. http://summer.berkeley.edu/special-programs/freshman.

  3. The SAT and TOEFL tests get you into the university. They won’t satisfy any class requirements.

  4. Foreign language is something that is foreign to you. That might be English?

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Congratulations!

You will find useful advice on Berkeley’s Letters and Science advising website. For example, here are the alternate methods for satisfying the foreign language requirement (including SAT subject tests in other languages):
http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/fl.html

The SAT subject test in US history can be used to satisfy one university requirement, but check to see if you’ve already satisfied it in another way before you register for the test:
http://registrar.berkeley.edu/?PageID=ahi.html

Berkeley’s course schedule for Fall 2015 is already posted:
http://schedule.berkeley.edu/

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@"aunt bea"‌ @siliconvalleymom‌ thanks a lot for your answers. Thanks for the links